Comments on: Thoughts on public and private social media

By: markdykeman

markdykeman — Fri, 30 May 2008 09:25:11 +0000

@Zach - You make the following point:

The dynamic of friendship has changed, it’s no longer just about Sunday picnics and lunchroom cliques, it’s about common interests.

I don’t think that the dynamic of friendship has changed; I think that common interests has always been a big part of friendship. I think that social media has helped to remove barriers of ethnicity and geography in finding people with common interests.

By: Zach

Zach — Fri, 30 May 2008 05:51:39 +0000

While I agree that social media will continue to evolve and change, I firmly believe the idea of connectivity and digital interaction will only continue to grow. Sure, we might see less use of email as a glorified text, instead texting silly notes to each other that otherwise clog email. Or we might even see less pictures of drunken parties as these networks become more valuable as personal branding tools, but people won’t simply stop connecting to people they don’t know. The dynamic of friendship has changed, it’s no longer just about Sunday picnics and lunchroom cliques, it’s about common interests.

It seems that Alexander sees a privacy fear overtaking the emerging generations. While they might be less likely to post their embarrasing pictures, it won’t be because they don’t want to share them with the world, but that they realize that sharing them online is the same as making copies and taking them to everyone at school. It’s not privacy as much as it’s a change in world-view.

That’s my eight cents.

By: brainadmin

brainadmin — Sat, 24 May 2008 13:51:10 +0000

@Gregory - perhaps you’ve got some material for your own blog and blog post, then?

By: gregory

gregory — Sat, 24 May 2008 13:46:17 +0000

all this tech stuff is only the out-picturing of what consciousness can already do … it is very useful to understand how consciousness grows for any one individual, and then to see how such concepts as generations is really besides the point … anybody who is deeply conscious can do any of this stuff, at any age .. there is a lot more i can say here, but will not, wrong audience

By: brainadmin

brainadmin — Fri, 23 May 2008 15:26:14 +0000

@Alexander - you really struck some gold here. Some additional remarks:

1) I don’t put as much weight on “teenage rebellion” (used in moderation here) as you do. Maybe this next generation will be different, but I believe that our existing institutional stamp will bring about E-mail adoption as a necessity. Personal life… OK, I’ll grant you that people may use mobile text messages or Facebook messages instead of E-Mails (or just call people), but over time you would think that people would try to use a single platform for everything.

2) Yes, I think the tools will come barring national or global catastrophes.

3) As I have mentioned on your blog, I’m going to read up on the research on young adult behaviour, particularly with regards to privacy. Note: I wonder if girls and boys look at privacy from different perspectives… perhaps girls are more worried about personal safety?

By: Colin Walker

Colin Walker — Fri, 23 May 2008 08:23:47 +0000

Mark,

With regards to the Public -> Private -> Public discussion the motivation comes from the need to explore a specific topic, conduct research, plan a product or other work.

The new rooms feature on FriendFeed is an ideal example. People are complaining about the noise and, even if you don’t complain, it is difficult to work in a crowded hall with distractions etc. Ideas may arise in that hall but it is difficult to get a ‘result’ and consensus when dealing with thousands. There is, therefore, a need to take things to a small focus group or think tank in order to flesh out the idea. Once the idea is complete, or the product is desinged etc. it will then be put back in to the public domain.

Rooms in FriendFeed will enable just this - you will take things out of the public stream into a room with a finite number of invitees in order to explore the topic properly without it getting lost in the noise.

Check out Evolution of the social web. from Colin Walker

By: Followup: In a next evolution of the web public interaction will be less important « Alexander van Elsas’s Weblog on new media & technologies and their effect on social behavior

Fri, 23 May 2008 08:02:40 +0000

[...] discussions both in the comments section and on Friendfeed and it inspired both Colin Walker and Mark Dykeman to write lengthy, in-depth replies. I would urge you to read both posts. They took the time to [...]

By: Alexander van Elsas

Alexander van Elsas — Fri, 23 May 2008 07:04:53 +0000

Mark, thanks for such a long and in-depth response to my post. Just like Colin, you really took the time to think it through and make up your own mind. That is exactly what I like about “future” discussions. It isn’t about who is right (history will tell), but it is more an exploration of possibilities.
I have obviously failed to make the essence of my point clear Both you and Colin are touching it, but I mean to say it a bit different. I wasn’t suggesting that the next generation won’t be a part of public interaction, off course they will, both on-line and in the physical world. But in my opinion, they will find it less valuable than this generation does. I can think of 3 reasons for this:
1) Their parents do it, and they don’t want to look like their dad who is a cranky old fart
2) They will have tools available that will enrich their on-line interactions in a much smaller community. More local, more personal, more mobile, more immersed within the physical environment.
3) They are already showing behavior that they are more concerned with privacy than this generation. In the comments of my post I referred to a study which showed that youngsters participate in social media, but that a significant % restricts access to their content to only friends.
I really like your example of a theoretical application. You are thinking exactly what I was thinking. These type of applications will pop up and become useful. I even believe some of these will not be free, but payed for. And if there is an ad based version it can be much more effective for the purpose of that specific community, making it more valuable. The group could for example see advertisement relating to their trip, places to visit, things to bring along etc.
Excellent reply. Makes me think that a follow up is needed to summarize the current discussions
Check out In the next evolution of the web public interaction will be less important from Alexander van Elsas