The Motivational Drivers of

Social Networking
Photo source: Jeffrey Heer, Stanford University
by Steve Massi
BACKGROUND
Background

• Social network growth continues

 Background

•26% of American adults use social networking

services, with younger cohorts much more likely to
use SNS than older cohorts*

*PEW – Social isolation and new technology, 11/2009

 Background

• One third (35%) of American adult internet users

have a profile on an online social network site
–4X as many as four years ago
• Still much lower than the 65% of online American
teens who use social networks

Source: PEW – Adults and social networking sites, 1/2009

Background

• But usage and share are

concentrated
 Background

• Facebook growth is exploding*

– 400MM active users
– 35MM users update status daily
– Avg. user has 130 friends
– Avg. user sends 8 friend requests/month
– Avg. user spends 55 minutes/day on site
– Average user becomes a fan of 4 Pages each month
– Average user is a member of 13 groups

*Facebook.com
 Background

• 19% of internet users now say they use Twitter or another

service to share updates about themselves, or to see
updates about others*
– This represents a significant increase over previous surveys in
December 2008 and April 2009, when 11% of internet users said
they use a status-update service

*PEW: Twitter and status updating Fall 2009

 Background

• MySpace*
– Avg. app. 54.8MM users/month
• YouTube**
– Every minute, 20 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube
– Fifty-one percent of YouTube users visit weekly or more
often
– 52 percent of 18-34 year-olds share videos often with
friends and colleagues
• LinkedIn***
– 50MM+ members
– Adding 1 new member/second

*Quantcast.com
** YouTube.com
***LinkedIn blog
REASONS FOR USING SOCIAL
NETWORKS
 Reasons for using social networks

• Online social network

applications are mainly used
for explaining and
maintaining personal
networks, and most adults,
like teens, are using them to
connect with people they
already know

Source: PEW – Adults and social network sites, 1/2009

 Reasons for using social networks

• An important difference between social networking

sites and earlier forms of many-to-many
conversations such as chat rooms and blogs is that
social networking sites are predominantly based on
social relationships and connections with people,
rather than a shared interest*

*Ofcom.uk, 4/2008
 Reasons for using social networks

• DISCOVERY – for self-development or to learn from others

• ALTRUSIM – to help others make the right decision or
become involved in the brand’s product decision
• SOCIAL – to connect to the like minded, reinforce tribal
identity or gain a sense of belonging
• FAME – for personal notoriety or to challenge their ability
against others
• ESCAPISM – for entertainment and an escape from the daily
routine
• EXPRESSION – as an outlet for their imagination or
expression of personal identity

Source: TMW social media research 4/2009

WHAT MOTIVATES US?
Underlying drivers of motivation

• Are social networks here to stay or just another

technology fad?
• A deeper understanding of human motivation may
answer this question
 Underlying drivers of motivation

• Abraham Maslow’s, A Theory of Human Motivation,

identified the key building blocks of human motivation:
1. Physiological needs - food, air, water, homeostasis
2. Safety needs - safety, shelter, basic stability
3. Love needs - love, affection, belongingness
4. Esteem needs - self-respect, self-esteem, esteem of
others
5. Self-actualization – desire for self-fulfillment

Source: A.H. Maslow, A Theory of Human Motivation, 1943

Underlying drivers of motivation
• These needs are often expressed visually as a hierarchy of
needs
 Underlying drivers of motivation

• Expressed as a hierarchy due to perceived stacking of each

• Generally, lower level needs must be satisfied to some
degree before next level need begins to exert itself
• But this is not a fixed rule:
– “There are some people in whom, for instance, self-esteem seems to
be more important than love.”
– “There are other, apparently innately creative people in whom the
drive to creativeness seems to be more important than any other
counter-determinant.”
– “Perhaps more important than all these exceptions are the ones
that involve ideals, high social standards, high values and the like.
With such values people become martyrs; they give up everything
for the sake of a particular ideal, or value.”

Source: A.H. Maslow, A Theory of Human Motivation, 1943

 Underlying drivers of motivation

• Additionally, there is a false perception that a lower level

need must be completely satisfied before a higher order
need exerts itself
• Here are Maslow’s thoughts on this subject:
– Degree of relative satisfaction. – “So far, our theoretical discussion may
have given the impression that these five sets of needs are somehow in a
step-wise, all-or-none relationships to each other. We have spoken in such
terms as the following: "If one need is satisfied, then another emerges." This
statement might give the false impression that a need must be satisfied 100
per cent before the next need emerges. In actual fact, most members of our
society who are normal, are partially satisfied in all their basic needs and
partially unsatisfied in all their basic needs at the same time. A more
realistic description of the hierarchy would be in terms of decreasing
percentages of satisfaction as we go up the hierarchy of prepotency…”

Source: A.H. Maslow, A Theory of Human Motivation, 1943

 Underlying drivers of motivation

• Maslow also identified a set of higher order, B-values, that

motivate during the self-actualization phase
– Wholeness: unity, integration, one-ness
– Perfection: necessity, just-right-ness
– Completion: ending, finality, destiny, fate
– Justice: fairness, orderliness, oughtness
– Aliveness: process, spontaneity
– Richness: differentiation, intricacy
– Simplicity: honesty, essentiality
– Beauty: Rightness, form, aliveness, simplicity
– Goodness: rightness, desirability, benevolence
– Uniqueness: idiosyncrasy, individuality
– Effortlessness: ease, grace, lack of strain
– Playfulness: fun, joy, amusement
– Truth: honesty, reality
– Self-sufficiency: autonomy, independence
Source: A.H. Maslow, Toward a Psychology of Being, 1968
Underlying drivers of motivation
• Let’s compare recent insights on social network usage with
Maslow’s hierarchy
Reasons for usage

• Discovery
• Altruism
• Expression
• Fame

• Social relationships,
connections w/people
• Stay in touch w/friends
• Make plans w/friends
• Make new friends
Underlying drivers of motivation

• Summary:
– Needs for connection, friendship, love, respect and
acknowledgment from self and others are an essential
part of the human condition and growth
– Once lower order needs are fairly met and sustained,
people seek out higher order needs, or B values, related
to fulfillment, goodness, truth, etc.
– Online social networking enables people to more easily
and more fully satisfy their needs for connection,
esteem and self-actualization
IMPLICATIONS FOR BRANDS
Implications for brands

• Social networking is here to stay

–It is part of the human condition
• Social networks provide an opportunity to
increase the depth, not just number of
relationships
• Ideas and platforms, not tactics, will drive 2-way
communication, engagement and connection
Implications for brands

• Engagement will require a level of openness and

transparency brands are not accustomed to
–Clear goals, strategies, responsibilities and on-
boarding, are mandatory
• Brands will need to become more human and
flexible in their interactions
–Consistency, not rigidity
• Maslow’s insights on human motivation provide
a roadmap for engagement
Thanks

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• Steve Massi
• stevemassi@verizon.net
• linkedin.com/in/stevemassi
• twitter.com/stevemassi
• stevemassi.posterous.com