Shifting from Me to We: The Rise of Online Community by Paul Peterman, Reddit | SIC 2022
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There is a massive shift happening in the social and media space as GenZ and Younger Millennials are shifting their time and attention away from traditional social platforms and leaning into healthier, community-based options. The trust in news and influencers is on the decline, and this is changing the landscape quickly. From a brand perspective, all of the iOS and Android changes are forcing marketers to rethink targeting, audiences and shift toward interests, passions and other signals. These two forces (consumer and marketer shifts), along with the economy, are creating the most important inflection point for businesses and people in over a decade.
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Shifting from Me to We: The Rise of Online Community by Paul Peterman, Reddit | SIC 2022
- 1. Shifting from Me to We: The Rise of Online Community Paul Peterman Senior Managing Director Reddit
- 2. Since the last Seattle Interactive, nearly everything has changed.
- 4. Online communities have taken a new meaning in the world.
- 5. 5 The 4 Tenants of Community Placeholder for primary campaign asset Membershi p Shared Emotional Experience Need Fulfillment Influence Belonging is based on passions and interests, not social connections Influence within the community comes from one’s contributions; Equal Worth Communities are additive to users’ lives and has a positive impact on mental health Shared emotional connection as a result of a shared community experience The 4 tenants of community were established by psychologists McMillan and Chavis in 1986.
- 6. 6 People you know or know of Social validation Polished, sanitized, curated Broadcasting and scrolling Interest-based community Deep discussion Authentic, real, human Learning and exploration We
- 7. 7 Membership Belonging in a community is based on passions and interests, not social connections. Trust & Safety are foundational. Of GenZ join communities to feel a sense of “Belonging” 70% Source: Impero The Move GenZ Study, Nov 2021.
- 8. 8 Membership Check it out on Pinehurst’s Twitter feed: https://twitter.com/PinehurstResort/status/1536333077630296064 reddit.com/r/golf
- 9. 9 Influence
- 10. 10 Membershi p Influence Number of companies using Influencer Marketing steadily increasing
- 12. 12 Membershi p Influence Source: CivicScience 2022 Only 3% of people trust social media influencers
- 13. 13 Influence Source: CivicScience 2022 Only 9% of people under 25 trust social media influencers
- 14. 14 Membershi p Influence Source: YPulse 2022 Trust in news & online influencers continues trending down
- 15. 15 Influence Source Rolling Stone & Advertisingweek.com; June 2022 “The decline in trust of social media and influencers from consumers has meant that there is a heightened need for brands to humanize, as young consumers crave more meaningful interactions. Trusted online communities have become synonymous with authenticity and some of the most genuine interactions on the internet.”
- 16. 16 Influence Communities are the influencer that drive real-world actions.
- 17. 17 Placeholder for primary campaign asset Shared Emotional Experience Vs Equal vs Algorithmic Experiences
- 18. 18 Source: TalkShoppe, Find Your People US, n=2000, 13-54 year old, social media users, February 2022 Placeholder for primary campaign asset Shared Emotional Experience Communities foster equality, intentionality & authenticity “We are all on equal footing. There is not a popularity or number of followers influence, we are just giving our honest comments.” -Nathalie
- 20. 20 Source: r/place April 2022 Placeholder for primary campaign asset Shared Emotional Experience r/Place by the numbers: 10.4 million partipants >160 million tiles placed 5.9 million tiles per hour 236 countries Timelapse Video Over 4 Days, April 2022
- 21. Authenticity drives connection & action Need Fulfillment
- 22. Sources: Pew Research Center, US, 2022; Institute for Family Studies, US, 2021 Need Fulfillment
- 23. Sources: Implicit Emotional Associations Test, 2022 Community platforms are significantly more likely to be associated with mental well-being and the positive associations that come with it vs social media. Additive vs Addictive. Need Fulfillment
- 24. Future Proof your brand by finding people that matter to you in communities that matter to them.
- 25. Source: YPulse, Power of Community, US, 2021 Trust in Communities for product & brand recommendations on the rise 25 Region 1 % of users who trust each platform to learn about new products and brands Growth in Reddit user trust YoY Decrease in average social platform trust YoY 17 % 23% 53% 55% 59% 65% 71% 73% 86% 89% 90% Source: YPulse, Power of Community, US, 2021
- 27. The biggest winners this decade will build community into their product and marketing experiences.
- 28. Find your people: The intersection of brands, belonging, and online communities Thank You!
Editor's Notes
- I don’t have to tell you that we are standing within a completely different world than the one we were in the last time we were all here. Between war, the continued disruption of the pandemic, supply chain challenges and the impacts of extreme inflation - we are unlikely to find any facet of our lives that doesn’t at least look a bit different since the last SIC. Thanks to Brian and his team at SIC for bringing us back together in-person!
- One of the things I LOVE about Seattle is how unique the community is here. It’s a community with creativity and innovation at the core…while that creative spirit may have started with Jimi Hendrix and others back in the day, its carried forward by the world-class tech and marketing community we have in the area. For a while our community, like so many others, was only able to connect online…
- Throughout this time, we’ve watched online communities take on an even more pronounced role. The power of communities has never been more clear… today so many people are making the choice to shift toward trust, well-being, privacy and authenticity with the time they spend staring into a screen. This trend is as big for marketers and businesses as the shift to mobile was a decade ago. [SETUP THE TALK]: Today I’m going to talk about the distinction between online communities and social media, and why people, especially younger audiences, are shifting the time they spend online toward communities. From there I’ll address what this means for all of us in the marketing, creative and technology world.
- Before I dive into why we’re seeing such a rise in usage of online communities, let’s root ourselves into what Community really is. A lot of companies and people talk about community, but there’s a huge difference between platforms that have some community-like features, vs a platform like Reddit and others, who’s entire mission is to help communities thrive. To understand community you have to go back to 1986…Two psychologists, McMillan & Chavis, crafted what is still today the most broadly accepted and utilized definition of community. They defined community as "a feeling that members have of belonging, a feeling that members matter to one another and to the group, and a shared faith that members' needs will be met through their commitment to be together.” They called this feeling a "sense of community", and proposed that it is composed of four elements The four tenets of community—are: Membership, Influence, Shared Emotional Experience, and Need Fulfillment. [slide builds] Membership: People find membership through Shared Passions and sense of connection and belonging because they care about the same topics. Membership online is all about information and experiences organized around shared passions, not the people you know or a stream of content you’re told to consume. Influence: In an online community, Influence is based on equality, and the trust and weight is put on the quality of your contribution. In a typical social platform, your influence is based on who you know, the number of followers, how you game the system or algorithm, and in some cases the quality of your content. Shared Emotional Experience: When you and I are part of a community we are seeing the same content and conversations - while my unique algorithm on other platforms means that you and I will inherently see different content. We will dive deeper into this, but for now think of this as Collective Experiences in online communities vs personalized/algorithmically designed experiences in social apps like FB, IG, TT and others. Need Fulfillment: This boils down to Belonging and Emotional Security, which only exists in platforms that are Community at the core. People believe it is additive to their lives and has a positive impact on mental health. We see the need for this growing…for example, 82% of Reddit users agree that in an age where social media has a negative impact on mental health, our platform has a positive impact
- Community offers something radically different than social media. Here people are connecting around the passions they share, not the people they know. With that, the way they share here is different. Community creates a “we” mentality that is unlike the “me” centric, curated persona we often see online. WHO you are matters more than WHAT you are. You are coming there with intentionality, to be informed, entertained or to make a decision. If Social Media is a bunch of people you know talking about things you don’t care about; then Communities are a group of people you don’t know talking about things you care deeply about. And post-pandemic the power of these communities have grown immensely: A recent YPulse study found that 63% Gen Z & Millennials say that online communities are just as powerful as in-person connections Let’s talk about what’s happening through the lens of those 4 tenants of community….
- Most of us are seeking places where we belong, places we can trust and feel good. For me personally that means who I am is reflected back into the communities I participate in. Things like travel, parenting, technology, the mariners, Seahawks and golf… Membership: People find membership through Shared Passions and sense of connection and belonging because they care about the same topics. How many of you are active in a Reddit community today? (Hands raised….engagement….) Tell the story of what communities are through the r/golf…(ee up next story…it is very different than I thought it would be…To illustrate how membership, belonging, trust and safety…)
- What I thought it was (online communities) vs what it really is….play off that for r/golf. Story time: Milos Bogetic has been fighting cancer for over six years and is facing a new round of chemotherapy. And with golf, he has found joy and peace. His wife Trish have 2 kids under 3. He came to the US on a basketball scholarship. A few years ago he found out he had stage 3 asphogas cancer…given a 12% chance of survival. Then is spread…and he had a 2-8% chance of survival. Content and contribution are more important than what you look like and your followers.
- Influence is all about TRUST. But if Trust is the new king…there’s trouble brewing that is a huge dilemma for Marketers…
- Among social media users, 11% have made a purchase because of an influencer in the last six months, with adults under 25 years old being the most likely to have been influenced by an influencer to make a purchase.
- Commun-Economy…Authenticity drives action
- Communities are driving real world actions…Recommendations on products…trusted conversations. Confident making purchase decisions because these communities are trusted sources. 2 examples: WSB….Financial Decisions…what products to buy…THIS IS WHERE TRUST IS THRIVING…
- Shared Emotional Experience: Are we giving that to users across the platforms and experiences that we are creating. An algorhythimically based experience is the antithesis of that. a shared emotional connection as a result of having shared community experience - meaning when you and I are part of a community we are seeing the same content and conversations - while my unique algorithm on other platforms means that you and I will inherently see different content. 87% agree that Community members have a shared emotional connection as a result of having a shared community experience on Reddit. Note: This experience is specific to subreddits and the popular page. Each user’s home page offers content unique to them.
- While what you see on most platforms is unique to your algorithm, but in online communities everyone sees the same Content. Because people have the same access to content, it minimizes the social media silos that tend to become echo chambers. The “me” centric validation-seeking that is so prevalent on other social platforms—and can be depression and self-doubt-inducing—is replaced by the “we” mentality in communities.
- Audience engagement around Wordle…who plays it? Today’s word…etc…Wordle is successful because it is a shared emotional experience….transition Into Josh Wardle, r/Place tee up
- .transition from Wordle Into Josh Wardle, r/Place tee up Here’s an example of what happens when you foster a healthy, shared emotional experience. Since April 1, 2015, Reddit has set out to re-write April Fools' Day. Each year, we released a different stunt that empowers people and communities. Redditors worked together to decide the fates of our April Fools' Day events. In doing so they showed us something beautiful; when we work together, we can achieve something amazing. r/Place is a social experiment that launched on Reddit back in 2017. Its founder, Josh Wardle (founder of Wordle, ever heard of it?) called r/Place "a screenshot of the Internet at this moment in time." Five years later, on April 1, 2022, it made a massive and triumphant return. Reddit’s r/Place is a community that functions as an open canvas, where each user can post a single, tiny, colored pixel every five minutes. Because each user can only place a single, tiny tile every five minutes, it’s impossible to build alone. The five-minute wait time throttles any single person’s ability to dominate the canvas. Users are instead forced to work together and build coordinated communities to produce collective works of pixel art. And the numbers exploded this year…Over 10M people from 236 countries placed 160M tiles… Massive communities on and off Reddit began orchestrating their campaigns early, collectively filling the space with a Ukrainian flag for example. Users from r/starwars re-created an entire movie poster. The trans community placed a massive trans flag on screen. But it didn’t stop there….it was just starting to get interesting.
- What do people really need? Emotional security, safety…
- GenZ is the #1 cohort I’m asked about by CMO’s and marketers. The most mobile-savvy generation in history is constantly online, but also the loneliest generation. How did that happen? Are there needs being met by the current state of social media? Communities are additive, not additive.
- So how do we know if we are building products and services that meet people’s core needs? I’ll use Reddit as an example since we recently did an in-depth study on this. In a recent study, we used the Implicit Emotion Association Test which is designed to uncover latent and subconscious associations that people have with platforms through an exercise that forces survey respondents to assign emotional attributes to platforms as quickly as possible. This is what we found. Reddit is significantly more likely to be associated with mental well-being and the positive associations that come with it. Reddit was #1 among all competitors for Honest, Curious, Trustworthy And was more likely to be associated with Thoughtful Mental Well Being Civil Welcome And safe place Compared to: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, Pinterest Reddit is most closely associated with the descriptors authentic, civil, trustworthy,nhonest, and supporting mental well-being.
- I only have a few min left, but before I go I want to talk about what this means for us. Section for Marketers: Trust and Influence comes from communities. There is no trust in social media anymore or online news IDFA/post cookie world Advice for what marketers should do End with QR code/gift of the white paper
- They trust the information they find here, discuss it with others in the community, and use it to inform perspectives of their own. Reddit is trusted for product and brand recommendations significantly more than all social competitors and Google and Amazon, who are synonymous with product purchase. In a time when authentic product recommendations are more difficult to find, user trust in Reddit has grown by 17% YoY, while trust in competitor platforms has decreased by 23% TRUST IS ALIVE AND WELL…..
- Interest-based targeting in a cookieless future The delay with Google deprecating third-party cookies will come eventually, and although advertisers have been preparing are they truly setting themselves up for long-term success? There’s much more meaning for brands to understand who their audience is and what they care about rather than what they are Demographics vs interests Brand can reach their people across the funnel Here’s an example from Reddit….(talk them through what this means and how EASY it is)
- Challenge everyone to think about how they can infuse Community into their products and strategies. This is not only great for people, but it gives you and your company a competitive advantage. End with QR code/gift of the white paper
- Share the QR code above to direct clients to the Find your people White paper landing page.