These slides were created for the course: Comm 350R Social Media Dr. Matthew J. Kushin Department of Communication Utah Valley University For more on the course see: http://profkushinsocial.wordpress.com For more about the professor, see: http://profkushin.wordpress.com or @mjkushin on Twitter

1. Social Media CourseDr. Matthew J. Kushin Assistant Professor Department of Communication Utah Valley University profkushin.wordpress.com mkushin@uvu.edu @mjkushin

2. Social Ties, Shared Experience, Social Object Dr. Matthew J. Kushin Course: profkushinsocial.wordpress.com

3. Review Social media Foster social interaction Online media platforms that enable people to easily & cheaplyexchange user-generated media creations Built upon Web 2.0

4. Web 2.0 What makes online networks valuable: Isn’t: Hardware & software Content the site publishes Is: Ability to get lots of people participating in contributing content Tim O'Reilly (2005)

5. We’ve established social media is about Conversation & Connections

6. To make use of them, we must understand them: So how do social networks function?

7. Social Capital is 'the number of people who can be expected to provide support and the resources those people have at their disposal” Taps “goodwill” available to a person/group. Can be converted into economic gain Image: MixTribe Photo

8. Social Capital Is not simply who you know But who you have access to via who the people you know. Image: MixTribe Photo

9. Social Capital is Reciprocal Your capital is directly tied to the capital of others You gain social capital by giving Image: ~dip

10. Strength of Weak Ties Groundbreaking study by Granovetter showed: Similar people tend to form strong ties These ties tend to share similar information Cause a lot of overlap in info exchange Therefore Weak ties most important ties in social networks Responsible for transmission of info between people

11. Granovetter states: “Intuitively speaking, this means that whatever is to be diffused (shared) can reach a larger number of people, and traverse greater social distance when passed through weak ties rather than strong.”

12. Ties that Bind Weak Ties Can Become Strong Ties But it is not necessary for them to for you to have success! Weak ties are critical to info diffusion But more & new strong ties, means new weak ties This is the essence of virality Image: Carolyn_Sewell

13. Sharing By creating & sharing content online, your content can diffuse across weak ties Thus You reach new people Attract new opportunity You also receive content you’d never otherwise access

14. Ambient Intimacy Ability to maintain constant connection w/ others w/o direct communication 1-to-many Persistent & Passive Check in on person when want to Image: DanBrady

15. Social Media’s Ambiance Social Media Tools enable a flux of different people to pay attention at different times

16. In a networked society You are your content & your connections You are somebody’s weak tie Image: Samuel Huron

17. Tap the Ambiance You should be scanning social media for content If its of interest to you Its probably of interest to your ties Image: DanBrady

18. So… Create content often! Help bridge connections for others Link & share other’s content Images (left) http://www.flickr.com/photos/38854364@N00/470800827/ (right) http://www.flickr.com/photos/jcodysimms/246024490/sizes/m/in/photostream/

19. Social Objects Social networks are built around social objects, not vice versa. “The social object is the reason people are talking to each other” – Hugh MacLeod Image: marc wathieu

20. Socialization Socialization is not random, it is purposeful Humans seek social connection We find it via social objects What the object is may not matter It is a vehicle for connection

21. Social Object Example Apple iPhone Example Source: MacLead

22. Connecting via social objects on Social Media

23. Cultural “social objects”: Memes A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural ideas, symbols, or practices, Transmitted from 1 person to another Analogous to genes Self replicate Evolve & mutate Source: Wikipedia

24. Meme examples Hitler Meme http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOQvsuJ5wIA LOL cats http://images.google.com search: LOL cats

25. Social Object The conversation happening around object is what’s valuable Image: marc wathieu

26. MacLeod states: “If your product is not a social object, why are you in business?” How can we apply this to media industries?: Pr, journo, advertising, etc? Image: marc wathieu

27. Shared Experience

28. Who was Chris McCandless? Subject of Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer Later made into a motion picture Abandoned everyone he knew & his possession & went to Alaska http://dailybriefing.wordpress.com/2008/02/18/the-real-chris-mccandless/

29. Source: http://www.haggardandhalloo.com/2010/01/03/making-sense-christopher-mccandless/

30. Chris McCandless http://dailybriefing.wordpress.com/2008/02/18/the-real-chris-mccandless/

31. Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/chriso2000/2100030576/

32. Why did Chris take these photos?

33. Source: http://forhisfame.tumblr.com/

34. Note: The preceding example is in no way to make light of the life and death of Chris McCandless, nor is it to make any judgment thereof, nor to be taken at the offense of anyone. It is simply to illustrate a point using an example of an individual students are likely to be aware of on the human fundamental need for social connection, and how we seek to share our experiences. It is not intended to be taken in any other way. There is much more to be learned from his life than this very narrow example.