The document discusses why someone's mother may be on Facebook and want to friend their ex. It notes that goals on social media are often nothing useful and focus on consuming content for entertainment rather than productivity. Tactics can include posting affiliate links or comments to drive traffic without contributing valuable information. The document also examines collaboration, connections, and how increasing unrelated social connections on platforms like Facebook may not correlate with increased productivity.
why anyone friend anyone online?\nyou could say that online social networks exist to answer a simple need of humans in the modern age…\n
‘what’s in it for me?’ them? you? your mom?\nmake money / play Farmville\nshows what, not WHY\nreverse engineer what people do\nfind why they’re on Facebook\n
companies use this - but this is what marketers do\nTHIS doesn’t match what people want - only what businesses want\npeople motivators into 5 different drivers\n
trained to be consumers\nTV - radio\nsocial network platforms - choices to consume\n
info at fingertips not just homogenized mass media\ntwitter celebrities, cooking / youtube, tech blogs \nyour mom - dating “that guy” - Facebook relationship status\n
online media - not replace traditional\nshift to replace the container, not the content\nincreased drive to consume - someone has to be making all this content\n
online network ‘carte blanche’ to create our own\ndream it / make it / say it\nno more waiting for Oprah / be your own show\n
blog / cat herding\nvideo / travel\ntwitter / stuff your dad says\n
creating fills the need to define ourselves, show who we are\ncreate for ourselves / friends family\ndigital soapbox and shout our thoughts to the world\n
and then the world gets to shout back at us\n$0.02 / opinion -- instant gratification on feedback\nparticipate in conversation -- join in the cocktail party\n
comments / blog post & FB status\nchatting during live events on ustream or CNN\nyour mom comment on your FB photo / gained 10 lbs\n...why contribute?\n
show that we are useful, valuable, we belong\nraise hand/voice & participate\nsuggestions, contribute ideas, give feedback\n
leads us to collaboration\nbrainstorming / teamwork / working together on projects / do something BIG\nso that the result: the whole is greater than the sum of the parts\n
fundraising / PTA to raise money for class trip\nvideo games / clan to help with boss fight\nsocial / mom & girlfriends looking for a blind date for you\n
why collaborate?\nto be part of something bigger than ourselves\nto achieve what they can’t on their own\nmany aspire to do great things, \n
be a tribe - not meant to be alone\nshared interest / goal\nfind love / money\n
scariest part of all, reaching out and saying i want to get to know you, friend/like/follow/connect\nonline networks not meant to replace our lives, but enhance them\n
being connected is a very strong motivator online\nwe all want to be part of something / community\nto be accepted and acknowledged ... to be liked\n
Woman 45+ (your mom) are most responsible for growth in social networking site usage\nwhy on FB?\n consume\n create\n contribute\n collaborate\n … and connect\n
if that doesn’t tell you why your mom wants to friend your ex - go with the obvious...\nsocial networking kittens sometimes grow up to be cougars and you ex is now fair prey\n