I think it’s interesting that so many people participated in the 25 Random Things survey on Facebook. Not only did it become viral, it spawned a plethora of articles in mainstream media. Most people hate chain letters. Nowadays, if you get a chain letter via email forwarded to you, you don’t even read it, it immediately gets deleted, at least this is the case for me. But the 25 Things list was different, it took off. But why? Why did so many people engage and take part in this self-disclosure?
Self-disclosure is a special kind of conversation in which we give someone a glimpse of who we are, and in turn, they give a glimpse back. This exchange of self-disclosure is how we build relationships. Intimacy and trust are formed. After all, we are social beings. So it isn’t surprising that so many people participated in the survey.
But, instead of oooing and awwwing over how many people took part, what if we looked at it from a different angle? For instance, what if we looked at how the role of gender plays in this self–disclosure game. Theories of gender role socialization suggest that males learn to inhibit their emotions, while society encourages females to express them. (Lindsey 1997) According to one study, women are more likely to initiate self-disclosure than men are (Arliss 1991). Could this be the reason that I received more 25 Things lists from my female friends on FB than my male friends? Obviously, I don’t have a large enough data set to draw any conclusions, but it brings up how we can look at what’s going on in social media from a different perspective.
Social networking is creating a wealth of data that we can use to learn about ourselves, our relationships, our society, our government, our companies, etc. We just have to take a step back from seeing it tactically and as mundane status updates, but really see what’s going on here. Could the studies of social psychology, anthropology and sociology be applied to the way we interact via digital media? The examples above were based on studies about building relationships through conversation, how do those studies change when there’s a computer and a cloud in the mix or do they?
So yes, people want to feel a part of something, whether it is a relationship, a team, or even a toothpaste community, people want to be social. My theory on why so many people took the time to fill out the survey and pass it around….in the end, people want to be known and understood just a little more.
Good tweets, Good status, Good evening,
ladunkin
References:
Lindsey, L.L. 1997. Gender Roles: A Sociological Perspective. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall
Arliss, L.P. 1991. Gender Communication. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall
Facebook and Blogging are both "Look at me" type activities, whereas email is more private, hence the large percentage of take-up on FB (the '25 things' meme has been around in blogging for several years now, but it had a similar take-up rate in its heyday).
ReplyDeleteAs for the gender split, that's no surprise, there are significantly more woman involved in online social networking because they generally spend more time at home than the men.
I don't know whether to find my Webster's or roll my britches legs up...
ReplyDeleteBesides, it's too early for my brain to even try to comprehend what's been said here.
Finally, as far as your last sentence goes...have you figured me out yet? 'Cause if you have, please send an e-mail as to what you have discerned.
Leigh Anne, great insight. Love the connection between the Top25 and a chain letter, especially how our perspectives differ so much on each. And you are right, most of the Top25 lists/ requests that I received were from women.
ReplyDeleteLeigh Anne - I love your post. I too participated in the "25 things" meme that flew around on Facebook. Interestingly, I got tagged dozens of times by friends, many of which are not bloggers. I hadn't thought about the male vs. female angle but I'm curious to think about how the gender difference will play out across the socialsphere.
ReplyDeleteI also appreciate the link to the "toothpaste community" post. As you can see in the comments, it's spurred some interesting discussions.
Best,
Aaron | @aaronstrout
Visiting from your mom's. I think a little of the "5 minutes of fame" plays into it also.
ReplyDeleteOK. I'm back. Your post brought back memories of being in the classroom and the "gender equity" "gender bias" issues.
ReplyDeleteThis probably has nothing to do with the Facebook survey, but the empirical evidence we acquired from those studies was quite interesting.
I don't have my results in front of me, but most female teachers, given a choice of whether to call on a girl or boy when their hands were raised to answer a question, would generally call on the girl. (But some times the boy would be called on because he was wildly waving both arms in the air, going OoH Ooh, I know the answer, and the teacher would call on him just to get him to be quiet and be still.)
This also depended on the subject ie. math/science or language arts.
