Why do people use social media? How does it affect social networks and social capital? How does information spread in social media?

1. Social Media
Ida Aalen
UiO
• July 22nd 2013

2. Social Media
Ida Aalen
UiO
July 22nd 2013

3. Masters degree in Media, communication and IT
from NTNU
Interaction designer at Netlife Research
Hi, my name is
Ida Aalen

4. @idaAa
aalen.ida@gmail.com
http://idaaalen.wordpress.com
Questions?

5. Agenda 9.15-10.00
• What is social media?
• How and why does social
media spread?
• How does social media
affect our social networks?
10.15-11.00
• Communication and
interaction in social media
• How does information
spread?

6. Photo: Harald Bøhn CC-BY-NC-SA

10. 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
All Norwegian Internet-users 9-15 years 16-24 years 25-44 years 45-64 years 67-79 years
Source: SSB

11. 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
13
26
39
47
51
58
All Norwegian Internet-users 9-15 years 16-24 years 25-44 years 45-64 years 67-79 years
Source: SSB

12. 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
13
26
39
47
51
58
18
37
55
52 52
63
All Norwegian Internet-users 9-15 years 16-24 years 25-44 years 45-64 years 67-79 years
Source: SSB

13. 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
13
26
39
47
51
58
18
37
55
52 52
63
30
65
70
83 83 84
All Norwegian Internet-users 9-15 years 16-24 years 25-44 years 45-64 years 67-79 years
Source: SSB

14. 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
13
26
39
47
51
58
18
37
55
52 52
63
30
65
70
83 83 84
13
23
46
55
61
69
All Norwegian Internet-users 9-15 years 16-24 years 25-44 years 45-64 years 67-79 years
Source: SSB

15. 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
13
26
39
47
51
58
18
37
55
52 52
63
30
65
70
83 83 84
13
23
46
55
61
69
2
5
13
22
30
40
All Norwegian Internet-users 9-15 years 16-24 years 25-44 years 45-64 years 67-79 years
Source: SSB

16. 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
13
26
39
47
51
58
18
37
55
52 52
63
30
65
70
83 83 84
13
23
46
55
61
69
2
5
13
22
30
40
0 1
3
15
11
17
All Norwegian Internet-users 9-15 years 16-24 years 25-44 years 45-64 years 67-79 years
Source: SSB

17. Twitter Blink
Myspace Nettby
Windows Live Spaces LinkedIn
Facebook Google+
Instagram
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
Q1-07 Q2-07 Q3-07 Q4-07 Q1-08 Q2-08 Q3-08 Q4-08 Q1-09 Q2-09 Q3-09 Q4-09 Q1-10 Q2-10 Q3-10 Q4-10 Q1-11 Q2-11 Q3-11 Q4-11 Q1-12 Q2-12 Q3-12 Q4-12
Source: TNS Gallup

18. 300+ peer-
reviewed articles
on social media

19. 300+ peer-
reviewed articles
on social media
(Unfortunately:
mostly US
research)

21. Social media:
Definitions and
characteristics

22. Photo: Flickr-bruker D. CC-BY-NC-ND

23. Photo: Flickr-bruker postaletrice CC-BY-NC-ND

24. – What was once a sharp
break between two styles of
communicating is becoming
a smooth transition.
Clay Shirky
Here Comes Everybody, s. 86-87

25. • Telegraph
• Telefax
• E-mail and mailinglists
• Forums
• Text messaging
• Instant messaging
• Blogging
• Social networking sites
The speed and ease of
communication has
increased

26. A definition

27. – We define social network
sites as web-based services
that allow individuals to...
boyd & Ellison
Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 2007

28. – (1) construct a public or
semi-public profile within a
bounded system,
boyd & Ellison
Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 2007

29. – (2) articulate a list of other
users with whom they share
a connection,
boyd & Ellison
Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 2007

30. – and (3) view and traverse
their list of connections and
those made by others within
the system.
boyd & Ellison
Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 2007

31. When did
the first SNS
appear?

32. When did
the first SNS
appear?
1997
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2009
2010
SixDegrees
LiveJournal
LunarStorm
Cyworld
Friendster
LinkedIn
MySpace
Flickr
Facebook
YouTube
Twitter
FourSquare
Pinterest
Path

33. – Just as with the popular
website Friendster, which
Zuckerberg said was a
model for his new website,
The Harvard Crimson, 9. februar 2004

34. members can search for
people according to their
interests and can create an
online network of friends.
The Harvard Crimson, 9. februar 2004

