For times immemorial societies created some
socially accepted norms. The British were mostly known for their politeness, reserved
and overtly formal manners. And even today they tend to stick to these social norms.
The Americans are different as they are casual and gregarious in their societal
norms. The Indian society has always been culturally rooted and hence respect,
right values and decency are considered societal norms.
In India not only the society was divided
into four sects, each of the sect had some socially accepted behaviours. And
those social norms were followed so stringently that Yudhistir agreed to play chaupad the second time also, knowing
fully well that he will lose his kingdom. The reason was that Ksatriyas were
not supposed to decline any challenge.
But whatever be the manifestation, one
common thread among all societies was some commonly accepted social norms of
being responsive, courteous and pleasant in all social interactions.
Our society has changed dramatically since the
times of Mahabharata and we have accepted modification of the
expression of these norms even though we are still rooted. But the changes in
social behaviour we have seen on technology enabled social media just tempt me
to dub it anti-social behaviour. On social media, our self centered and narcissist
self is at its peak, to the extent that we just ignore even the most basic of
social etiquettes. Is it the reflection of times we live in or we simply forgot
to set up some social norms on social media in our hurry to expand that virtual
society?
A brief analysis of our own Facebook page
will reveal that most of the time communication is one way; sharing what we
find important for us, not what is of interest to our friend circle. Researches
have established that people, who have greater number of friends on Facebook,
tagged themselves more often and updated their newsfeeds regularly, scored
highly on the Narcissistic Personality Inventory questionnaire. Social media
offers these people a chance to self-promote by amassing a large number of
friends, posting about their lives in detail and create an image which projects
social success.
Is social media really a virtual alternate
reality that gives us the freedom to behave differently from offline real
world? Think of it if someone walks up to your work station to say hello to you
and you don’t even look up from your computer and totally ignore her. I can
hear a complete no-no from almost everyone. But when it comes to social media
there are plethora of unanswered personal messages not just comments on your
friend’s wall. We have even forgotten a basic courtesy of saying ‘thank you’ to
a positive comment of our wall.
How many times people get into a discussion
with friends on a topic of common interest? Every time we meet our friends. But
social media does not reflect similar behaviour. How interesting would be the
conversation if one person talks and others just nod. In the social media space
‘likes’ are the nods. A comment is what will fuel a healthy discussion. Sample
this – while there are 1.9 billion likes each month in India, comments come to
just 892 million each month on Facebook. While personalized communication is
more satisfying and in line with our natural social behaviour, users prefer the
lazy one click of the ‘Like’.
It is time to build conversation on social
media. Moira Burka says that users who receive composed communication become
less lonely while those who received one click communication continue to
experience feelings of loneliness. Aren’t we shirking away from social
obligations to our friends?
Brands operate as social units too. All
social units develop a culture of their own. This culture is a result of
relationships that exist between brands and its users. Values and culture of
the brand is formed basis the community in which it exists. Can brands afford
to behave differently on social media? Brands are able to garner millions of
likes in a short span of time but are not able to engage these customers and
prospects to build long-term relationships. It is becoming almost like a
one-way conversation. The result is an endless list of brand followers but
hardly and loyal customers.
In the offline world, while it is easy to
make friends, it takes lot of effort to nurture those relationships. With
brands too, it is important to build relationships with people that will resonate
with them. Social media has provided an opportunity to interact with new
friends and/or with those long-lost school and college mates. But problem with
digital intimacy is that it creates ties that do not bind but only create a
false feeling of a large social network.
And that is where brands can easily fall prey to.
Isn’t it then important that brands too
stop running after the number of likes but build relationships, engage in
authentic and compelling conversations that truly share common values and thus last forever? It
is not just important to have a long list of followers but it is important to
continuously engage with them. Like human beings brands too have to carefully
nurture and nourish these relationships to develop a strong social community
that it operates in. Social networks of brands are driven by the same human
values of transparency, ethics, responsiveness and intimacy.
The solution lies in accepting the fact
that online is replicated reality of offline world. Be less focused on quantity.
Curate, select and filter your friends and followers list and truly engage with
like-minded ones. Brands should focus in engaging the people with better,
richer and funnier conversations. It cannot be a pompous broadcasting
mentality. Fundamentally, great friendship arises from understanding each
other, so brands too must understand its followers for longer and lasting
relationship. Let us make it one world – a world of friends and long-lasting
friendships whether real or online.
You and your brand do not need to be
Yudhishtir to follow social norms but you need to be Krishna who is always
available to his real friends.
