The Magic of Social Networks

THE MAGIC OF SOCIAL NETWORKS How libraries can be a node that helps people solve problems Lee Rainie Director – Pew Internet Project Wisconsin Library Association Appleton, WI 10.21.09

"If you plopped a library down. . .30 years from now. . .there would be cobwebs growing everywhere because people would look at it and wouldn't think of it as a legitimate institution because it would be so far behind. . ." -- Experienced library user . 1996 Benton Foundation report: “ Buildings, books, and bytes”

“ Many Americans would just as soon turn their local libraries into museums and recruit retirees to staff them.” 1996 Benton Foundation report: “ Buildings, books, and bytes”

New information ecosystem: Then and Now Industrial Age Info was: Scarce Expensive Institutionally oriented Designed for consumption Information Age Info is: Abundant Cheap Personally oriented Designed for participation

2000 46% of adults use internet 5% with broadband at home 50% own a cell phone 0% connect to internet wirelessly <10% use “cloud” = slow, stationary connections built around my computer The internet is the asteroid: Then and now 2009 77-79% of adults use internet 63% with broadband at home 85% own a cell phone 54-56% connect to internet wirelessly >two-thirds use “cloud” = fast, mobile connections built around outside servers and storage

Media ecology – then (industrial age)

Product Route to home Display Local storage

TV stations phone TV Cassette/ 8-track

broadcast TV radio

broadcast radio stereo Vinyl album

News mail

Advertising newspaper delivery phone

paper

Radio Stations non-electronic

Tom Wolzien, Sanford C. Bernstein & Co

Media ecology – now (information age)

cable TiVo (PVR) VCR

TV stations DSL TV Satellite radio player

Info wireless/phone radio DVD

“ Daily me” broadcast TV PC Web-based storage

content books iPod /MP3 server/ TiVo (PVR)

Cable Nets broadcast radio stereo PC

Web sites satellite monitor web storage/servers

Local news mail headphones CD/CD-ROM

Content from express delivery pager satellite player cell phone memory

individuals iPod / storage portable gamer MP3 player / iPod

Peer-to-peer subcarriers / WIFI cell phone pagers - PDAs

Advertising newspaper delivery non-electronic cable box

Radio stations camcorder/camera PDA/Palm game console

game console paper

Satellite radio e-reader / Kindle storage sticks/disks e-reader/Kindle

Adapted from Tom Wolzien, Sanford C. Bernstein & Co 47% of adults own laptops – up from 30% in 2006 37% of adults own DVRs – up from 3% in 2002 18% of adults own personal gaming devices 37% of adults own game consoles 45% of adults own MP3 players – up from 11% in 2005

game console paper

Adapted from Tom Wolzien, Sanford C. Bernstein & Co Ubiquitous computing age Cloud computing “Internet of things”

game console paper

Adapted from Tom Wolzien, Sanford C. Bernstein & Co … and this all affects social networks 1) their composition 2) the way people use them 3) their importance 4) the way librarians can play a part in them

Behold the idea of networked individualism Barry Wellman – University of Toronto

The turn from groups to social networks = a new social operating system

Big societal forces pushing us toward networked individualism

Affluence and affordable technology

Expanding consumer options

Income and wealth volatility

Job security and longevity

Rise of free agency and freelancing

Changes in family composition, roles, responsibilities

Trends towards management of retirement and health care

Rise of DIY politics and religion

Why good social networks (and social networking) matter

Healthier

Wealthier

Happier

More civically engaged = better communities

-----------------------------

Diversity makes a difference

Size of network makes a difference

10 ways digital technology has changed things for your patrons and their networking behavior

Network ecosystem change – 1

Volume of information grows

-- Chris Anderson

Hal Varian

Variety of information and sources of information grow

… and people have more options for their passions -- Markus Prior and Cass Sunstein

People-Press news consumer typology

The internet rises in a fragmented media environment (% of all Americans who “regularly” go to news source: PRC People/Press) +1,850% -25% -52% +18% -41% -27%

Velocity of information increases and smart mobs emerge

-- Howard Rheingold Clay Shirky

Venues of intersecting with information and people multiply and the availability of information expands to all hours of the day and all places we are

-- Nielsen Company

People’s vigilance for information changes in two directions:

1) attention is truncated (Linda Stone)

2) attention is elongated (Andrew Keen; Terry Fisher)

Kaiser Family Foundation, Media Multitasking Among American Youth, December 2006

The vibrance and immersive qualities of media environments makes them more compelling places to hang out and interact

-- Metaverse Roadmap Project

1) Virtual Worlds

2) Mirror Worlds

3) Augmented Reality

4) Life-logging -- Gordon Bell

Valence (relevance) of information improves – search and customization get better as we create the “Daily Me” and “Daily Us”

– Nicholas Negroponte

The voice of information democratizes and the visibility of new creators is enhanced. Identity and privacy change.

-- William Dutton

Voting on and ventilating about information proliferates as tagging, rating, and commenting occurs and collective intelligence asserts itself

-- Henry Jenkins

David Weinberger

31% of adult internet users have rated a person, product, or service online

Information sharing and evaluation

Social networks become more vivid and meaningful. Media-making is part of social networking. “Networked individualism” takes hold.

-- Barry Wellman

>68% of online teens have created their own profile on a social network site

----

47% of online adults have such profiles

Content creation

33% of college students keep blogs and regularly post

54% read blogs

----

11% of online adults have a blog

36% read them

Content creation

Content creation 15% of online adults say they remix content they find online into their own artistic creations

Networked Individuals … have a different …

Sense of information availability – it’s ambient

Sense of time – it’s oriented around “continuous partial attention”

Sense of community and connection – it’s about “absent presence”

Sense of the rewards and challenges of networking for social, economic, political, and cultural purposes – new layers and new audiences

Technology has helped people change their networks

Bigger

Looser

More segmented

More layered

=

More liberated

More work

More important as sources of support and information, filters, curators, audience

A new pattern of communication and influence built around social networks and participatory media

The four-step flow of information

attention

acquisition

assessment

action

How do you….

get his/her attention?

leverage your traditional services

offer alerts, updates, feeds

be available in relevant places

find pathways through his/her social network

How do you….

help him/her acquire information?

be findable in a “long tail” world

pursue new distribution methods

offer “link love” for selfish reasons

participate in the conversation about your work

How do you….

help him/her assess information?

be transparent, link-friendly, and archive everything

aggregate the best related work

when you make mistakes, seek forgiveness

How do you….

assist him/her act on information?

offer opportunities for feedback

offer opportunities for remixing

offer opportunities for community building

be open to the wisdom of crowds

8 tips on how to be a node in a social network

Think like a friend

Remember your strengths and play to them by being an expert, a filter, and a recommender (linker)

Be aware that your audience is bigger than the available evidence provides – lurkers and future arrivals are part of the mix

Look for opportunities to provide support to users and chances to build communities with your material

8 tips on how to be a node in a social network

Help people cope with technology

Participate in the Web 2.0 world

Embrace the move towards mobility, constant connectivity, perpetual contact

This changes the realities of time and space and presence

Ask for help/feedback

Thank you!

Lee Rainie

Director

Pew Internet & American Life Project

1615 L Street NW

Suite 700

Washington, DC 20036

Email: [email_address]

Twitter: http://twitter.com/lrainie

202-419-4500

The Magic of Social Networks

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