Sharing is caring
Two studies analysing behaviour across social media recently caught my attention. The first was Facebook’s unconventional use of users’ feeds to influence emotions and sharing behaviour. The second study was about the development of a taxonomic structure (i.e. taxonomy and tags) to explain favouriting on Twitter.
At the outset, the two studies seem quite different. One is about Facebook and the other is about Twitter. One is experimental and the other is a survey. One considers content creation while the other is about user responses to created content.
Both studies, however, emphasise the subjective and the emotional. Both examine how content can influence behaviour and the relationships people have with content.
At the FT, “community” is a multi-faceted term. The social media element, for example, includes at least four different departments at the organizational level. Editorial — our journalists — are actively engaged in posting to our social channels and conversing with readers through these and more tranditional fora, like comments and email. We also interact with our audiences ‘in real life’, at events and conferences, social gatherings and networking meetups.
When I read these studies, my mind immediately jumped to:
- What makes someone like or favourite FT content?
- How do the FT’s community managers influence our audiences?
- What influence, if any, does that have on their sharing and purchasing behaviour?
The lessons from these studies — mood contagion, network effects, behavioural responses and more — are all extremely important to the future of media. To create positive feelings and encourage sharing, to acquire new audiences and create an identification with the brand.
While the two studies consider different behaviours, they both serve as a reminder to try and understand not just what the behaviour is, but the why and the so what. For the FT, they remind us to always put the audience first.
Further reading
Experimental evidence of massive-scale emotional contagion through social networks
Articles:
- Even the Editor of Facebook’s Mood Study Thought It Was Creepy
- Everything We Know About Facebook’s Secret Mood Manipulation Experiment
More than Liking and Bookmarking? Towards Understanding Twitter Favouriting Behaviour
Articles:
