Trendspotting: Impact of Facebook on Consumption, Behaviour, and Culture

Facebook is just not about connecting people who work, study, and live around them. The impact of Facebook is much more than just connecting, or killing time, or increase in data/Internet usage. The best yardstick to understand the importance of Facebook is that every marketer wants Facebook as part of their marketing plan. Trust marketers to know what works and what is impactful or not :-)

Broadly, the impact of Facebook on the users and the society can be categorized into 3 types - Material, Behavioural, and Cultural

Material:
The material impact of Facebook is all about increased consumption and buying. There is an artificial need that is created by the Facebook offerings in terms of its default features or the popular third party applications. Couple of popular consumption/buying pattern that I see amongst my friends on Facebook is in terms of purchase of Cameras (especially high end cameras) and the increase in travel.

While there could be various reasons for the increased sale of cameras (lower cost, and less complexity in use being some of the primary reasons)… I strongly think that inclination to have photographic equipments that would take better quality pictures so that one can share it on Facebook is also driving the sales of digital cameras. One of the oft heard remarks when photographs are being taken is…. “Click a nice picture of mine, so that I can upload it onto Facebook and share”. The product integration of GPS and the ability to share it on Facebook directly are the best reflection of the impact of Facebook on the sale of digital cameras.
Another consumption pattern we can see is increased travel. Every travel has a purpose. Facebook increases the intention for travel. On a personal front, I’ve seen friends in my Facebook network who have planned to travel to places that they got interested in because someone else in the network had posted pictures or mentioned about that place in length. Another trend that is happening because of Facebook is increased alumni/old students meet, friends reunion and group meets/events….all these Facebook activities thus creates more meeting opportunities in real life and hence increased reasons to travel

Behavioural:
While it is still very early days to see a visible impact, there is a subtle but sure impact of Facebook happening on the human behaviour. As more and more people start using Facebook, and the Facebook profile becomes the default profile of the user… people would start mapping their real life behaviour with the impact it would create on their online profile and vice versa.
Some instances on human behavioural impact are:
• People would become more truthful
• Increased compulsive buying behaviour – due to network and peer pressure
• Increased stress – as interactions becomes more and more virtual, it would cause friction in real world interactions
Few months back, a colleague of mine took leave saying she was not well and have to undergo a minor surgery. Two days later she updated her Facebook with party pictures that was taken a day after the ‘surgery’. It would have got unnoticed by her manager, had not someone common to them both tagged her photo. When confronted, she had to accept that she was lying about the surgery bit…though she insists that she was not well (at least on the proposed surgery day). Well, as more and more of your private life gets into the public space, it would become virtually (no pun) impossible to differentiate one from other. Since the chance of lie getting exposed increases, people would tend to be more truthful
Compulsive buying behaviour is mostly driven by peer pressure and identity seeking. Facebook as a platform is an ideal breeding ground for both. The examples given earlier in the increased consumption would also be due to the compulsive buying behaviour. As people get more detailed about their lives on Facebook – My new red Handbag, my new blue shoes…or the Chinese food @the Oriental hotel photos…it triggers consumption cravings amongst others in the network and thus increasing the compulsive buying behaviour. An outcome of this is a new trend that marketers are picking up is ‘Social Buying’
The truth is that it is two different worlds. One more standardized, fast, process oriented, and with clear cause and effect model…while the real world is slow paced, messy and very unpredictable. As humans start spending more time in the online space, they start feeling stressed when they are confronted by the real-life instances that does not have a predictable cause and effect outcome.

Cultural:
Facebook impacts not only the individual user behaviour but also the society at large. Mass Media have always played an important role in shaping the popular culture. One of the most quoted example is how Fijian women started dieting because of advent of TV.
Facebook as a platform is a meeting point of various people, with vastly different customs, beliefs and way of life. It is also about expanding one’s network with people with similar interest and viewpoints. And one of the core values of Facebook is – freedom of expression. It is support of such desire for freedom of expression and the ease at which it can be adopted by a huge number of people across countries at a short time that would help Facebook impact the society. A recent and continuing example is how Facebook played a crucial role in bringing the people of Tunisia together, and thus bringing rise to the Arab Spring….which by now, we all know, has taken a gigantic and myriad shape, across countries with various objectives.
Facebook would impact various local cultures to create a transnational global culture and constant consumption of information that is more social in nature – ambient awareness