35. How and why does
social networking sites
spread?

36. – It’s just that everybody else
is on Facebook so you’re
there too
Brandtzæg & Lüders, 2009: 51

37. – So now we have everybody
gathered [...] almost
everyone is on Facebook
now
Brandtzæg & Lüders, 2009: 51

38. – So now we have everybody
gathered [...] almost
everyone is on Facebook
now
Brandtzæg & Lüders, 2009: 51
Network
effects

40. Diffusion theory

42. Network
effects are
not always
that
important
• People may read your blog,
even if they don’t blog
• People may watch your
video, with out being
signed up for YouTube
• You can enjoy Wikipedia,
even if you don’t
contribute

43. Peer
pressure?
Facebook
• People suggested and
badgered friends to sign up
• Parents wanted to keep an
eye with their children
• Peer pressure is not
enough to make someone
an active user

44. Domestication theory
&
Social Construction of
Technology

45. Facebook every day
An idle week
30 minutes daily
A busy week
30 minutes daily

46. Information
Entertainment
Integration and
social interaction
Personal identity
McQuail
(1987)

47. • finding out about relevant
events and conditions in
immediate surroundings,
society and the world
• seeking advice on practical
matters or opinion and
decision choices
• satisfying curiosity and
general interest
• learning; self-education
• gaining a sense of security
through knowledge
Information

48. • gaining insight into
circumstances of others;
social empathy
• identifying with others and
gaining a sense of belonging
• finding a basis for
conversation and social
interaction
• having a substitute for real-
life companionship
• helping to carry out social
roles
• enabling one to connect with
family, friends and society
Integration
and social
interaction

49. • finding reinforcement for
personal values
• finding models of
behaviour
• identifying with valued
other (in the media)
• gaining insight into one's
self
Personal
Identity

50. • escaping, or being
diverted, from problems
• relaxing
• getting intrinsic cultural or
aesthetic enjoyment
• filling time
• emotional release
• sexual arousal
Entertain-
ment

51. Technology changes
quickly. People change
more slowly.

52. How does social media
affect our social
networks?

53. Six degrees of
separation?

54. Is our world
getting
smaller?
• 6 degrees between e-mail
users in 2001
• 6,6 degrees between
people chatting on MSN
Messenger in 2007
• 4,7 degrees between two
random Facebook users i
2011
• 3,4 degrees between two
random, active Twitter
users in 2011

55. Under 50 51-100 101-200 201-500 Over 500
0
10
20
30
40
2008
2009
2010
Brandtzæg & Nov (2011) - check out @PetterBB on Twitter
How many
Facebook-
friends have
Norwegians
got?

56. Under 50 51-100 101-200 201-500 Over 500
0
10
20
30
40
2008
2009
2010
Brandtzæg & Nov (2011) - check out @PetterBB on Twitter
How many
Facebook-
friends have
Norwegians
got?

57. Under 50 51-100 101-200 201-500 Over 500
0
10
20
30
40
2008
2009
2010
Brandtzæg & Nov (2011) - check out @PetterBB on Twitter
How many
Facebook-
friends have
Norwegians
got?

58. Under 50 51-100 101-200 201-500 Over 500
0
10
20
30
40
2008
2009
2010
Brandtzæg & Nov (2011) - check out @PetterBB on Twitter
How many
Facebook-
friends have
Norwegians
got?

59. Under 50 51-100 101-200 201-500 Over 500
0
10
20
30
40
2008
2009
2010
Brandtzæg & Nov (2011) - check out @PetterBB on Twitter
How many
Facebook-
friends have
Norwegians
got?
How many
Facebook-
friends have
you got?

60. – You can’t refuse... it’s a
complete ‘no-no’, a complete
slap in the face to like deny
anyone who wants to be
your friend
British student
Lewis & West (2009:1220)

61. – You can’t refuse... it’s a
complete ‘no-no’, a complete
slap in the face to like deny
anyone who wants to be
your friend
British student
Lewis & West (2009:1220)
Is this true
in your
country?

