Validation and Social Networking

If a tree falls in a forest, and there is no one to hear it, does it make a sound?

Pretty much all of us are aware of that cliche. But I was thinking about a related observation: If there is no one to witness the tree falling, did it happen at all? Does the action need to be validated by a witness? (I’ll try to ignore the idea that the forest suddenly and quickly tilted up creating the illusion that it was the tree falling.)

Why does this matter?

I was thinking about what is the difference between a person being ignored and a person who is getting no feedback. In both cases, there is silence. But think about the difference in how that silence is received if the person knows whether or not they: attract no attention; or are so gifted that they inspire silent awe. As I said, there is still silence, but in the second case that silence is validating. The difference being the perception of the person who is the object of either our awe or inattention.

In both cases, the person is in a sort of Schrödinger reality, being ignorant of the actual state of the world around them until something tips the scale. Then they jump to one or the other states of perceived reality.

And thus we show how social networks are different things to different users. Many receive little more than silence—certainly when they are first introduced to the construct. This causes some to leave immediately. Others embrace the challenge. Still, if validation doesn’t arrive, whether through retweet/like/+1 or via comments, people (largely being insecure creatures) are more likely than not to assume they are being ignored instead of being silently revered.

And that’s the trick with successful social networks. They not only encourage people to validate others, but they also minimize the impediments to doing so. That last part is where even popular socnets can stumble. They can impose artificial roadblocks to ad hoc solutions, or they may introduce so many “features” that the landscape is awash in noise. It’s tricky to walk the tightrope between getting people to say “Look at you!” instead of saying “Look at me!”.

In the end, it all comes down to letting the people who take the plunge and decide to fall in one of these inter-networked forests that they do, indeed, make a sound.

Photo: nathanmac87 via Flickr (CC attrib.)