Facebook is growing at a phenomenal pace. The growth is mostly from countries that have low Internet penetration… thus there is a huge potential of more people getting onto Facebook, and the impact of Facebook would only multiply

With references from:
Friends update in my Facebook network
Lady Greenfield on social networking sites and your health
Insead.edu
NYtimes.com

Trendspotting: Impact of Facebook on Consumption, Behaviour, and Culture

Facebook is just not about connecting people who work, study, and live around them. The impact of Facebook is much more than just connecting, or killing time, or increase in data/Internet usage. The best yardstick to understand the importance of Facebook is that every marketer wants Facebook as part of their marketing plan. Trust marketers to know what works and what is impactful or not :-)

Broadly, the impact of Facebook on the users and the society can be categorized into 3 types - Material, Behavioural, and Cultural

Material:
The material impact of Facebook is all about increased consumption and buying. There is an artificial need that is created by the Facebook offerings in terms of its default features or the popular third party applications. Couple of popular consumption/buying pattern that I see amongst my friends on Facebook is in terms of purchase of Cameras (especially high end cameras) and the increase in travel.

While there could be various reasons for the increased sale of cameras (lower cost, and less complexity in use being some of the primary reasons)… I strongly think that inclination to have photographic equipments that would take better quality pictures so that one can share it on Facebook is also driving the sales of digital cameras. One of the oft heard remarks when photographs are being taken is…. “Click a nice picture of mine, so that I can upload it onto Facebook and share”. The product integration of GPS and the ability to share it on Facebook directly are the best reflection of the impact of Facebook on the sale of digital cameras.
Another consumption pattern we can see is increased travel. Every travel has a purpose. Facebook increases the intention for travel. On a personal front, I’ve seen friends in my Facebook network who have planned to travel to places that they got interested in because someone else in the network had posted pictures or mentioned about that place in length. Another trend that is happening because of Facebook is increased alumni/old students meet, friends reunion and group meets/events….all these Facebook activities thus creates more meeting opportunities in real life and hence increased reasons to travel

Behavioural:
While it is still very early days to see a visible impact, there is a subtle but sure impact of Facebook happening on the human behaviour. As more and more people start using Facebook, and the Facebook profile becomes the default profile of the user… people would start mapping their real life behaviour with the impact it would create on their online profile and vice versa.
Some instances on human behavioural impact are:
• People would become more truthful
• Increased compulsive buying behaviour – due to network and peer pressure
• Increased stress – as interactions becomes more and more virtual, it would cause friction in real world interactions
Few months back, a colleague of mine took leave saying she was not well and have to undergo a minor surgery. Two days later she updated her Facebook with party pictures that was taken a day after the ‘surgery’. It would have got unnoticed by her manager, had not someone common to them both tagged her photo. When confronted, she had to accept that she was lying about the surgery bit…though she insists that she was not well (at least on the proposed surgery day). Well, as more and more of your private life gets into the public space, it would become virtually (no pun) impossible to differentiate one from other. Since the chance of lie getting exposed increases, people would tend to be more truthful
Compulsive buying behaviour is mostly driven by peer pressure and identity seeking. Facebook as a platform is an ideal breeding ground for both. The examples given earlier in the increased consumption would also be due to the compulsive buying behaviour. As people get more detailed about their lives on Facebook – My new red Handbag, my new blue shoes…or the Chinese food @the Oriental hotel photos…it triggers consumption cravings amongst others in the network and thus increasing the compulsive buying behaviour. An outcome of this is a new trend that marketers are picking up is ‘Social Buying’
The truth is that it is two different worlds. One more standardized, fast, process oriented, and with clear cause and effect model…while the real world is slow paced, messy and very unpredictable. As humans start spending more time in the online space, they start feeling stressed when they are confronted by the real-life instances that does not have a predictable cause and effect outcome.