62. Accept Ignore

63. Accept Ignore
Norms vary
between
different social
media

64. We communicate only
with a minority of the
people we are
connected too.

65. Friends in
the “real”
world
• ≤ 5 in the inner circle
• ≤ 15 that you’re close with
• ≤ 50 people you
communicate with often
enough to know whats
going on in their lives
• ≤ 150 people you have
relations to
• ≤ 500 that you would say
hi or nod too
• ≤ 2000 faces that you can
recognize

66. What does this mean for
our social networks?

67. Strong ties
Two people with a close
connection, e.g. family or
friend
Weak ties
Acquiantances
No ties
...but might have ties in
common
Social
network
theory

68. People with greater and
more varied networks
have greater social
capital than people
with fewer and less
varied relations
Granovetter (1973)

69. Social capital are the
ressources a person
gain access to through
their relations to other
people
Bourdieu (1983), Ellison et al (2007), ++

70. Social media increases
social capital.
But you’re not likely to increase your number of close
friends.

71. Three
hypotheses
of what this
might
entail

72. Three
hypotheses
of what this
might
entail
The rich get richer
Popular people with become
more popular

73. Three
hypotheses
of what this
might
entail
The rich get richer
Popular people with become
more popular
The poor get richer
Shy or insecure individuals
will more easily connect with
others in online-based
communication

74. Three
hypotheses
of what this
might
entail
The rich get richer
Popular people with become
more popular
The poor get richer
Shy or insecure individuals
will more easily connect with
others in online-based
communication
The poor get poorer
Insecure people will use social
media instead of socializing
offline

75. What about people who
doesn’t use social
media?

76. What do
we know
about non-
users?
Myths
• Lacking technical
competence
• Asocial, insecure or
introverted
• Too busy

77. What do
we know
about non-
users?
Research
• Less interested in what
acquaintances are up to
• Dislike smalltalk, gossip
• Just as many close friends
as active users
• See social media as wasted
time
• More concerned about
privacy
• More focused on utility in
their use of Internet

78. What do
we know
about non-
users?
Research
• Less interested in what
acquaintances are up to
• Dislike smalltalk, gossip
• Just as many close friends
as active users
• See social media as wasted
time
• More concerned about
privacy
• More focused on utility in
their use of Internet
Do you
think this is
the case in
your home
country?

79. Life phase
Generation gap
vs.

80. Interaction and
communication i social
media

81. Why do people say so
much to so many in
social media? Why do
they expose
themselves?

82. Photo: Flickr-bruker jaime.silva CC-BY-NC-ND

83. This is more
difficult in
social
media
• It’s more difficult to tell
who your audience is
• It’s more difficult to
determine what the social
context is
• When you know neither
your audience nor the
context, it breakes down
the boundary between
private and public

84. Persistence

85. Searchability

86. Replicability

87. Invisible audiences

88. Persistence
Searchability
Replicability
Invisible audiences
See danah boyd

89. Context collapse
Even if you do know your audience, it can be hard to
decide how to act appropriately. Can you expose
yourself in the same way to grand parents, close and
distant friends, colleagues, former sweethearts, cusins
and people you don’t even really know?

90. – They have such hearty,
eventful lives, and document
it with pictures of children
with jam around their
mouth [...]
Aftenposten (12.03.2011)

91. – Something happend to us. A
silent transformation. When
we logged on Facebook, we
shook off the law of Jante
and became superheroes.
Aftenposten (12.03.2011)

92. Photo: Flickr-bruker sweenpole2001 CC-BY-NC-ND

93. Photo: Flickr-bruker SemperNovus CC-BY-NC-ND

94. Photo: Flickr-bruker Patrick Q CC-BY-NC-ND

95. Photo: Flickr-bruker Patrick Q CC-BY-NC-ND

96. Photo: Flickr-bruker SemperNovus CC-BY-NC-ND

97. Photo: Flickr-bruker Patrick Q CC-BY-NC-ND

98. Photo: Flickr-bruker Patrick Q CC-BY-NC-ND

99. Photo: Flickr-bruker jennandjon CC-BY-NC-ND

100. Photo: Flickr-bruker panavatar Q CC-BY-NC-ND

101. Photo: Flickr-bruker jennandjon CC-BY-NC-ND

102. Photo: Flickr-bruker jennandjon CC-BY-NC-ND

103. We have a need for
acceptance and
companionship.

104. ...but how pointless is
so-called pointless talk?

105. – Although phatic
communion is understood
as “talk that is aimless,
prefatory, obvious,
uninteresting, sometimes
suspect, and even
Wang et al (2011:47-48) quoting Malinowski

106. – irrelevant”, it is “part of the
process of fulfilling our
intrinsically human needs
for social cohesiveness and
mutual recognition”
Wang et al (2011:47-48) quoting Malinowski

107. Social
grooming
on
Facebook

108. Social
grooming
on
Facebook
Writing on the wall
Say hi, congratulate, give
compliments

109. Social
grooming
on
Facebook
Writing on the wall
Say hi, congratulate, give
compliments
Post photos
Reminisce and share
experiences

