Status Updates, "Checking In," and the "Looking-Glass Self"

Statuses of significance?

A few weeks ago, one of my business school professors posed a question regarding why some people post "status updates" on their Facebook accounts. More specifically, the professor wanted to know the possible justifications for postings that just do not seem to be relevant or important (the example he provided was, "I just shaved my dog."). My guess is that virtually anyone who has regularly used a Facebook has encountered the postings of Facebook "friends" that carry equally questionable levels of significance.

The issue is interesting in part because there are compelling reasons for why people should not post on Facebook. Posting certain pieces of information or committing a Facebook faux pas might make you look dumb or annoying or will make your friends want to scream. And some websites warn you of all the terrible things that could happen to you if you share information on Facebook. Moreover, research by Harvard Business School professor Leslie John suggests that people generally underestimate the value of their personal information and fail to understand how it can be used against them.

What followed in class was a lively discussion among the students (who are almost exclusively in their 20s or 30s, and most of whom admittedly use Facebook) about the various reasons that people update their status.

We all acknowledged that many status updates are understandable. For instance, no one saw any problem with announcing one's engagement or one's decision to accept a job offer--such an update is a very efficient way to share relevant news with a potentially large number of friends and family members. However, we reached no consensus over any single driving force behind the sort of seemingly irrelevant posts ("I'm going out to prune the trees in my back yard now...") that some people like to post. Rather, we compiled a list of numerous potential reasons for such behavior.

The discourse revolving around this question was hardly confined to a Tuesday afternoon class at the Johns Hopkins University Carey Business School, though. Indeed, the phenomena associated with interaction on Facebook have been repeatedly studied. One project that surveyed roughly one hundred college students concluded that people who posted status updates regularly were less likely to feel lonely, regardless of whether others "liked" their status updates. Another study placed the onus on Facebook rather than the users, questioning whether the social media platform itself carried the effect of turning users into narcissists.

One possible reason that people update their statuses can be found in the concept of the "looking-glass self," introduced by sociologist Charles H. Cooley in 1902. The gist of Cooley's paradigm is that people view themselves in light of how they believe that others might perceive them. Cooley argued that we engage in a three-step process during which we first imagine how others might perceive us, then contemplate how others might judge us based on what they perceive, and finally react in some way. The reaction might take place in modifications of self-image or behavior or even both.

Of course, the Cooley model only goes so far in explaining the behavior of participants in social media platforms--and for some observed behaviors, it carries virtually no explanatory power at all. But it does tie in with one of the sources that we had been assigned to read for that class. In his article, "If you Love Something, Let it Go Mobile:  Mobile Marketing and Mobile Social Media 4 X 4," ESCP Europe Business School professor Andreas M. Kaplan discusses why individuals might "check in," or share via social media that they are at a certain location, be it an airport, a restaurant, a shopping center, etc... Kaplan notes that some social psychology literature has argued that people are generally more willing to reveal information about themselves that would allow them to be seen favorably by others. Indeed, Kaplan offers the example that an individual might be more likely to let others know that he/she is shopping at a glamorous fashion outlet than at a local grocery store, restocking for the week.

How do this theory and these tendencies tie in to small business? For one, if you're a small business owner (or an owner/manager of a business of any size, really), you need to enable your customers to check in at your location. Of course, your business will have to have a Facebook account first (which I've already argued is a no-brainer!). The good folks at Facebook will walk you through a step-by-step process to set up the check-in system. The start-up costs of doing this are minimal (just a little bit of your time), and no further maintenance is required. The benefit is that your customers will be able to let others know that they are patronizing your business.

Second, it is important to understand the social psychology of revealing personal information so that you can consider how effective the checking-in process might be for your business. If you buy in to the looking-glass self phenomenon, you might expect that Facebook check-ins might be more beneficial to you if you're selling Gucci handbags than if you're selling household cleaning products. Likewise, if you're managing a fast food restaurant, such check-ins are likely going to be less beneficial to driving revenue than if you were managing the local weekend dancing hotspot.

Having a social media presence is of paramount importance to virtually any business--though the associated returns will vary by business. But understanding the behavioral tendencies and motives of your client base is crucial to your ability to develop an effective social media strategy. The looking-glass self and the Kaplan observation offer a sound example of this need.