Allison Fine is currently in Israel talking to foundations about social media. On her first day she gained wonderful insight about the cultural and contextual realities when it comes to social media use:
One fascinating development was that I raised the issue of the discomfort that a lot of non-digital natives have when the lines between public and private are blurred, and one Israeli woman said to me afterwards that there isn’t such a line for most Israelis. We’re all related, she said, we know everyone’s business already, there’s nothing to hide! I never expected that, in fact, I expected in a country so immersed in conversations about security that this issue would be of particular interest and concern. It was eye-opening for me to think about how contextually and culturally based, not just generationally based, the issue is.
Allison realized that level of comfort with social media goes beyond generation. However, what her reflection reminded me of is our tendency to lose focus on the people we are trying to engage. Our understanding stops at statistics instead of delving deeper into motivations, needs, and attitudes towards relationships and community. We might notice that some groups use a tool more than others or in a specific way, yet we dont explore why there are these differences and how these differences affect the role of social media in social change.
Answering the why is hard. Some questions I have started thinking about:
Who is part of our community? What is their relationship with this issue? With our organization?
How does our community prefer to communicate and work together?
Where does our community gather? How often? To do what?
What is social media? Why might we use it?
What changes in our communication and community may occur if we use social media?
How can we use social media to strengthen our understanding of our community?
What do you think? How can we become more aware of our communities’ relationships to us and social media?
RT @CauseWire: Understanding cultural and contextual differences in #socialmedia use: Allison Fine http://t.co/rGEKsdW #nonprofit
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Understanding cultural and contextual differences in social media use | Allison Jones http://fb.me/LEu2I1Zr
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Very informative – Understanding cultural & contextual differences in social media use http://j.mp/kTIK7y via Allison Jones
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RT @jdeancoffey: Very informative – Understanding cultural & contextual differences in social media use http://j.mp/kTIK7y via Allison Jones
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Great post! It is important to think about how one thinks about social media as filtered by one’s own cultural lens (and outreach/engagement in general). If you are part of the dominant culture, how are you thinking about reaching others? Does your plan address this?
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ajlovesya Reply:
June 3rd, 2011 at 9:39 am
This is a great observation, Beth. Our own cultural biases determine how we define and approach outreach and connecting with others. How do we begin including different voices?
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Understanding cultural and contextual differences in social media use http://ow.ly/59H3b
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This is a great start to understanding this complex question. I tend to focus on the organizational or community level but I really think that comfort with social media and the digital environment is an incredibly deeply personal matter. We might also ask ourselves what is it about us or people that contribute to community & the conversation that ultimately influences our community? At any rate, this would be very valuable information and a rather challenging study to implement. If you ever find the answer, please share
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RT @ajlovesya: Understanding cultural and contextual differences in social media use http://ow.ly/59H3b
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