Cultural:
Facebook impacts not only the individual user behaviour but also the society at large. Mass Media have always played an important role in shaping the popular culture. One of the most quoted example is how Fijian women started dieting because of advent of TV.
Facebook as a platform is a meeting point of various people, with vastly different customs, beliefs and way of life. It is also about expanding one’s network with people with similar interest and viewpoints. And one of the core values of Facebook is – freedom of expression. It is support of such desire for freedom of expression and the ease at which it can be adopted by a huge number of people across countries at a short time that would help Facebook impact the society. A recent and continuing example is how Facebook played a crucial role in bringing the people of Tunisia together, and thus bringing rise to the Arab Spring….which by now, we all know, has taken a gigantic and myriad shape, across countries with various objectives.
Facebook would impact various local cultures to create a transnational global culture and constant consumption of information that is more social in nature – ambient awareness

Facebook is growing at a phenomenal pace. The growth is mostly from countries that have low Internet penetration… thus there is a huge potential of more people getting onto Facebook, and the impact of Facebook would only multiply

With references from:
Friends update in my Facebook network
Lady Greenfield on social networking sites and your health
Insead.edu
NYtimes.com

Trendspotting: Impact of Facebook on Consumption, Behaviour, and Culture

Facebook is just not about connecting people who work, study, and live around them. The impact of Facebook is much more than just connecting, or killing time, or increase in data/Internet usage. The best yardstick to understand the importance of Facebook is that every marketer wants Facebook as part of their marketing plan. Trust marketers to know what works and what is impactful or not :-)

Broadly, the impact of Facebook on the users and the society can be categorized into 3 types - Material, Behavioural, and Cultural

Material:
The material impact of Facebook is all about increased consumption and buying. There is an artificial need that is created by the Facebook offerings in terms of its default features or the popular third party applications. Couple of popular consumption/buying pattern that I see amongst my friends on Facebook is in terms of purchase of Cameras (especially high end cameras) and the increase in travel.

While there could be various reasons for the increased sale of cameras (lower cost, and less complexity in use being some of the primary reasons)… I strongly think that inclination to have photographic equipments that would take better quality pictures so that one can share it on Facebook is also driving the sales of digital cameras. One of the oft heard remarks when photographs are being taken is…. “Click a nice picture of mine, so that I can upload it onto Facebook and share”. The product integration of GPS and the ability to share it on Facebook directly are the best reflection of the impact of Facebook on the sale of digital cameras.
Another consumption pattern we can see is increased travel. Every travel has a purpose. Facebook increases the intention for travel. On a personal front, I’ve seen friends in my Facebook network who have planned to travel to places that they got interested in because someone else in the network had posted pictures or mentioned about that place in length. Another trend that is happening because of Facebook is increased alumni/old students meet, friends reunion and group meets/events….all these Facebook activities thus creates more meeting opportunities in real life and hence increased reasons to travel

Behavioural:
While it is still very early days to see a visible impact, there is a subtle but sure impact of Facebook happening on the human behaviour. As more and more people start using Facebook, and the Facebook profile becomes the default profile of the user… people would start mapping their real life behaviour with the impact it would create on their online profile and vice versa.
Some instances on human behavioural impact are:
• People would become more truthful
• Increased compulsive buying behaviour – due to network and peer pressure
• Increased stress – as interactions becomes more and more virtual, it would cause friction in real world interactions
Few months back, a colleague of mine took leave saying she was not well and have to undergo a minor surgery. Two days later she updated her Facebook with party pictures that was taken a day after the ‘surgery’. It would have got unnoticed by her manager, had not someone common to them both tagged her photo. When confronted, she had to accept that she was lying about the surgery bit…though she insists that she was not well (at least on the proposed surgery day). Well, as more and more of your private life gets into the public space, it would become virtually (no pun) impossible to differentiate one from other. Since the chance of lie getting exposed increases, people would tend to be more truthful
Compulsive buying behaviour is mostly driven by peer pressure and identity seeking. Facebook as a platform is an ideal breeding ground for both. The examples given earlier in the increased consumption would also be due to the compulsive buying behaviour. As people get more detailed about their lives on Facebook – My new red Handbag, my new blue shoes…or the Chinese food @the Oriental hotel photos…it triggers consumption cravings amongst others in the network and thus increasing the compulsive buying behaviour. An outcome of this is a new trend that marketers are picking up is ‘Social Buying’
The truth is that it is two different worlds. One more standardized, fast, process oriented, and with clear cause and effect model…while the real world is slow paced, messy and very unpredictable. As humans start spending more time in the online space, they start feeling stressed when they are confronted by the real-life instances that does not have a predictable cause and effect outcome.

