Growing fanatacism with social networking
Upon joining any social networking website, one runs the risk of becoming a part of a growing trend of fanaticism. This goes along with my last blog posting of social networking addiction, but takes it one step further. Try the experiment for yourself and see what the outcome is.
Lets take for example my recent dabbling of the website Foursquare. This is a newly created site that allows the user to “check in” at various local businesses and discover what friends in their network may also be at that same business. Along the way, the user can collect points and claim “mayorships” of the business. Interesting concept and one that is quickly becoming popular. Keep in mind this is all fictitious and there are no monetary rewards nor is there any real claim to fame besides leading your respective city in points week after week. I had used the site for about two months, visiting businesses and earning points and mayorships. It started out as more of a fun game and a good way to gain exposure to those businesses and make new networking contacts.
What I soon discovered was that this “game” was being taken so seriously by other users, that there was actually a community board that posted various gripes and complaints about other users on the site. Cult followers of this website, actually campaigned to create mutinity and dismount other “players” and wreak havoc among the social network, claiming that cheating was occurring and making false accusations and almost getting to a point of stalking a users online presence. The point of all of this was so outrageous and off base, it made no sense whatsoever. I was so disgusted by this behavior and what I witnessed on this website, that I decided to quit the website and not use those types of networking tools. What was supposed to be a fun way to network, turned into a social media nightmare.
I had a similar instance in the past with Linkedin years ago, where users tried to slander my network connection success, even going as far as calling my place of work to taunt me. The reasoning behind this dispicable behavior is mind boggling.
This goes way beyond what I ever thought could happen with social networking. However it taught me how important the protection of our virtual reputation is. I was brought to the realization that as social networking becomes popular, so does fanatacism of these sites. Certain members are taking the websites so seriously, they are missing the point of the big picture. These sites were established to broaden networks and create a fresher, funner way to possibly meet people outside of the internet all well growing a community of friendly users. What the fanatics do is take this one step further and almost try and overprotect a system they had no hand in setting up. They become so overly obsessed with the idea that they create a haven of users that disrupt the even keel of the sites.
The fixation of becoming the most popular or gaining online social status or reputation is what is ruining social media today. Going back to my example above, these points and mayorships used in that particular website were of no worth to the member. It was only to become a more reputable user on the website that these fanatics wanted. I suspect we will see more of this as this phemonenom grows. This behavior will drive users away from certain sites and popularity will diminish as these fanatical users hold down their cults.
For now I would warn anyone discovering new websites that as with everything there is risk. I never would have guessed that what started out as a simple, enjoyable way to meet people, would have turned into a possible blow to my online social reputation. As social networking addiction increases, I predict we will see much more of this. The social networking fanatics and nuts will always be lurking, waiting to come out of the woodwork.
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In my view this is always a risk in social networks. We saw the same things with email, chat, etc. Some sites are designed in ways that discourage or prevent this kind of behavior, others allow it due to the way their concept is presented. This could become a real problem for Foursquare.
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