Teague wants to know:
- What makes commenting on a respected bloggers page so appealing?
- Why do we feel the need to curate and share information about ourselves so broadly and openly?
- What are the drawbacks to all of this sharing?
As we explore the topic of digital identity, we started to ask ourselves, why do we continue to participate socially online when it can be so difficult to manage our online identities? The truth is, social media is a useful and an amazing application, and as it continues to morph and grow, new values are being discovered.
Some of the reasons why we currently participate:
Social Connectedness
This has always been an innate human need, but is now being made possible in ways that were previously inconceivable. This can obviously have many positive advantages given the scale and reach it allows. Back in the 1960s, “social psychologist Stanley Milgram’s “small world experiment” famously tested the idea that any two people in the world are separated by only a small number of intermediate connections, arguably the first experimental study to reveal the surprising structure of social networks.”
The Facebook Data Team recently released a study they did, in collaboration with researchers at the Università degli Studi di Milano. By studying the Facebook social graph, they discovered that these degrees of separation are shrinking rapidly. “We found that six degrees actually overstates the number of links between typical pairs of users”. “And as Facebook has grown over the years, representing an ever-larger fraction of the global population, it has become steadily more connected. The average distance in 2008 was 5.28 hops, while now it is 4.74.”
So not only are we able to bond socially online, we are also able to recognize how connected we all really are.
Self-validation and creative expression
Social media platforms tap into the very nature of humans to connect and share ideas.
One teen we interviewed talked about her joy in sharing on the site Deviant Art, “The best compliment ever is when others save your photos as their favorite. It spreads the word about your work and shows you how many people have looked at it.” In another interview with a tech businessman, he said, “I post articles I think are interesting, but I don’t expect a response. I like to share my knowledge, and give others the opportunity to check it out too.”
Benefits to having social influence
Corporations are picking up on the fact that their consumers will speak very openly and honestly about experiences with products and services through social media. In short, we ALL have the opportunity to have an influence now, and this is changing the traditional fundamentals of corporate- consumer interactions.
One example of this is Chevrolet’s new 2012 Sonic subcompact car. It’s being promoted to a targeted group of consumers using a partnership with Klout, the company that measures online influence and awards members with Perks. “The campaign implements the first national automotive Klout Perk, offering qualifying users the chance to drive the Sonic on a three-day vehicle loan and then share their thoughts online with friends and followers.”
We will often go out of our way to post information, openly or anonymously. So, we really want to know, what makes commenting on a respected bloggers page so appealing? We put personal information out there for others to view. And we view other people’s personal information. Why do we feel the need to curate and share information about ourselves so broadly and openly? What are the drawbacks to all of this sharing?
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