Cultural:
Facebook impacts not only the individual user behaviour but also the society at large. Mass Media have always played an important role in shaping the popular culture. One of the most quoted example is how Fijian women started dieting because of advent of TV.
Facebook as a platform is a meeting point of various people, with vastly different customs, beliefs and way of life. It is also about expanding one’s network with people with similar interest and viewpoints. And one of the core values of Facebook is – freedom of expression. It is support of such desire for freedom of expression and the ease at which it can be adopted by a huge number of people across countries at a short time that would help Facebook impact the society. A recent and continuing example is how Facebook played a crucial role in bringing the people of Tunisia together, and thus bringing rise to the Arab Spring….which by now, we all know, has taken a gigantic and myriad shape, across countries with various objectives.
Facebook would impact various local cultures to create a transnational global culture and constant consumption of information that is more social in nature – ambient awareness

Facebook is growing at a phenomenal pace. The growth is mostly from countries that have low Internet penetration… thus there is a huge potential of more people getting onto Facebook, and the impact of Facebook would only multiply

With references from:
Friends update in my Facebook network
Lady Greenfield on social networking sites and your health
Insead.edu
NYtimes.com

Has Social Media come of age?

One of the main characteristic of any mass media is its ability to impact the society. Be it the newspapers, television or radio, each had played its part, in terms of changing views and shaping the society.

In the recent past, there have been many news articles about the impact of social media in the civil society movements… Be it Coffee Party in America, The elections in Iran, the civil movements in Tunisia, Egypt (#Twitterrevolution) and other Arab countries...or, closer home, the Team Anna’s anti corruption movement in India…. Social media usage has become an important tactic in terms of spreading awareness and mobilizing support.

The question is - has social media come of age?

If you look at the history of mass media… it has always been associated with politics. In fact, it is referred to as “fourth estate”, the other 3 being Executive, Legislative, and Judicial. Traditional mass media was and has been controlled by a few (Just imagine, more than 90% of mass media consumed in the US is owned by just 6 media companies), and is limited by its ‘real estate’ – print area, bandwidth, or time… Mass media has always been used as a mass communication system to reach the public.

The relatively new Social Media however is built on a different model. The characteristic of social media is that it is not limited by any ‘real estate’, and more importantly is a mass communication system for the public. On the same platform, one can either broadcast or send a personal message.
There are 3 distinctive features for any mass media –

- The reach
- The information
- Influence on the people/society

The Reach:

The Internet boom took place in most countries during the mid 90’s. Majority of the social media consumers are the people who grew up with the Internet. Of the 640 Million Facebook users, more than 70% of the users are under 34 years…and close to 50% of the users under 25 years (source: checkfacebook.com). According to worldinternetstats.com, there are 2.1 Billion internet users in the world. If we assume that at-least 40% of these users are on social media, we are talking about close to 800 Million users globally. Looking at the sheer numbers, the social media surely fits into being called a mass media

The information:

Any mass media is known by the quantity and quality of information it disperses. Nobody can doubt the quantity of the information… be it a foursquare update on one’s check-in into a local bakery, or a Facebook update of a traffic jam on your way to work, or a tweet about environmental impact of discarded laptop batteries, linking to a blog or YouTube video..there are millions of such updates happening every minute, globally

But, when it comes to quality of information, most of the stuff seen in social media is found wanting. It is known fact, that ‘noise’ is the biggest factor that impacts effective flow of communication. In the traditional media, information flows from a professional few, and a lot of ‘filters’ before it is actually transmitted to the users… But in social media, the number of professionals and the reason for filters do not exist. Hence, there is a lot of information created, but very little percentage of that is of substance… It is early days of social media, but ‘filters’ for information has already begun… be it the search engine algorithms, or the social bookmarks, or user reviews… it is just a matter of time, before the perfect mouse trap in terms of social media filters is created

Influence on the society:

The influence of mass media shapes our concepts of who we are, what is important to us, and how we live our life. Majority of the social media users are the youth. Most information in the social media is created by the youth for the youth. Where as in today’s world the society is being led and shaped by people with experience. Most Decision Maker’s in our society still belong to the classic era of media, and have only adapted to social media (or for that matter, Internet) pretty late. However, the divisional lines between traditional media and social media are diffusing. It is a world of convergence media; Where-in each media feeds of the other for information seeking and broadcasting… You’ll find traditional media tweeting about their articles and liberally seeking information from other people’s tweets… so too, you will find tweets and updates based on the information the user gets from print, TV or radio.

