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What The 'Spiral of Silence' Tells Us About Social Networks

Oracle

Social networks are in some ways having the opposite effect of what their inventors probably intended to create. People are living increasingly in echo chambers where they only hear opinions that match their own, and are less likely to express contrary opinions for fear of being shouted down by their online circle of friends, according to a report by Pew Research Center released Tuesday.

For example, according to Pew, “the findings indicate that in the Snowden case, social media did not provide new forums for those who might otherwise remain silent to express their opinions and debate issues. Further, if people thought their friends and followers in social media disagreed with them, they were less likely to say they would state their views on the Snowden-NSA story online and in other contexts, such as gatherings of friends, neighbors, or co-workers.”

The authors of the study are careful to say that their study is limited in scope and doesn’t necessarily reflect how Americans feel about using social media to discuss all political topics. Nevertheless, the study shows that people were less likely to discuss this particular issue on either Facebook or Twitter (42%) than they would be during a face-to-face conversation (86%).

Pew calls it the “spiral of silence.” A more commonly used term might be “peer pressure.”

What does this mean for the business social software market, which some expect to grow by more than 11% per year between 2014 and 2019?

For one thing, it means having a strong stomach. People tend to pile on in online forums, and say things they’d never say to someone in person. A flock mentality means the opinions expressed – positive or negative – will accelerate quickly and voices of moderation may go mum. Rather than pulling back in horror, though, brands will need to engage and keep the conversation growing.

Keeping the conversation going can mean anything from respectfully disagreeing with negative comments, to acknowledging and even promoting things your company has done in response to those opinions. Either way, engaging in these forums will make your company seem more human – more relatable – and quite possibly convert angry consumers into supportive and possibly even proactively engaged fans.

The one thing you can’t do is retreat from the field of battle. There’s simply too much to be gained from participating in the fray.

As noted social media expert Ted Rubin says, “Relationships are the new currency.” That may sound like so much New Age balderdash, but at the core of that statement is the simple truth that brands are seeking to establish meaningful relationships with customers, and relationships are almost never one-to-one. From the way you met your significant other to how you feel about your neighbors, almost every relationship in life is developed in a social context, and is continually informed by that context.

The benefits of social networking, from increased brand recognition and higher conversation rates, to lower marketing costs, were laid out pretty succinctly by marketing expert Jayson DeMers. That doesn’t mean there won’t be stomach-knotting challenges along the way.

As Aaron Lazenby, editor in chief of Oracle’s Profit magazine wrote last year, committing to interacting continuously for more than a year allowed an Oracle client “to build a rapport and identity in the online communities we frequented. This, ultimately, was the most valuable asset we generated: the trust and support of the users we targeted.”

Owners of online media are becoming increasingly aware of the issue of rude (to put it mildly) behavior online, and are looking for ways to address it. Ultimately, however, the onus of responsibility for more tolerable (and tolerant) online discussion rests with all of us – a point made by Kara Swisher in paraphrasing eloquent cartoonist Walt Kelly’s Pogo, who famously said, “we have met the enemy and he is us.”

American companies have led the way in many areas of American life, from providing affordable health care to engaging in meaningfully social giving. Perhaps they can also show the way to more respectful social behaviors.