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
1996 Benton Foundation report:
“Buildings, books, and bytes”
"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.
Magic of social networks
October 21, 2009
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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.”
Magic of social networks
October 21, 2009
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New information ecosystem: Then and Now
Industrial Age
Information Age
Info was:
Info is:
Scarce
Abundant
Expensive
Cheap
Institutionally
oriented
Personally
oriented
Designed for
consumption
Designed for
participation
Magic of social networks
October 21, 2009
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The internet is the asteroid: Then and now
2000
2009
46% of adults use internet
77-79% of adults use internet
5% with broadband at home
63% with broadband at home
50% own a cell phone
85% own a cell phone
0% connect to internet
wirelessly
54-56% connect to internet
wirelessly
<10% use “cloud”
>two-thirds use “cloud”
= slow, stationary
connections built around my
computer
= fast, mobile connections
built around outside servers
and storage
Magic of social networks
October 21, 2009
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Media ecology – then (industrial age)
Product
Route to home
TV stations
phone
broadcast TV
broadcast radio
News
mail
Advertising
newspaper delivery
Display
Local storage
TV
radio
stereo
Cassette/ 8-track
Vinyl album
phone
paper
Radio Stations
non-electronic
Tom Wolzien, Sanford C. Bernstein & Co
Magic of social networks
October 21, 2009
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37% of adults own DVRs –
from 3%age)
in 2002
Media ecology – nowup
(information
47% of Route
adults
– Local storage
Product
to homeown laptops
Display
cable
TiVo (PVR)
VCR
30% in 2006
TV stations up from
DSL
TV
Satellite radio player
Info
“Daily me”
content
Cable Nets
Web sites
Local news
Content from
individuals
Peer-to-peer
Advertising
Radio stations
wireless/phone
broadcast TV
books
broadcast radio
satellite
mail
express delivery pager
iPod / storage
subcarriers / WIFI
newspaper delivery
camcorder/camera
radio
PC
iPod /MP3
stereo
monitor
headphones
satellite player
portable gamer
cell phone
non-electronic
PDA/Palm
game console
e-reader / Kindle
37% of adults own game consoles
18% of adults own
personal gaming devices
Satellite radio
DVD
Web-based storage
server/ TiVo (PVR)
PC
web storage/servers
CD/CD-ROM
cell phone memory
MP3 player / iPod
pagers - PDAs
cable box
game console
paper
storage sticks/disks
e-reader/Kindle
45% of adults own MP3 players –
up from 11% in 2005
Adapted from Tom Wolzien, Sanford C. Bernstein & Co
Magic of social networks
October 21, 2009
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Media ecology – now (information age)
Product
TV stations
Info
“Daily me”
content
Cable Nets
Web sites
Local news
Content from
individuals
Peer-to-peer
Advertising
Radio stations
Route to home
cable
DSL
wireless/phone
broadcast TV
books
broadcast radio
satellite
mail
express delivery pager
iPod / storage
subcarriers / WIFI
newspaper delivery
camcorder/camera
Display
TiVo (PVR)
TV
radio
PC
iPod /MP3
stereo
monitor
headphones
satellite player
portable gamer
cell phone
non-electronic
PDA/Palm
game console
e-reader / Kindle
Local storage
VCR
Satellite radio player
DVD
Web-based storage
server/ TiVo (PVR)
PC
web storage/servers
CD/CD-ROM
cell phone memory
MP3 player / iPod
pagers - PDAs
cable box
game console
paper
storage sticks/disks
e-reader/Kindle
Ubiquitous computing age
Cloud computing
“Internet of things”
Satellite radio
Adapted from Tom Wolzien, Sanford C. Bernstein & Co
Magic of social networks
October 21, 2009
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Media ecology – now (information age)
Product
TV stations
Info
“Daily me”
content
Cable Nets
Web sites
Local news
Content from
individuals
Peer-to-peer
Advertising
Radio stations
Route to home
cable
DSL
wireless/phone
broadcast TV
books
broadcast radio
satellite
mail
express delivery pager
iPod / storage
subcarriers / WIFI
newspaper delivery
camcorder/camera
Display
TiVo (PVR)
TV
radio
PC
iPod /MP3
stereo
monitor
headphones
satellite player
portable gamer
cell phone
non-electronic
PDA/Palm
game console
e-reader / Kindle
Local storage
VCR
Satellite radio player
