WHY SHUT UP?

I joined a new website last week called Foursquare, which allows members to announce when they visit businesses exactly what time this occurs. The announcement is not only broadcasted to the entire community on the site but can also be tweeted and added to a Facebook profile. Point are accrued the more you visit businesses and also a Mayorship is earned when you visit the business more then once on different days. As I mentioned in a previous posting, this will eventually change consumerism and give businesses a gauge on customer flow. An interesting concept and I predict one that will become popular just like Twitter and Facebook.

However, what I notice with websites like this popping up, and what I notice about this particular site is that in general, this is another way for the ordinary nobody to be noticed and earn a “virtual reputation”. This is a concept that becoming second nature to social networking sites. It is not about the simple concept of building a network for assistance, business purposes, sharing information etc. It is almost a game of who can become the more popular person on each site via connections and in this websites case, points and mayorships.

So what is the point you ask? I read an article that defined the psychology of tweeting and Facebooking and buidling networks on social media websites. It compared these actions to that of compulsive shoppers, buying something just to satisfy that craving or rush of getting something new, even if they didn’t need it. Adding friends, becoming a member of millions of groups, tweeting tons of useless tweets is not to please the users network, but to satisfy this addiction of staying on top and accomplishing a daily task. I am always seeing someone on Twitter saying “good morning…having my coffee”. Tweeting has become a ritual for all of us that are on the site, like grabbing the morning paper or turning on the news. Getting out an initial tweet is a duty we regularly accomplish. Just like now users are going to be fumbling for their IPhones or Blackberry’s to “Check In” on Foursquare whenever they visit a business.

I read the story this week about the mother that Facebooked about her child dying as it happened. She is getting more grief regarding this with reason. What I see with Facebook is the addicts, updating their profile status with useless nonesense thinking that anyone in their network or anyone else’s for that matter really cares that they just got out of the shower or just cooked dinner. In the mind of the Facebook addict, I presume they don’t care what anyone thinks, this is just their way of satisfying their own daily ritual. This concept has gotten way out of hand I notice as more and more people join and take part in Facebook.

But how far will this go? Will these websites create a society of social networking addicts? Will Tweeting and Facebooking decline or get worse? As technology becomes even more savvy, there are going to be newer and newer ways for users to update these sites on the go. Do people care where I am or what I am doing all times of the day? Personal privacy is out the window when you are checking in that you are at various locations.

My theory is that people that engage heavily into social networking, have a craving to fill a void somewhere in their lives. They may be lonely or not have a “real” friends network to share things with or be unhappy with their lives. They may have been a social misfit or their self esteem is low. With social networking, the person can become as popular and as friendly as they want to be well hiding behind their computer or smart phone. Becoming a virtual Mayor of a business or Facebooking about unhappy events in their lives is another way to express dependence on a controlled cyber audience. There is nothing wrong with this, just that it proves a point of just how far will social networking push the envelope to further please these users?

What the future holds for social media is anyone’s game. With developers proposing new ideas and blending networking into everyday life, this may be the new addiction as television was in the past. Soon you will see clinics for “Dependency on Facebook and Twitter” and possible detox centers where users are locked away from these websites for a period of time. I hope this is controlled so it never comes to this but you never know.

Tags: addiction, dependency, facebook, foursquare, social media, social networking, tweeting, twitter

This entry was posted by Matthew Liptak on Wednesday, December 30th, 2009 at 10:29 am and is filed under social networking. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.