In language arts, the girls were called on more...in math/science, the boys were called on more. It was a fairly 'randon' study with less than 20 classrooms visited, so the results weren't that accurate, but it was interesting to watch teachers "pick and choose" who to call on in their classrooms. What else was interesting was to hear how they handled an answer that wasn't exactly correct...the response varied greatly between the girls and boys. After doing this study, I became VERY cognizant of WHO I called on and WHY.
Like I say, this has nothing to do with what you posted, but it's all I 'GOT' that even comes close.
Oh yeah, it did conjure up memories of reading "Toothpaste Millionaire" by Jean Merrill where likable, clever, and inventive sixth-graders Rufus Mayflower and Kate Mackinstrey develop and sell toothpaste to become millionaires in just one year!It was a fun, breezy story including many real-life mathematical problems which the characters had to solve to succeed in their budding business.
Does this count?
@WT and @Nessa: First, thank you both for visiting and for joining the conversation. I hope you return.
ReplyDeleteI agree that blogging can be used for the “look at me/ 15 minutes of fame” fix, however, I also think that blogging, as well as, the other social media tools can be used for many different purposes. For instance, people use blogging to stay in touch with family, to document an illness/treatment so others can learn or family members can keep informed, to network for jobs, etc. I use my Facebook to reconnect with old friends and stay in contact with people who live all over the country. It has nothing to do with getting noticed. FB to me is like sitting around drinking a beer or having a glass of wine and shooting the shit. I can’t physically visit with these people, but FB facilitates the interaction. And businesses are using blogs, twitter, FB, etc. to get to know their customers, to start conversations with them in order to learn how to make their products better. So yes, there are people out there because they want a little fame and that’s what drives them, but I don’t think that’s the case for all bloggers or for all people who use a particular social media tool. We are all driven by different motivations in all that we do, social media is no different. So I don’t think we should stereotype a tool, it’s more about how we use the tool! (no pun intended)
@Swampy: interesting, I’m sure there is a correlation there as to why girls either don’t show interest in the math/sciences or end up dropping out of those programs
I came here via your mother. No doubt I don't have to tell you how blessed you are to have her. :)
ReplyDeleteI recently joined facebook, as a way to "gather" with friends and keep up to date with them. Most of my friends are tied down moms like myself who don't get out much and simply NEED to socialize. Some are relatives in other states I don't get to see in real life. Facebook is one of the few ways we can keep in touch with each other.
I don't fully agree with WT's suggestion that women socialize more online because they are home more. Women simply have a greater need to reach out and socialize, whether they are at home or at work, and they reach out easier than men do. Also, many men aren't as interested in reading and writing online. Generally speaking, I think it comes easier to women.
Oh dear! Once again I am behind the times, I was tagged for that facebook 25 things and never got around to it! I have to admit for me facebook was a bit of a joke, I joined in my blog name as I had no idea what it was! That was about a year ago. Who knew how popular it was? A few weeks back everyone I knew started to join and I have been enjoying catching up with them and chatting online. However I do not like the fact that it is not private. Several people I know have had bad experiences on there and shied away.
ReplyDeleteReading all the comments here got me thinking too, I do have a few male blog friends and enjoy reading their blogs but then again there are so many womens blogs I enjoy. I thought it was just the fact that I had more in common with the women I follow and talk to. Hmmm! Its Saturday night here, too much thinking is not in order! Happy blogging! Looking forward to getting to know you!
Hello, your Mom sent me over. To me a blog is a journal as well as a way to stay in touch with family. I think women can express their feelings better and that is why there are so many female bloggers. BTW..nice blog design
ReplyDelete*waves hello* Your Mother sent me over here, by the way!
ReplyDeleteI think that you can get as deep as you like as to the reasons why the 25 Random Things took off on FaceBook. Personally, (and I didn't leap onto that particular bandwagon) I believe it's because people love to talk about themselves and this is one way they can do it without feeling like they are hogging the limelight on a "me, me" trip. Their self-consciousness just doesn't get in the way.