The Tao of Innovation

you have answered a question that was always in my mind, but why is twitter becoming popular while facebook is there? the whole twitter idea is only one function in facebook!!

There is a hierarchy in the Twitterverse that obeys Maslow on a social level: SOCIO-actualization! It's a tool for those who see the vectors.

This blog really helped me to see the big picture about Twitter. I started using it for publicity reason, otherwise I would never have felt the need to communicate with random strangers.

I think that you raise an important point. People should question their intentions when they use social networking sites such as Twitter. If they are using then to fill a void or to feel "important", than that may be a sign that they should look within themselves at what is missing in their life.

"Apply conscious convergence to allow personal and business to merge in web 2.0" - Sherrie Rose, The Love Linguist

Moses, I read your article just after I sent this tweet. I was asked what was my take away from the Rockstar Platinum event with many top-notch internet marketers, social media experts, bloggers and various internet millionaires.

My take it on it is sort of like Maslow in that there is pyramid of conscious. The largest is the base - base mindset [b-mindset] which is our reactive mind and primal urges that run the show most of the time. Even our snappy responses on Twitter are fairly reactive. We reside here most of the time.

The next level up on the pyramid is the conscious mindset. [C-mindset] Here we actually process on a logical level through the neocortex and this is when we respond with a strategic plan in our tweets. Even the seemingly mundane tweets and posts on various social media platform are part of a bigger plan (see: @unmarketing Scott @coachdeb @marismith)

The top level of the pyramid is the omni-mindset. [O-mindset]. As the term omni represents it is godlike or at least smacks of spirituality. So we move up and down the pyramid with reactive B-mindset, responsive C-mindset, and rarely into O-mindset. Omni-mindset may not come across in a 140 character tweet. Those who focus on purpose greater than themselves employ the omni-mindset. A couple I know who follow the omni-mindset are @nathanotto and @amberlupton. Their mission is Peace in 5 Years (www.P5Y.org) No one stays in the omni-mindset and many people never go there just like many people do not achieve self-actualization as Maslow outlined.

Sherrie Rose
The Love Linguist
@sherrierose

"In fact, all the twooshes in the world add up into a giant global pachinko machine, made all the more addictive because Twitter's software designers were clever enough to program in tenacious intermittent reward systems, so you end up like a loser in Vegas, behaviorally trapped at the slot machines of life."

Intrigued.

Thanks,

Scot McKay
@scotmckay

Have you ever been in Tokyo? The sound of a pachinko is like nothing else. It's quite an experience to watch the people in a pachinko palace feeding money into the machine. Same's true for Vegas, when you watch the one armed bandits at work.

Any behaviorist will tell you that an intermittent reinforcement schedule is more effective than continuous reinforcement. With continuous reinforcement, like putting money into a soda pop machine that usually works perfectly. But if it fails a single time, you'd probably be unwilling to try it more time... but that's it. If it always works, and then it fails, you'll believe that it always fails.

However, with a slot machine, which only pays off some of the time, the gambler will keep putting in quarters for a very long time without a payback. B.F. Skinner trained a pigeon to peck at a key by rewarding it with food. By gradually phasing out the reward, he was able to get the pigeon to peck 150,000 times without a reward. Is it starting to make sense why slot machines can bankrupt a gambling addict?

So when you use twitter, it doesn't reward you with a response at every tweet. The social reward is random and intermittent. For example, when you tweet, "oops, I stubbed my toe"... most of the time, nothing happens, but once in a while, you will get a flurry of emotionally rewarding responses from friends. Twitter is a slot machine for social strokes.

There are entire books written about the theory of optimal reinforcement schedules, and I can say that the designers of the twitter system got the variable ratio reinforcement schedule just right to make it addictive enough to make Jonathan Parker tweet 62,924 times with only 155 followers (according to twitterholic.com). Not quite 150,000 pecks, but well on his way!

I'm a big believe in the self-expressive capacity of Twitter. Twitter is not only a creative and expressive tool, but also a tool that you can use to remind yourself of the kind of person you want to (continue to) grown into. I've written about this on my own blog, in a post "Tweet Yourself Like The Person You Want to Be" at www.AuthenticOrganizations.com I'd love your thoughts on this idea...!

moses, yes absolutely love your expressiveness. and ... i don't know where to twitter. of course, i don't know how, or when or why either, but you gave me some perspective on those. if you tweet me, how will i know. xxObhas

Very much enjoyed this post. Anyone who puts Tweets within Maslow's hierarchy of needs is awesome.

My quibble is in the one-way view of twitter. The fact is that people tweet and read other's tweets. I think that the idea that *I* want to participate and gain something through my broadcast makes the community appear too me-centric. There is actually a bunch of two way and the other direction one way (people who follow but don't tweet themselves). Doesn't negate your analysis, but there is plenty of room to expand it.

Thx for a thinking post.

you are a spammer on Twitter, Moses, you apologise then keep doing it. You have no understanding of Twitter or how to use it.

I am writing a comment here so that others don't have to. Don't give this guy the time of day, don't comment on his blog, and don't click thru his tweets. He's managing to become Mr UnPopular very fast on Twitter.

Psychology Today is cleary a shonky, dodgy site if it has to succumb to such tactics to get readers. Steer clear!

Hey Laurel, I was running an experiment and learning how to use twitter, and pushed the limits a bit. If my newbie errors annoyed you, I apologize. I think the popularity of this article amplified those errors a bit, as quite a few people started following me.

Anyway, I have a question for you... since you teach how to use twitter for a living, I'm curious why you didn't approach me "as a teacher", with suggestions for how to do it right, instead of reacting with such, um, vigor. Would you be kind enough to write me and tell me more about how you felt, at the exact moment when posted this? Were you feeling anger? Or just annoyed? I'm trying to figure out how twitter flareups might compare to email flaming? Since you're an expert, do you have any experiences or suggestions to share?

Also, I just read that Demi Moore helped stopped a suicide by a twitter user. It's actually fascinating example of twitter intersecting with extreme emotion.

The most interesting thing about twitter is that you're not talking to a group of people, you're talking to an amorphous cloud. Some people are following you and others you are following without reciprocation. They leave and appear without notice. And you just shout into that cloud. Also, replies are complicated... some are private, others are broadcast. When you reply to an unreciprocated followee, they can't hear you.

Finally, the flow of posts is so rapid that you can't possibly keep up without upgrading to something like Twitterific or Tweetdeck that matches the multi-tasking nature of the system. It's like a great big CB radio network but totally different. And quite bewildering actually, and the experts who are adept at it are sometimes unkind.

Definitely a brand new way to communicate with others!

Hi Moses,

Thank you for such a brilliant analysis of what's really going on at a meta level of social media success.

As a Facebook/Twitter/social marketing specialist, and an avid studier of human behavior and psychometric assessments, I continue to be deeply inspired and heartened by how easy it is for humans to reach out and touch others and make a FAR bigger difference on the planet.

Social sites like Twitter and Facebook allow us to be much more connected - consistently. And, as you say, to meet the fundamental needs for recognition and self-actualization.

People want to know that they matter, that they're being valued, listened to, cared for. Now, with social computing, even giant brands can include and engage with their consumers at an unprecedented level - even to the point of co-creating products and services.

I believe the majority of users and media overlook the profound metaphysical ramifications of social networks.

Wouldn't your assessment also ring true with blogging? Twitter is engaging ideas and discussion, albeit under 140 characters.

Mari, thank you for your kind words. I totally agree that social networks and things like Twitter, will have profound ramifications on the evolution of human communications... and maybe even consciousness.

It's really a remarkable time to be alive.

My feelings were of puzzlement. You came into a social space, and spammed pages of the same statement - asking to send people here.

It worked, you have 14 comments.

But it's not dissimilar to walking into a pub and handing out your business card to every girl you see. And obviously EVERY girl, so that none of them feel special. The same line, the same smile, the same card, all in a row.

I help newbies, but not when they apologise - as you did a few days ago- then come back and do the same thing. However, try searching "SilkCharm Tips" to see how often people reference my newbie tip sheet.

I guess in our pub analogy, I'll help the guy that looks lost, but not the drunk that's screaming his home phone number to all and sundry. You acted like a drunk.

And as someone with an interest in psychology, your behaviour is doubly puzzling. Perhaps a course in digital ethnography/sociology would help ?

First, I want to thank you for your courage to come here and continue our dialogue. Actually, I'm REALLY glad you're here, because it illustrates a point in the followup article about why flame wars happen, due to the loss of empathy.

The normal way a flamewar propagates is because both of us would rather reply with a sarcastic post, rather than seek to resolve the true issues of our disagreement and do as the Dalai Lama recommends in active peacemaking. In fact, His Holiness has said, "It is ironic that the more serious problems emanate from the more industrially advanced societies. Science and technology have worked wonders in many fields, but the basic human problems remain. There is unprecedented literacy, yet this universal education does not seem to have fostered goodness, but only mental restlessness and discontent instead."

Allow me to demonstrate...

My initial reaction is to reply sarcastically. I'd post something like, "Using your pub analogy, I already apologized for mixing up reply and direct message, I'm not selling anything, and it was my first foray into the pub EVER. However, I'd like to point out that you're like the girl who secretly follows me home, throws a brick through my window, and while crying, crumples my business card, muttering, 'Stupid business card! I thought I WAS SPECIAL!'"

So how do you feel when you read that? Is the desire to reply and tear me a new one immediate? This is because I didn't share what I was really feeling and didn't think about how you might feel, when I choose to attack instead.

Instead, the solution is for all netizens to get a crash course in something called NVC, non-violent communication (see http://www.cnvc.org/). The key step in this process is to "share how you feel, and then try to tune in to what the person is feeling and needing" before you respond. In that response, say what we DO want the person to do, instead of perpetuating a chain of verbal violence. Finally, if we are feeling upset, think about what need of ours is not being met, and what we could do to meet it, instead of thinking about what's wrong with others.

Again, allow me to demonstrate...

When you attacked me, it hurt me. Really. This isn't fun, and I want to stop fighting with you.

Please, please let us make peace - especially as a model for others reading and provide a happy ending to this little side story of ours.

What I request of you is that instead of just walking away, that you'd be willing to talk by phone, maybe even to see if we could become friends. You have a lot of great advice about online behavior and actually you do seem like a very charming and clever person, and I'd love to learn from you. We just got off on the wrong foot, but I'm sure we could become friends. Absolutely sure of it.

You have my email address, and I would be grateful if you could write me and share what need of yours I failed to meet and let's set up a Skype call.

Now, how did that feel?

Fingers crossed, I'll see an email from you shortly. Again, thank you for your courage and I urge you to work with me to increase the peace, right here, right now.

Moses

PS, also, I don't work for Psychology Today. All the bloggers are independent.

A few people have written me directly, asking why Twitter suspended a writer covering their medium. I just want to add that the suspension was actually "accidental" and not due to any covert decision by management or PR at Twitter.

Twitter is a terrific company, with its heart in the right place. I've even had dinner with Evan Williams once, a long time ago when he started Pyra, and found him to be a terrific, open-hearted guy with great integrity.

Please don't spread rumors about the suspension, which has been lifted. It's actually amazing that a company with only 27 employees can provide such quick customer service to a base of 7 million users!

Hi Moses,
I've given this thought also.

Earlier this year I came up with the "Maslow Pyramid of Internet Usage":
http://www.virtualhappiness.org/2009/01/why-web20-is-exactly-what-we-wan...

As you can see we're climbing up the pyramid. But we're stuck half way.
In my humble opinion we have to wait for Web4.0 to see the web's enlightenment.

Greetings from Amsterdam,

Jim Stolze

I would normally write an email to Jim, but he's involved in a research project on happiness and the Internet, that involves him being offline for a year. Sort of a virtual biodome project...

So I'll reply here and hope he comes back!

I totally agree with his analysis of technologies intersecting with Maslovian progression. In fact, I'm involved in various "web 3.0" projects that deal with the spiritualization of the web. My model was that in the first wave of the Internet, it would be all about commercialization. The second wave is about politicizing the web, and I think that Barack Obama and the Democratic Party have proven that this second wave has now officially happened. The third wave will be all about the spiritualization of the web, and it will require a new kind of toolset to make it happen. Twitter is only the beginning. Expect to see new kinds of emotionally evocative and "rich" communications happen.

Jim, if you read this, send me the results of your experiment, I'm looking forward to reading all about it!