110. Social
grooming
on
Facebook
Writing on the wall
Say hi, congratulate, give
compliments
Post photos
Reminisce and share
experiences
Status updates
Moods, where we are, what
we’re up to

111. Photo: Flickr-bruker LWY CC-BY

112. – I get anxious if my last wall
post was from a week ago
because it looks like you're a
nerd. It really matters.
Girl, second year in high school
Quoted in “Alone together” by Sherry Turkle

113. – People know it is a way that
people are going to judge
you.
Girl, second year in high school
Quoted in “Alone together” by Sherry Turkle

114. Illustrasjon:Eva-LottaLammCC-BY-NC

115. Forsideillustrasjon til New Yorker november 2009

116. – In the new etiquette, turning
away from those in front of
you to answer a mobile
phone or respond to a text...
Sherry Turkle
Alone Together, s. 160-161

117. – ...has become close to the
norm. [...] A parent, a
partner, a child glances
down...
Sherry Turkle
Alone Together, s. 160-161

118. – ...and is lost to another
place, often without
realizing that they have
taken leave.
Sherry Turkle
Alone Together, s. 160-161

119. Photo: Flickr-bruker Difei Li CC BY NC ND

120. How does information
spread in social media?

121. Is our world
getting
smaller?
• 6 degrees between e-mail
users in 2001
• 6,6 degrees between
people chatting on MSN
Messenger in 2007
• 4,7 degrees between two
random Facebook-users i
2011
• 3,4 degrees between two
random, active Twitter-
users in 2011

122. What do
people
share?
Information that makes
people feel
• angry
• scared
• astonished
spreads more widely than
information that make
people feel
• sad

123. What do
people
share?
Information that makes
people feel
• angry
• scared
• astonished
spreads more widely than
information that make
people feel
• sadHow
something is
articulated
means a lot for
how it is
spread

124. News and social
information spread in
different ways
More social Twitter updates received a greater diffusion
when they were positive, while news increased their
diffusion if they were negative

125. Why
retweet?
• Might be interesting for
followers
• To comment on the
original tweet
• Indicate that you are
listening
• Show support or
agreement
• Out of friendship, loyalty
or tribute
• To help yourself

126. The message is
changed when it is
spread.

127. Are social media
democratizing?

128. • More sources makes the
information seem more
trustworthy
• People you trust may give
legitimacy to the actions
• Attitudes are spread more
quickly in larger groups
• If more people take part,
each individual has more
to win and less to lose
Diffusion is
more
difficult
when the
stakes are
higher

129. 0
10
20
30
40
50
Face to face Facebook Phone Satelitte TV Other
How did you first hear about the protests on Tahrir square?

130. 0
10
20
30
40
50
Personal contact Facebook Text message Mass media Other
When did you find information about the rose march?

131. vs.
Photo: Sjur Stølen/Aktivioslo.no by-nc-n

132. Political
protest
groups on
Facebook
Some findings from ISF:
• Young people are more
likely to take part in
political Facebook groups
• People who take part in
protestgroups on Facebook
believe that they have an
effect

133. Birds of a
feather
flock
together
• Both repulican and
democrat students more
Facebook friends who
shared their political views
• Political groups and pages
are often named in a way
that take a stand
• The NewsFeed will show
more information from the
people you more often
interact with

136. Social
proof
• What other people do
around us, affects what we
see as the norm
• What we consider to be the
norm, affects how we
choose to act

137. Political
debate
online
Findings from ISF:
• 1 in 3 discuss politics
online, Facebook is the
most popular arena
• For youth, Facebook is one
of the most important
media for news and
politics

138. (Almost) everyone can
say something in social
media, but not
everyone will be heard

139. • Jens Stoltenberg (177 000)
• Morten Ramm (99 000)
• Steinar Sagen (76 000)
• Tore Sagen (68 000)
• Espen Eckbo (66 000)
• Truls Svendsen (66 000)
• Oddmund Harsvik (65 000)
• Are Kalvø (63 000)
• Bjørn Eidsvåg (63 000)
• Jenny Skavlan (61 000)
• HKH Mette-Marit (61 000)
• Svein Tveitdal (53 000)
• Tone Damli Aaberge (51 000)
• Davy Wathne (51 000)
• Odd Magnus Williamson (50
000)
• Jonas Gahr Støre (50 000)
Social
media for
everyone?

140. Digital activism
≠
Slacktivisme

141. Thank you!
Ida Aalen
aalen.ida@gmail.com
45 24 24 12
@idaAa

142. Thank you!
Ida Aalen
aalen.ida@gmail.com
45 24 24 12
@idaAa
slideshare.com/
idaiskald