DVD
Web-based storage
server/ TiVo (PVR)
PC
web storage/servers
CD/CD-ROM
cell phone memory
MP3 player / iPod
pagers - PDAs
cable box
game console
paper
storage sticks/disks
e-reader/Kindle
… 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
Satellite radio
Adapted from Tom Wolzien, Sanford C. Bernstein & Co
Magic of social networks
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Behold the idea of networked individualism
Barry Wellman – University of Toronto
The turn from
groups to social
networks = a
new social
operating
system
Magic of social networks
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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
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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
Magic of social networks
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10 ways digital technology
has changed things for your
patrons and their networking
behavior
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Network ecosystem change – 1
Volume of
information
grows
-- Chris Anderson
Hal Varian
Network ecosystem change – 2
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
Disengaged
16%
Net Newsers
14%
Integrators
24%
Traditionalists
46%
The internet rises in a fragmented media environment
(% of all Americans who “regularly” go to news source: PRC People/Press)
80
70
60
Local TV
-25%
50
Natl TV news
-52%
Cable news
+18%
Newspapers
-41%
30
Radio
-27%
20
Online News +1,850%
40
10
0
1994
1996
1998
2000
2002
2004
2006
2008
Network ecosystem change – 3
Velocity of
information
increases and
smart mobs
emerge
-- Howard Rheingold
Clay Shirky
Network ecosystem change – 4
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
Network ecosystem change – 5
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
Kaiser Family Foundation, Media Multitasking Among American Youth, December 2006
Network ecosystem change – 6
The vibrance and
immersive
qualities of
media
environments
makes them
more compelling
places to hang
out and interact
-- Metaverse Roadmap
Project
1) Virtual Worlds
Network ecosystem change – 6
The vibrance and
immersive
qualities of
media
environments
makes them
more compelling
places to hang
out and interact
-- Metaverse Roadmap
Project
2) Mirror Worlds
Network ecosystem change – 6
The vibrance and
immersive
qualities of
media
environments
makes them
more compelling
places to hang
out and interact
-- Metaverse Roadmap
Project
3) Augmented Reality
Network ecosystem change – 6
The vibrance and
immersive
qualities of
media
environments
makes them
more compelling
places to hang
out and interact
-- Metaverse Roadmap
Project
4) Life-logging
-- Gordon Bell
Network ecosystem change – 7
Valence (relevance)
of information
improves – search
and customization
get better as we
create the “Daily
Me” and “Daily Us”
– Nicholas Negroponte
Network ecosystem change – 8
The voice of
information
democratizes
and the
visibility of new
creators is
enhanced.
Identity and
privacy change.
-- William Dutton
Network ecosystem change – 9
Voting on and
ventilating about
information
proliferates as
tagging, rating,
and commenting
occurs and
collective
intelligence
asserts itself
-- Henry Jenkins
David Weinberger
Information sharing and evaluation
31% of adult internet
users have rated a
person, product,
or service online
Network ecosystem change – 10
Social networks
become more vivid
and meaningful.
Media-making is
part of social
networking.
“Networked
individualism” takes
hold.
-- Barry Wellman
Content creation
>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
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
Magic of social networks
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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
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A new pattern of communication and influence built
around social networks and participatory media
•
•
•
•
The four-step flow of information
attention
acquisition
assessment
action
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Thank you!
Lee Rainie
Director
Pew Internet & American Life Project
1615 L Street NW
Suite 700
Washington, DC 20036
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: http://twitter.com/lrainie
202-419-4500
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