Yesterday I posted an intentionally provocative question on Friend Feed, which was inspired by commentary I’d read in recent weeks about the value/nature of what we share in relation to differing motivations.
Here is the question:
While I admit the distinctions are simple and that I’ve created a bit of an either/or dichotomy (as a couple of people pointed out), my intention was to identify two impulses that - while not always divorced - stem from somewhat different motivations and objectives.
What’s far more interesting than my question is the resulting discussion - 66 comments long (at the current count), which amounts to a shared collaboration between myself and everyone who partcipated. The point of my question was to obtain some concrete statements about how each of us perceives what we’re engaging in (with my question as a starting point).
I’m not sure what it is about the nature of Friend Feed that’s inspiring this much participation but it’s a very promising result in comparison with other similar services/tools like Twitter. I’m not saying FF is an alternative to these other services but that it functions in a very different way. Like Steve Rubel and others, I’m impressed.
NOTES:
Social networking theory posits a number of basic motivations for engaging in any social network. Chief among these is status seeking in the form of exchange of “gifts.” In the case of online social networks, the gift is information and content that we feel has value.
That said, status seeking is only ONE of many reasons people engage in social network activity. I’d argue that personal self expression predominates among the people I engage - those who wish to share something about their values, beliefs, interests and vision. That may well have value for me in the form of inspiration, pleasure and insight but it seems less motivated by the desire for status than authentic expression of self.
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