There's an article on on ABS/CBN news site (Do social networks like Twitter belong in media?) discussing, among other things, the business models of social media, if it's possible to monetize Twitter, and whether or not Murdoch will invest in Twitter after MySpace. About 3/4 of the way down the article is a statement that shows me how hard it is for people to let loose of their current models of how the world works and why so many companies and people are having a hard time taking advantage of social networking technologies. The author writes: "What is also unclear is whether social networks belong under the roof of Internet companies or traditional media." Why is it that we insist on putting something firmly in an existing category? Why must social networks be under one roof or the other? Partly it's because that's how brains work. We process new information by sticking it to something similar in our "brain bank" of stuff so we can decide what it is--or even remember it at … [Read more...]
Do social networks like Twitter belong in media?
California Prop 8: Minorities vote to block rights of other minorities
I’m supposed to be packing because moving vans come tomorrow, but I had to remark on this story in the Washington Post: Most Calif. blacks backed proposition 8: 53% of Latinos Also Supported Proposition 8 In it, Vick and Surdin write: LOS ANGELES, Nov. 6 -- Any notion that Tuesday's election represented a liberal juggernaut must overcome a detail from the voting booths of California: The same voters who turned out strongest for Barack Obama also drove a stake through the heart of same-sex marriage. This makes me extraordinarily curious about the rationale these voters had on this issue. Is it religious? Or is it that we all need to “other” somebody? A huge body of research talks about intergroup conflict, group affiliation, and the need to establish clear boundaries of others to affirm our own groupness. This is the same tribalism I talked about in the last post. I question if it is every possible to overcome this because biologically we’re driven to form … [Read more...]
Media framing: “Conservative” or Cognitive Inflexibility?
Scott Kaufman in a Psychology Today blog discusses research claiming that conservatives are less creative (Are conservatives less creative than liberals?). Kaufman is fairly even-handed, but I have a problem with research that takes several political policy positions and uses that to establish that some is a "conservative" since that has a much broader social connotation. Why not frame of this finding using a more appropriate (and possibly more accurate) designation such as cognitive inflexibility. This takes away the political baggage and inherent emotion that baggage brings. There have been many studies that link individuals who need cognitive closure and have an intolerance for ambiguity with lack of creativity. (note: links are relationships, not causality). Given the research premise, these findings should be consistent with anyone who is firmly and unwaveringly committed to ideas and positions without questioning--conservative or liberal or in between. As he notes, there … [Read more...]
