Archives for January 2015

I was reintroduced to the Apollonian and Dionysian comparative framework. Apollonian perception is based in comparing to a perfect ideal. For example, viewing a painting or photograph through the comparative lens of technique and skill. Dionysian perception is based in understanding through an experiential lens. For example, viewing a work of art through the emotional reaction it invokes. Having heard the framework reexamined, I realized how widely applicable it is to the world. I completely missed this point while reading Nietzsche in college.

Thinking about this concept further, I realize the new societal importance placed on the Dionysian way of life. The sheer amount of access to creating new information lends itself to wanting to create the Perfect end product. Although this is possible, most people are exploring the overall process of integration a new experiential form into their daily life. In other words, adding a new toy to their toolbox.

In the world of services and products, the initial Apollonian impression determines interest. Does the website look good? Is the logo appealing? Does the description perfectly captivate me? In the world of search engines and social networks, the Apollonian benchmark is SEO and viral coefficients. These measurable by-products determine the success or failure of market acquisition.

The reason why people continue to use a product is based in Dionysian reasoning. Product fit is based an end-user understanding the ideal use case for themselves, without needing to be shown. The perfect product’s core functionality lends itself to immediate experiential heaven.

Recent product development blogs emphasize the importance of building Atom services. The goal is to create something that has a dependable functionality and results in a foundation for further use cases. In other words, it becomes a Platform.

The ideal Platform is always changing, based on its market penetration. Facebook’s example as a strong social tie into weak social tie based service is a perfect example. Initially, Facebook attracted a college age demographic who shared photos and kept up-to-date on current events. The demographic has obviously shifted to an older audience. Younger users have flocked to messaging services like Snapchat, WeChat, and the plethora of alternatives.

Although I haven’t consciously noticed this, the trend of strong to weak social tie based communities can be synonymous with the demographic of a products user base. The need for weak social ties is not as apparent for people in social institutions such as grade school or college. Oppositely, workers are less prone to finding opportunities to explore diverse communities.

As a result, I wonder if the current messaging services Dionysian appeal will eventually shift into a Apollonian network utility. Synonymously, these services would shift into becoming tools for weaker social ties and older audiences…

Facebook began as a digital representation of a person’s strong social ties. People friended people they knew in real life. They found the people that they wanted to keep in touch with and added them. The interaction of wall posts, pokes, and message exchanges were regularly done based on high touch friendships.

The growth of Facebook turned it into a place of weak social ties. Frequently, people’s friends lists would be littered with people that were not directly connected to their lives. Adding someone on Facebook became synonymous with meeting someone for the first time. After finding a common interest, people exchanged information for the purpose of finding each other on Facebook. Compared to in-person opportunities to develop these ties, social networks fall short.

In the past, social services based on Facebook initially exploited the viral social-recommendation service. Through having a single person sign-up, the person’s friend’s and friends of friends were immediate targets for social referrals. After the days of Zynga, a series of Facebook apps that exploited the social graph emerged. One example is the notorious birthday apps that crawled all of a user’s social graph to map out Facebook.

I think of the early and mid 90’s as a period of dying weak social ties. Robert Putnam wrote extensively about this is Bowling Alone. He points out the fading presence of social communities such as country clubs, community centers, and bowling communities. He emphasized the importance of weak social ties for providing opportunities for indirectly connected people to interact. These interactions were important for political, career, and social awareness. These micro exchanges that previously existed through occasional indirect interactions have been replaced by the social media relationships we foster online.

Social networks have transformed into a place of strong social ties to weak social ties. The decline of in-person opportunities for individuals to develop weak social ties is replaced by the self-initiated association into larger digital communities. The social network has become the place where we exchange ideas, share news, and learn about current events. The algorithmic nature of Facebook, the time-based updates from Instagram and Twitter, and the community structured interactions of web forums are the new place for weak social ties to develop.

This is interesting for the sake of discovery. No longer do we need to manipulate the social-graph ridden referral engine to attain growth on social networks. The usage patterns of users are incredibly varied, so content circulated on the networks have long circulation periods based on the weak social ties. For example, some users login to Facebook on a daily basis, while others login a few times a week or a few times a month. Based on the varied usage, the content deemed important on certain social clusters sustains its period of exposure.

The transition of social networks from strong social tie communities to weak social tie communities make it a good target for circulation. The weak social ties between users insure a variety of content amongst a user’s curated index. Oppositely, news websites and periodic media communities such as Reddit have low circulation periods. While the traffic density is relatively high, the lifespan is very short. As a result, new links are circulated on a daily basis and sustained exposure is difficult.

This has huge implications for circulation of new media.