The Psychology of Change on Social Media
Some say that variety is the spice of life, whilst others prefer the straight and narrow. In the world of social media, the general consensus seems to be the latter. Facebook was met with great frustration from its users when it introduced the Timeline while Twitter created a monster in the form of #RIPTwitter before it had even adopted its new algorithm format.
It was only a matter of time before Instagram felt the rath of its users, and last week marked the day. The new Instagram symbol was mocked, memed, ridiculed and criticised before it finally fell into quiet submission and found its place on the home screen of its 300 million users.
Our reactions to these alterations is a curious thing; that such relatively small and largely insignificant changes can prompt such strong emotions is interesting and can go a long way to helping businesses and brands understand more about their clients and their relationships with social media.
In order to flourish, businesses need to be able to develop and adapt according to changes in technology, economic climates or social trends. However, when that business is a branch of social media with which users have something of a connection, these changes seem more like a loss of power and control.
A 2014 study showed that the number one cause of stress to Facebook users in the initial period of the Timeline was loss of familiarity, closely followed by loss of control, and indeed this is is quite understandable. Imagine the rules of your favourite sport being changed, mid-game. It’s inconvenient and frustrating and a reminder that social media, an entity built on the ethos of free interaction and community is actually a business with a large degree of ownership.
The same 2014 study by Penn State and UC Irvine also learnt that, due to the very nature of social media, those Facebook users surveyed perceived themselves to be a part of the community, valued for their loyalty and continued use, rather than simply subjects of it.
Under this description, the user is well within their rights be upset when sudden and seemingly unnecessary changes are made to “their” networks. Their reaction, in true social media spirit, is to speak up and voice their opinions to the community with a majority of 64% of users in the 2014 study directly asking Facebook to revert back.
Another means of protest was to threaten to leave the social network and while few probably did depart company, the majority eventually settled, accepted and some time later embraced life the algorithmic way.
Understanding this relationship is to really appreciate the power and influence social media has and gives real insight into the relationship between user and network.
By Aisling Lewis
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