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Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2010
Forever Jung: What Makes Social Media Social?
by Jaffer Ali
Let's introduce a new unusual suspect into the social media
discussion. His name, C.G. Jung, who said "...there exists
a second psychic system of a collective, universal, and
impersonal nature which is identical in all individuals."
Think about that. I'll come back to our Swiss doctor
friend, and I have to tell you that he was in my mind when
one of the discussion lists I belong to had a recent and
spirited exchange regarding an alternative name for "social
media." The dialogue was festooned with imaginative offer-
ings, but there seemed to be a lot of confusion regarding
exactly what social media is all about.
I'd like to throw my hat in the ring in a vain attempt to
describe this elusive phenomenon. Let me start by citing
some examples of social media cause and effect, and then
possibly we can develop a better working definition.
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In 2009, the video clip that garnered the highest number
of online views featured Susan Boyle of "Britain's Got
Talent" fame. Reportedly, her video was seen by more than
165 million people. Back when the Hula Hoop was first
introduced to the American market, word of mouth created
a buying frenzy that resulted in the sale of over 25
million Hula Hoops in the first 4 months! And on one
day (12/18/09) Ashton Kutcher tweeted 13 times for an
accumulated number of impressions to followers totaling
53,770,561. Add re-tweets to the equation and Kutcher's
reach and potential influence was overwhelming.
A couple of other disparate yet similar examples are in
order: In 1979, Khomeini created audio recordings from his
exile in France. These recordings, along with numerous
related speeches and sermons, were widely distributed
throughout Iran, feeding a revolution that overthrew the
US supported monarchy. And of course, who can deny that
Rock 'n Roll spread like wildfire throughout the world in
the sixties. Now, if you find yourself scratching your
head and wondering what a viral video, a plastic hoop that
sold for $1.98, a celebrity tweeter, Rock 'n Roll and the
Iranian revolution have in common, take heart because you
are not alone. In fact, if we invoke the old master, Carl
Gustav Jung, we just might be able to get our arms around
this social media thing.
But before we do, please note that every one of the social
constructs listed above employed, indeed required,
different tools. From online video, word of mouth, audio
cassettes, etc., the technologies were distinctly different
from each other. We spend so much of our time discussing
and analyzing our tools, we sometimes lose sight of what
it is we're trying to build. It's like describing an
appendectomy by its tools: scalpel, laparoscope, forceps,
etc.
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As my opening quote here attests, Jung believed that there
is something that binds all of humanity. We are all part
of the family of man to be sure. But Jung believed that we
are connected to each other in more than just a physical
sense. Jung went way beyond the concept of human biological
similarities, noting that many cultures share symbols and
archetypes. It is this act of sharing that produces the
social contract we have with ourselves and each other.
There is something truly primordial that binds us; a
vibrational connection that we acknowledge as having "stuck
the right chord". Consider again the anecdotes above and
you will see this psychological "second system" manifest
in each of them. Rather than obsess about the tools that
enable "social media", or worse, confuse the tools with
the objective, we would do well to understand what we are
trying to accomplish. So here I go with a humble attempt
to define "social media."
Social media attempts to transcend "one-to-one communi-
cation" by tapping into the shared psychic system
described by Jung as the collective unconscious. We share
media for compelling personal and/or social reasons. The
message or information shared reverberates (vibrational?)
not just inside the individual, but among and within the
collective.
The more a message resonates, the more "social" it becomes.
We have many "tools" to facilitate this sharing: email,
Twitter, Facebook, Digg, Reddit, etc. But it's imperative
that we not confuse our tools with our goals. It is the
connection to the "second psychic system" that remains the
essential component of "social media". Understanding this
reintroduces the notion that what we say is more important
than how we say it. Empty messages don't connect because
the collective deems them not worth sharing. But who --
even a radical Ayatollah -- doesn't like a nice Hula Hoop?
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Questions? Comments? Email me at: quote (at) Quotes2u.com
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