Moses

interesting take on the river of life which seemed like such banal meaninglessness to me ; )

Yes, this river of life analogy... one wacky feeling I have, which I didn't include in the article, is that meaning and meaninglessness are actually internally generated brain states. For example, why is a sunset fundamentally beautiful? Because we are machines that generate meaning. So if someone tweets, "I'm at Trader Joe's and remembering that I LOVE greek yogurt", it could seem pretty banal to most, or it could appear to be a beautiful haiku or an amazing koan.

But if you tweak your mindstate, you can easily achieve a sense of wonder and beauty, triggered by that statement, and extrapolate about how beautiful that person who tweeted it is, how passionate or heartbreaking any and every life can be, how any tweet actually reveals the humanity of the tweeter.

When I see a singing bird, I can feel the beauty of life. Tweets are the songs of this odd and beautiful species called homo twitterus. I can imagine the millions of twitter users, each in their own beautiful and tragic and tearful and happy road of "pain and then no pain", and this feeling of beauty multiplies, like finally - after years of traveling - seeing an entire rainforest of rare birds in song.

In such a state of techno-satori, all I see is beauty, so every tweet is beautiful - even the poor spammers so desperate to put food on the table - and it all now holds meaning for me. Or rather, I am now willing to inject the sense of meaning into every tweet, and respect for every tweeting bird in that forest.

At this point, something funny happens... this sense of meaning turns around, and finally, I am able to see the meaning and beauty in every one of these comments, and the beauty in what I am writing right now, right here, with these words - as I finally see that I am not an observer, but a participant in this immense beauty that is life.

So Twitter is awesome for Taking traffic to you website . It is very
simple to setup and its a fun positive way to keep in contact with
people. To get more followers on twitter check out this amazing
tool.Twitter
Traffic Machine

Point of information: Maslow was influenced by Alfred Adler who broke with Freud (in 1911) because he believed that people are social beings who need each other and are not, as Freud believed, driven by their sexual needs but by the need to feel a sense of belonging with others and to feel significant. The role and goal of twittering certainly speaks to that concept.

How is this comment section any different than what they do in Twitter other than this line of thought is a little more intelligent, which is decieving. The Narcissism continues here with people showing off their seemingly intellectual wares to feel smart. And to whom? Does anyone here know anyone here? Does intellectualization come to mind? What are your motives to being here?
Look to yourselves in all that you do. When you do you will have nothing to say.

The psychology of twitter is much less academic than you suggest, and really doesn't require reference to Maslow and his 40 odd year old pyramid. People who Twitter can be divided into two (or three if you include spammers) - those who genuinely want to chat, and link up to people, and those who wish to push a business, a service or something. I think the latter will continue to exist as the need to find a viable business model for Twitter is urgent. However, the real group we are talking about is social. Tweets are short, and at best in my experience can fall into a number of categories:

comforting - because we find other people share our views or feelings

amusing - there is plenty of playfulness in Twitter, as opposed to blogs which are often long-winded and potentiall exhausting

informative - take Janis Sharp's community of Twitter followers, all of whom care passionately about the extradition case of Gary McKinnon. Information is shared regularly by these users on the latest developments in his case.

Twitter is not pimarily a visual medium, and is sometimes frustrating - you feel nobody is out there, nobody is saying anything interesting. But ultimately Twitter tells you about yourself - if you think "people are boring" then it is a reflection of the mood you are in at the time. A mirror on the post-modern soul.

There's lots more to say, be interested in other people's views of a less academic bent.

Edward

Yes at one time everyone was in groups of around 50 like a village. There is a need for community but a lack of time. Twitter fits both those needs.

Edward, your comment reminds me of that line - "You can divide people into two categories, those who divide things into two categories and those who don't..." I honor your view, but really, everything is more beautifully complex and rich and interconnected than you can imagine, if you allow yourself to see and listen more deeply. I'm not attacking your position, I'm just making a suggestion that balancing deconstruction and big picture is key.

Chuck, you're totally right about the early survival structures based on tribes and packs. somewhere between 30 and 70 was optimal. I find it interesting that at Burning Man, tribes form naturally as camps, and I'll bet that the averag size is just around 40-50 as well.

Thanks for your input everyone!