A friend and colleague, Matt Krieger, asked my opinion:
What fundamental psychology motivates people to share their thoughts and feelings and actions on Facebook, Twitter, etc and where do u think people found their outlet before them? Or did they not have an outlet before and these social sites are SO disruptive that they created a new type of expression?
We’re obviously living through a time when technology has broken through the human barrier by shedding – or, rather, cloaking – the clunky and scientific foundations with designs that are so usable that your grandmother picks up on things right away. But does it facilitate doing things we already do or does it create entirely new ways of doing things?
I have to think Facebook, iPhones, etc. are best when they make it easier to do things you did without technology anyway. This is where I think they’re successful at motivating us. People, companies, groups, etc. are all reluctant to adopt entirely new things. This is why many startup businesses can’t break through – because what they offer is too radical. There’s a segment of the population that likes radical, but there’s no money to be made there, so it’s a red flag to appeal to them.
Posting on Facebook is different than on Twitter – or writing a blog entry. For Facebook, the non-technology metaphor is simply a classroom; this is why it was successful in evolving from something used in universities. I’m motivated to post something on Facebook for the same reason I was motivated in classrooms (and am now motivated in business and social meetings) to crack jokes: I love to make a room full of people crack up. My batting average isn’t spectacular, but it’s good enough that I take as many at bats as I can. When you post something on Facebook and people comment and like it, you feel you have achieved the equivalent of a chuckle or a laugh. When you post something you think is funny and nobody reacts, you feel like you’re standing in front of the mirror telling yourself jokes. Sometimes my mother will tell me she’s watched a video that I posted of my son a hundred times, but I wouldn’t have known that if she hadn’t told me – I felt I was playing to an empty room. This is a minor thing that Facebook could do to complete the experience for me: show me how many times people have viewed my videos – even if they don’t show me who viewed them. After all, when you’re on stage you don’t see the faces of the people in the audience, but you know they’re there.
Twitter is different. Twitter is still in the middle of its evolution. It’s not yet mature and it doesn’t tie directly to an experience you have in real life. It’s going to have to evolve to continue to grow. Otherwise, people are going to get tired of it. Technology just doesn’t exist for its own sake – it’s only good when it’s improves the things we already do without it.
