I was having a look at bolt the other day, for a piece of research I’m doing. The story of bolt is worth reading as an object lesson in how not to manage an online community.
As I meandered around the site it came to me that there is a big difference between creating an image and maintaining a reputation. Teenagers engage in an almost constant process of public self-definition. Figuring out who you are, and having that confirmed by your peer group, is a central part of teen life.
When you’re a teenager, it is acceptable to reinvent yourself entirely – to suddenly have new interests, and new image, new friends, a new attitude, even a new personality. Once you are an adult that is only permissable if you do it on TV with Gok Wan.
So it’s no wonder that social networking sites like Facebook, or bolt, or MySpace, or any site that lets you spend a lot of time presenting yourself to the world, appeal to a young audience. They have both the time and the motivation for cultivating an image.
A reputation is a more adult thing. It is built up over time and demands consistency and application. A professional reputation is not about who you are, but what you know, and who knows that you know it. Twitter lends itself to a type of communication that enhances reputation – each individual offering is short, but the accumulation of tweets over time gives people who follow you real value.
The lack of reciprocity in following people tweets is part of why this happens, as is the simplicity of the service. You can pretty up your Twitter profile all you want, but all you know for sure that people will see of you is 140 characters and a small avatar. Changing that avatar frequently will reduce your visibility in the busy world of Twitter rather than making you more conspicuous, as would be the case in many other social networks.
The last word to @Shaylamaddox:
Twitter makes me like people I’ve never met and Facebook makes me hate people I know in real life.
