Death of the Anonymous Web?
According to Hitwise, social networking site MySpace.com has laid claim to new bragging
rights: Most Visited Site on the Web.
If you're not sure what MySpace
is, read this.
Conventional wisdom states that the Internet is, among many
other things, an outlet for anonymous communication, even though we all know
that our every click and data transmission can be (and is) recorded by the
computers that handle our data. Admit it: You’ve typed and sent things that you
would never have said in conversation. Internet users want privacy, right?
That's why, on the surface, MySpace
seems like such an anomaly. If the Internet is a place where users can be
anonymous, then why are millions of people divulging personal, identifiable
details about themselves to millions of other people? A plausible explanation
is that there are some other factors at play, and this phenomenon cannot be
attributed entirely to adolescent carelessness.
Is it possible that anonymity is not all it's cracked up to
be? In previous posts to Acronym, on our blogs, and during a session at a recent
conference, David Gammel and I have discussed
the economics of attention, and how attention can be viewed as currency. If
the attention of our peers and people in general is a form of currency, could
it be that people are actually trying to attract attention, using blogs,
podcasts and other social media outlets to get it? If this is true, what are
the implications for associations?
Most associations recognize members in one form or another, bestowing attention on them. We have awards for star volunteers. A profile of a member with an interesting hobby in the magazine. Periodic lists of new members. But if members are truly eager for attention, is this enough?
How can associations give members the attention they crave?
This is an interesting new dynamic of member relations that needs to be
explored.
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Comments
Compared to the rest of the Internet, anonymity doesn't come into play the on social networking sites when the very reason the sites exist is to connect with other people on an individual (and often group) level. Sure these sites are somewhat about attention, but I think it goes deeper than that. They are also about connecting, communicating, sharing, creating, and exchanging. What is most amazing to me is not that MySpace is now the most visited (as imrpessive as that is). It's the greater than average length of user visits. People stay there and hang out because it is a social experience.
Posted by: Jeffrey Cufaude | July 12, 2006 9:55 PM
Jeff, I happen to think that the need for attention is among the most basic reasons that these sites thrive, but there are others, as you have pointed out. In my mind, connecting, sharing, etc. can all be viewed as manifestations of a need for attention. The rise of social networking sites like MySpace and others is a signal that our perception that the Internet is a place to be anonymous is diminishing. I wonder if this same phenomenon is being played out in real life, too.
Posted by: Ben Martin | July 13, 2006 8:54 AM
Ben: I'm not completely disagreeing with you. Perhaps I'm just perceiving your use of language as being more assertive about what's hapening and the reasons behind it than you really are. The rise of MySpace and other social networking sites can mean many things, one of which MIGHT be the reduced place of anonymity on the Web. I think it is a much more complex phenomomenon that can't be easily understood by isolating any one variable or possible reason as the primary source for its popularity.
Posted by: Jeffrey Cufaude | July 13, 2006 6:35 PM
Actually, I thought you were mostly agreeing with me, Jeff.
Posted by: Ben Martin | July 13, 2006 9:29 PM