Hardwired to be Social

As Humans, we are hardwired to be social.  When we hear the words ‘social media’ the first thought to come to mind should be ‘social’.  Social media is not about the technology or the media, it is about our human capacity to be social. 

In the world of Web 2.0  technology is often the focus as we wrestle with coming to grips with all the new advances on our mobiles and laptops.  This technology is triggered by our natural capacity and desire to be social.  Gossieaux and Moran emphasise the need to focus on Human 1.0 to understand Web 2.0.

Reciprocity in Communities

Human 1.0 centres on our natural inclination to live in communities.  Evolutionary biologists highlight that  people naturally want to help others and to be helped.  This exchange of services is caused by a reflex called reciprocity.  In modern day online forums and communities that continue to form we see this reciprocity in action.  Just the other day I was struggling to understand an issue with my LinkedIn profile.  I found my way to the Help Forum on the LindedIn site, posted my question and frustration, and within minutes had the answer to solve my issue.  Reciprocity in action.

Platform of Participation

Tim O’Reilly refers to ‘social media’ as a ‘platform of participation’.  Online communities are growing with advances in technology that allow us to connect in mobile ways like never seen before in human history. The social applications that we download and use are allowing us to behave in a way that is in line with who we are as humans.

The technological tools allow us to be human, to be social, are accessible and affordable.  I mentor speakers in Toastmasters and have found that an easy way to assist is through the creation of YouTube videos offering advice and suggestions.  This blog I am writing at the moment is a way for me to transfer reflections from readings.  It allows me to share my thoughts with a wider, potentially global, audience to encourage discussion and collaboration on similar issues.

In summary, the main driver for what is happening today is not the technology but our natural human desire and capacity to be social.  As we become participants in these platforms we are narrowing the gap between when we think and when we communicate.  Knowledge and information is in a state of flow and allows us to assist each other in the communities join and form.  Social Media, spurred by advances in technology, is allowing humans to do what they do be, to be social.

References

Gossieaux, F., & Moran, E. (2010) The Hyper-Social Organization. New York: McGraw Hill.

Revolution of Knowledge Flow

Communication Moves from Channels to Networks

The advent of the Internet in the 1990s was the beginning of a revolution of modern times.  It has moved us from using ‘channels' of communication to developing the flow of communication through 'webs and networks'.  It has moved us from stock piling knowledge to realising that the movement of knowledge within networks is most useful.

At first the Internet was seen as a revolution in the new way that businesses could market their goods and reach out to global audiences through these new widespread networks of communication. But the REAL revolution was not so much about organisations stretching out to reach consumers in new ways but about consumers and people using the Internet to reach out and connect with one another in increasing new ways.

Technology Fuels Developments

The ‘knowledge’ or ‘internet’ revolution has been fuelled by new advances in communication and collaborative technologies that facilitate social connections.  These changes continue to transform our lives and can leave us feeling overwhelmed.  We should continue to remind ourselves that the changes that have taken place have done so at great speed. We must take heart in that it takes time to make such adjustments.

We humans are a species that have an innate drive to live in groups and to work together for common goals. We are social by nature.  We can take heart that this push of social media is not about the technology but about our natural human tendency to be social. We are evolving from a species that socialises and collaborates face-to-face to one that can now also extend this to global and virtual platforms.

References

Gossieaux, F., & Moran, E. (2010) The Hyper-Social Organization. New York: McGraw Hill.