Antisocial media: Have we reached peak over-sharing?
Craving privacy, safety and a respite from the throngs of people on social platforms, young people prefer to use social media in a more intimate way – with smaller groups of people. The Harvard Business Review in The Era of Antisocial Social media explores the fastest growing area of online communications - private and interactive online spaces.
Young people want to be themselves and make real friends based on shared interests.
- 2/3 of young people under 30 said they prefer to talk in private message threads rather than on open forum and feeds.
- 60% said that talking in private groups means they can “share more openly”.
It has dubbed the rising spaces “digital campfires” (which are not exclusive) and identified three:
- Private messaging eg. Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Instagram’s Threads, Community –a text-based service that helps corporations and high-profile individuals have direct conversations with their fans via text messaging
- Micro-community: Facebook Groups, close friends feature within Instagram Stories
- Shared experience campfires – private or public forums with a like-minded community. Eg. Fortnite
The redirection of attention to more private modes of communication poses a challenge for advertisers (+ platforms) as people in smaller, more closed forums are much harder for advertisers to reach at scale.
It’s no surprise with the anxiety and loneliness epidemic that young people are seeking more genuine, rich connections to create a sense of community.
Couple that with a loss of faith in institutions and a greater concern about privacy and data and it makes sense that younger people are spending more time huddled around smaller digital “campfires”.
Gen Z are also highly expressive - engaged with creative pursuits offline like drawing or journaling. They value creativity and individuality and niche micro communities cater to this more effectively–helping them carve out a safe space and providing a sense of belonging as well as contributing to a sense of distinctiveness.
Gen Zers grew up post-consequence – they’re mindful of oversharing “broadcast” fashion, they’ve seen the damage that social posts can have and curate themselves in a highly conscious way.
Internally, we have found Gen Z will share posts on Instagram publicly that reflect their political ideals – for example climate rallies or how to manage anxiety, content that signals their values whereas more personal posts such as beauty tips or fashion looks –they will “save”. This metric is a more valuable way of gauging interest.
An anomaly to this trend of more private online communications is TikTok which has really tapped into Gen Z’s creativity and individuality. Perhaps because it is more of a creative outlet than a curated identity.
Brands trying to get in on these campfires will need to approach carefully – this audience despise fakery and pretence.
Finally, it’s telling that Billie Eilish, described as the quintessential Gen Z popstar is moody and quiet in contrast with the traditional pop star - upbeat, over the top and focused on performance.