So while, in today’s context, social media may not directly influence the society at large… it can indirectly influence the people who influence the society… (eg. the traditional media). However, as more and more internet generation people becomes decision makers…the impact of social media on the society and popular culture would become strong

So has social media truly come of age?? I’d dare say, yes. However, there are some things that social media needs to overcome to be accepted as a powerful and influential medium by all… The concentration of the users should not be skewed to few locations, there should be stronger filters to reduce the noises, and more importantly wait for few more years

Cheers

Santosh

Has Social Media come of age?

One of the main characteristic of any mass media is its ability to impact the society. Be it the newspapers, television or radio, each had played its part, in terms of changing views and shaping the society.

In the recent past, there have been many news articles about the impact of social media in the civil society movements… Be it Coffee Party in America, The elections in Iran, the civil movements in Tunisia, Egypt (#Twitterrevolution) and other Arab countries...or, closer home, the Team Anna’s anti corruption movement in India…. Social media usage has become an important tactic in terms of spreading awareness and mobilizing support.

The question is - has social media come of age?

If you look at the history of mass media… it has always been associated with politics. In fact, it is referred to as “fourth estate”, the other 3 being Executive, Legislative, and Judicial. Traditional mass media was and has been controlled by a few (Just imagine, more than 90% of mass media consumed in the US is owned by just 6 media companies), and is limited by its ‘real estate’ – print area, bandwidth, or time… Mass media has always been used as a mass communication system to reach the public.

The relatively new Social Media however is built on a different model. The characteristic of social media is that it is not limited by any ‘real estate’, and more importantly is a mass communication system for the public. On the same platform, one can either broadcast or send a personal message.
There are 3 distinctive features for any mass media –

- The reach
- The information
- Influence on the people/society

The Reach:

The Internet boom took place in most countries during the mid 90’s. Majority of the social media consumers are the people who grew up with the Internet. Of the 640 Million Facebook users, more than 70% of the users are under 34 years…and close to 50% of the users under 25 years (source: checkfacebook.com). According to worldinternetstats.com, there are 2.1 Billion internet users in the world. If we assume that at-least 40% of these users are on social media, we are talking about close to 800 Million users globally. Looking at the sheer numbers, the social media surely fits into being called a mass media

The information:

Any mass media is known by the quantity and quality of information it disperses. Nobody can doubt the quantity of the information… be it a foursquare update on one’s check-in into a local bakery, or a Facebook update of a traffic jam on your way to work, or a tweet about environmental impact of discarded laptop batteries, linking to a blog or YouTube video..there are millions of such updates happening every minute, globally

But, when it comes to quality of information, most of the stuff seen in social media is found wanting. It is known fact, that ‘noise’ is the biggest factor that impacts effective flow of communication. In the traditional media, information flows from a professional few, and a lot of ‘filters’ before it is actually transmitted to the users… But in social media, the number of professionals and the reason for filters do not exist. Hence, there is a lot of information created, but very little percentage of that is of substance… It is early days of social media, but ‘filters’ for information has already begun… be it the search engine algorithms, or the social bookmarks, or user reviews… it is just a matter of time, before the perfect mouse trap in terms of social media filters is created

Influence on the society:

The influence of mass media shapes our concepts of who we are, what is important to us, and how we live our life. Majority of the social media users are the youth. Most information in the social media is created by the youth for the youth. Where as in today’s world the society is being led and shaped by people with experience. Most Decision Maker’s in our society still belong to the classic era of media, and have only adapted to social media (or for that matter, Internet) pretty late. However, the divisional lines between traditional media and social media are diffusing. It is a world of convergence media; Where-in each media feeds of the other for information seeking and broadcasting… You’ll find traditional media tweeting about their articles and liberally seeking information from other people’s tweets… so too, you will find tweets and updates based on the information the user gets from print, TV or radio.

