Friendship in the Digital Age
Almost 10 years ago, a younger, more eager, version of me received (and accepted) a position at her university of choice. The first thing I did? Use my freshly-minted university email to join the mysterious “Facebook” thing, all my older friends were raving about.
For your viewing pleasure, I’ve attached a snippet of my very first Facebook wall post. Eerily predictive of my relationship to social networks. I’m sure a few of you can relate to that early enchantment.
As a member of the first cohort of the “Facebook Generation”, my recent friendships- those that have started (and in some cases ended) over the last ten years or so- have been unique in that they have strong digital roots.
Before I stepped foot into my university dormitory, I had already ‘met’ my floor mates, as well as 75% of the people I’d be sharing breakfast, lunch and dinner with over the next year. We had already shared our pictures, chatted about our homes, our academic hopes, and all the goals we wanted to conquer in the coming year.
In those early days of social networking, each time I logged onto Facebook there would be a friend request, a wall-post, or a random poke from that kid I sat next to in Sociology 101. The wall- and that of others- was the most addictive webpage I had ever used; Facebook stalking status updates and photos from parties I did (or didn’t attend) were my drug of choice. We all said, did things and connected with people on Facebook that we wouldn’t normally consider in real life.
Love it, hate it, or avoid it like the viral plague, it’s undeniable that social networks- and the platforms that host them- have changed both the nature of social interaction, and the idea of friendship.
What was once a domain exclusively reserved for friendship, Facebook has grown and expanded into something undefinable. Everyone, their mother, and their local delicatessen are on Facebook today, vying for space and attention on your mini-feed.
Your core friends are sandwiched between sponsored ads, Buzzfeed videos, and cheesy memes from your grandmother’s third cousin- subconsciously blurring the lines between between friendship, acquaintanceship and something else entirely.
Essentially, your Facebook Friends list is hardly a list of your friends anymore.
Without fully realizing it at the time, Facebook shifted away from being a network for friendship and social interaction, to an information network, encouraging high-content sharing.
Let’s forget about Facebook for a second, and shift our attention elsewhere in the digital friendship sphere. Twitter happened; LinkedIn happened; Instagram happened; Snapchat happened; heck, even Peach happened.
These new players in the social media game, brought with them new purposes, intentions and languages for your digital network. Friendship was less of a core focus- with the introduction of followers and connections- and started to look at other aspects of your physical and digital networks.
Words have power, and these shifts in language affect levels and depth of digital camaraderie.
What you would share- and who you would share with- would differ on Twitter (where it would be more interest, and idea focused), compared to LinkedIn (where you’d hopefully keep it professional), compared to Facebook or Instagram (which you’d reserve for more personal content).
Simultaneously, when these digital platforms- particularly Facebook- opened up to include, outside players into your circle i.e. non-friends, other more exclusive platforms would pop up, with a reaffirmed core focus on friendship.
Think about it- Facebook started monetizing with brands and advertisers, and a few months later, Snapchat was the new thing. In its early history, Snapchat was mostly used by Millennials as a silly way to connect with those closest to them. Today, it’s all about micro-content and branded messaging; friends- once again- matter less. And in pops Peach- and while it’s still too early to say how this platform will play out- it’s focus (for now) is on friendship networks.
Facebook offers the ability to reach every person, every brand and every place you know in one place, but that might not necessarily be a novelty or an advantage at this point. Sharing content with those closest to you, and taking an active effort to pick an audience (like one would in a direct message, direct Snapchat or exclusive network) yields higher results in terms of engagement and sharing.
In my opinion- what this did was create two different camps for social networks. On one hand, you have broader, public arenas for discussion, and on the other, tighter and more contextual services for core groups.
Now, what does this all mean for you, and for your brand?
1) Be conscious
…. about which platforms you use, how you use them, and how your audience on each differs. It should go without saying, but after almost a decade of social media marketing being a ‘thing’, it shocks me to see that brands still push out the same content, on all their channels- without even changing or editing for character counts. It’s almost embarrassing at this point.
If you have a brand- or even if you don’t- and you’re looking to engage with your digital network, make a conscious effort to create and push unique content on your platforms. Content that understands, and accounts for, the different nature of each platform.
2) Think Creatively
The changing nature of social media networks, and their audiences, means that we need to work more creatively to get our message across. It’s a noisy, crowded space, filled with super-empowered individuals, who are able to broadcast ideas, images, videos, and opinions like never before.
As a brand, or a marketer, or even just a person with a message to get across- you need to go about it smartly. Shouting the loudest, Tweeting the most frequently, or pushing out content every 4 hours won’t get you noticed. What will make a difference is your adoption of creative technology, and thinking, to stand out from the crowd.
Dare to think outside the 140 characters!
3) Friendship > Everything
There will always be a cherished space for friendship in the digital sphere; no matter how ardent the efforts are to monetize and advertise platforms.
Individuals will continue to communicate with their friends online, and entrepreneurs will continue to find creative and enjoyable ways to facilitate this when older, more established platforms lose some of their appeal. We’ve seen this happen time, and time again, just as we’ve seen brands jump aboard these platforms (after a year or so of debating).
As a brand, it’s important to understand that when you jump into a platform- especially one that has been previously used between tighter groups- you are encroaching on a somewhat personal space.
Your brand hasn’t necessarily earned the right to be there, and it certainly hasn’t earned the right to be accepted by the already existing community.
In these cases- more so than ever- native messaging is key for acceptance and engagement. A great example of this would be Merriam-Webster (yes, the dictionary) on Peach.
It might be a noisy world out there; one where the lines between a friend, a follower, a connection are blurred (both digitally, and in real life). But the ability to reach out to, and build a relationship with, nearly anyone, anywhere in the world, is truly a remarkable gift for our generation- lest we forget!
I for one, am excited to see what’s next on the horizon for digital friendship- and beyond!
—
#Amina / Account Manager Dubai
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