I noticed the latest trend in Social Media is to not be Social. Yes, that does contradict the purpose of Social Networking. So, why are so many people reluctant to be Social in the online social networks?
That is a good question. From what I am being told the main reason people are not being social is when they are social by making a comment it seems they give up control of the conversation to social deviants who see social networks as a “Killing Grounds” of sorts. Those who prefer to be offbeat with the conversation do one of two things.
- Purposely make a statement contradicting what was being said just to be argumentative in hopes it draws attention to their lack of intelligence.
- Fill the comment stream with links to their products.
Definition:
Social Deviance: In sociology, deviance describes an action or behavior that violates social norms, including a formally enacted rule (e.g., crime), as well as informal violations of social norms (e.g., rejecting folkways and mores).
I am sure there are more reasons why people do not make comments to people posts. Another reason more than likely has to do with how the Social Networks feel you need to know immediately that someone has made a comment and sends you an Email which for people like me who get tons of comments fills their InBox with notifications to something they already know.
Yes, I am aware that I can turn off the notifications feature but it appears the social networks knows that as well and each time they make an update they turn it back on..or, they keep hiding the feature in their settings in hopes I can’t find it.
False Hope
Why are Notifications important to the social networks? Because they Need all of their users to stay on the site as much as they can so to show their sponsors..or now their stockholders..they have users who stay on the site for hours at a time. Doesn’t that sound like the mainstream social networks are desperate to keep interaction up on their sites? The answer is Yes.
The mainstream social networks are losing users faster than new ones are signing on. In the several studies I have been involved with over the years many of the people deleting their social accounts are immediately signing back up under a Fake Name in hopes that obtaining a pseudonym will keep their online social life hidden from the Dark-Side. So, the social networks are at best breaking even on the number of users they draw in compared to those deleting their accounts.
Spend More Time Dealing With the Dark Side
What these social networks do not realize..or probably do but not really caring…is most users who do spend long periods of time on a social network spend almost their entire time battling all of the things that are Anti-Social.
Dealing with things Like:
- Muting .gifs they do not want to see over and over and over again.
- Uncircling or UnFriending or UnFollowing people who probably are not People since all they do is post promotional material.
- Opting out of comments streams that go on for days
This is just to name a few things people tell me they hate dealing with in the social spaces and is WHY they are reluctant to be publicly social.
It really is a shame there are so many people backing out of social networking online when there is a social space that really does allow people to be social. That social space is Google+. Yes, Google+ does have it faults many of which are due to Google marketing Google+. Other faults are related to there are way too many SEO and other Social Media “Experts” overly promoting on Google+ the virtues of other social networks. Plus, G+ does have its share of Trolls and social deviants. All of these things do get in the way of the Posts in the stream that are provided to users solely for the purpose of being social.
Solutions Hard To Find
I know, I know, I seem to spend a lot of time in my Blog mentioning the downside of Social Media. However, I only do this because some to the practices social media experts say people need to do to become popular are actually making people less popular. I know they don’t like hearing that because that advice is how they make their living which, unfortunately, for the most part is the only kind of work they can find.
Still, this trend of not being social in a social network to avoid the dark-side of social media has got to change. It does not have to be this way.
Let me tell you what I can promise you. If you are a real person (believe me I can tell if you are not) and you make a comment in any of the blogs I post or posts I make on Google+, I WILL socialize with you.
Now this does not mean I will argue with you for argument’s sake, or click on your link to some spammy porn ladened site, or respond to your comments that include Hashtags. I just Promise I will respond as intelligently as Spell Check will allow me. If I don’t, then I don’t blame you for Uncircling me….you can UnFriend me or Unfollowing me if you like. Since I don’t use Facebook or Twitter much I probably would know you were gone.
Nonetheless, let’s all get social online again. It really is worth it.
Let me know how I can help.