So while, in today’s context, social media may not directly influence the society at large… it can indirectly influence the people who influence the society… (eg. the traditional media). However, as more and more internet generation people becomes decision makers…the impact of social media on the society and popular culture would become strong

So has social media truly come of age?? I’d dare say, yes. However, there are some things that social media needs to overcome to be accepted as a powerful and influential medium by all… The concentration of the users should not be skewed to few locations, there should be stronger filters to reduce the noises, and more importantly wait for few more years

Cheers

Santosh

Has Social Media come of age?

One of the main characteristic of any mass media is its ability to impact the society. Be it the newspapers, television or radio, each had played its part, in terms of changing views and shaping the society.

In the recent past, there have been many news articles about the impact of social media in the civil society movements… Be it Coffee Party in America, The elections in Iran, the civil movements in Tunisia, Egypt (#Twitterrevolution) and other Arab countries...or, closer home, the Team Anna’s anti corruption movement in India…. Social media usage has become an important tactic in terms of spreading awareness and mobilizing support.

The question is - has social media come of age?

If you look at the history of mass media… it has always been associated with politics. In fact, it is referred to as “fourth estate”, the other 3 being Executive, Legislative, and Judicial. Traditional mass media was and has been controlled by a few (Just imagine, more than 90% of mass media consumed in the US is owned by just 6 media companies), and is limited by its ‘real estate’ – print area, bandwidth, or time… Mass media has always been used as a mass communication system to reach the public.

The relatively new Social Media however is built on a different model. The characteristic of social media is that it is not limited by any ‘real estate’, and more importantly is a mass communication system for the public. On the same platform, one can either broadcast or send a personal message.
There are 3 distinctive features for any mass media –

- The reach
- The information
- Influence on the people/society

The Reach:

The Internet boom took place in most countries during the mid 90’s. Majority of the social media consumers are the people who grew up with the Internet. Of the 640 Million Facebook users, more than 70% of the users are under 34 years…and close to 50% of the users under 25 years (source: checkfacebook.com). According to worldinternetstats.com, there are 2.1 Billion internet users in the world. If we assume that at-least 40% of these users are on social media, we are talking about close to 800 Million users globally. Looking at the sheer numbers, the social media surely fits into being called a mass media

The information:

Any mass media is known by the quantity and quality of information it disperses. Nobody can doubt the quantity of the information… be it a foursquare update on one’s check-in into a local bakery, or a Facebook update of a traffic jam on your way to work, or a tweet about environmental impact of discarded laptop batteries, linking to a blog or YouTube video..there are millions of such updates happening every minute, globally

But, when it comes to quality of information, most of the stuff seen in social media is found wanting. It is known fact, that ‘noise’ is the biggest factor that impacts effective flow of communication. In the traditional media, information flows from a professional few, and a lot of ‘filters’ before it is actually transmitted to the users… But in social media, the number of professionals and the reason for filters do not exist. Hence, there is a lot of information created, but very little percentage of that is of substance… It is early days of social media, but ‘filters’ for information has already begun… be it the search engine algorithms, or the social bookmarks, or user reviews… it is just a matter of time, before the perfect mouse trap in terms of social media filters is created

Influence on the society:

The influence of mass media shapes our concepts of who we are, what is important to us, and how we live our life. Majority of the social media users are the youth. Most information in the social media is created by the youth for the youth. Where as in today’s world the society is being led and shaped by people with experience. Most Decision Maker’s in our society still belong to the classic era of media, and have only adapted to social media (or for that matter, Internet) pretty late. However, the divisional lines between traditional media and social media are diffusing. It is a world of convergence media; Where-in each media feeds of the other for information seeking and broadcasting… You’ll find traditional media tweeting about their articles and liberally seeking information from other people’s tweets… so too, you will find tweets and updates based on the information the user gets from print, TV or radio.

So while, in today’s context, social media may not directly influence the society at large… it can indirectly influence the people who influence the society… (eg. the traditional media). However, as more and more internet generation people becomes decision makers…the impact of social media on the society and popular culture would become strong

So has social media truly come of age?? I’d dare say, yes. However, there are some things that social media needs to overcome to be accepted as a powerful and influential medium by all… The concentration of the users should not be skewed to few locations, there should be stronger filters to reduce the noises, and more importantly wait for few more years

Cheers

Santosh