tag:theconversation.com,2011:/institutions/cabrini-college-2188/articlesCabrini College2016-02-02T11:07:33Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/532742016-02-02T11:07:33Z2016-02-02T11:07:33ZSo long social media: the kids are opting out of the online public square<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/109862/original/image-20160201-32244-rry1ki.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Phones out, but today's students are less likely to have Facebook or Twitter open.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic.mhtml?id=345889130">Phones image via www.shutterstock.com.</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When my digital media students are sitting, waiting for class to start and staring at their phones, they are not checking Facebook. They’re not checking Instagram, or Pinterest or Twitter. No, they’re catching up on the news of the day by checking out their friends’ Stories on Snapchat, chatting in Facebook Messenger or checking in with their friends in a group text. If the time drags, they might switch to Instagram to see what the brands they love are posting, or check in with Twitter for a laugh at some celebrity tweets. But, they tell me, most of the time they eschew the public square of social media for more intimate options. </p>
<h2>The times, they are a-changing</h2>
<p>For a few years now, alarms have been sounded in various quarters about Facebook’s teen problem. In 2013, one author explored <a href="http://www.cnet.com/news/why-teens-are-tiring-of-facebook/">why teens are tiring of Facebook</a>, and according to Time, <a href="http://business.time.com/2014/01/15/more-than-11-million-young-people-have-fled-facebook-since-2011/">more than 11 million young people have fled Facebook since 2011</a>. But many of these articles theorized that teens were moving instead to Instagram (a Facebook-owned property) and other social media platforms. In other words, teen flight was a Facebook problem, not a social media problem.</p>
<p>Today, however, the newest data increasingly support the idea that young people are actually transitioning out of using what we might term broadcast social media – like Facebook and Twitter – and switching instead to using narrowcast tools – like Messenger or Snapchat. Instead of posting generic and sanitized updates for all to see, they are sharing their transient goofy selfies and blow-by-blow descriptions of class with only their closest friends.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/08/19/mobile-messaging-and-social-media-2015/2015-08-19_social-media-update_03/"><img width="424" height="521" src="http://www.pewinternet.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2015/08/2015-08-19_social-media-update_03.png?w=424" class="attachment-large size-large" alt="Mobile Messaging Apps Particularly Popular Among Young Adults" srcset="http://www.pewinternet.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2015/08/2015-08-19_social-media-update_03.png 424w, http://www.pewinternet.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2015/08/2015-08-19_social-media-update_03.png?resize=244,300 244w, http://www.pewinternet.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2015/08/2015-08-19_social-media-update_03.png?resize=160,197 160w, http://www.pewinternet.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2015/08/2015-08-19_social-media-update_03.png?resize=330,405 330w, http://www.pewinternet.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2015/08/2015-08-19_social-media-update_03.png?resize=200,246 200w, http://www.pewinternet.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2015/08/2015-08-19_social-media-update_03.png?resize=260,319 260w, http://www.pewinternet.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2015/08/2015-08-19_social-media-update_03.png?resize=310,381 310w, http://www.pewinternet.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2015/08/2015-08-19_social-media-update_03.png?resize=420,516 420w" sizes="(max-width: 424px) 100vw, 424px"></a></p>
<p>For example, in <a href="http://www.pewinternet.org/files/2015/08/Social-Media-Update-2015-FINAL2.pdf">a study</a> published in August last year, the Pew Research Center reported that 49 percent of smartphone owners between 18 and 29 use messaging apps like Kik, Whatsapp or iMessage, and 41 percent use apps that automatically delete sent messages, like Snapchat. For context, note that according to <a href="http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/08/19/the-demographics-of-social-media-users/">another Pew study</a>, only 37 percent of people in that age range use Pinterest, only 22 percent use LinkedIn and only 32 percent use Twitter. Messaging clearly trumps these more publicly accessible forms of social media.</p>
<p>Admittedly, 82 percent of people aged 18 to 29 said that they do use Facebook. However, that 82 percent affirmatively answered the question, “Do you <em>ever</em> use the Internet or a mobile app to use Facebook?” (emphasis added). Having a Facebook account and actually <em>using</em> Facebook are two different things. While Pew does have data on how frequently people report using Facebook (<a href="http://www.pewinternet.org/files/2015/08/Social-Media-Update-2015-FINAL2.pdf">70 percent said at least once a day</a>), those data are not broken down by age. And anecdotal evidence such as what I’ve gathered from class discussions and assignments suggests that many younger people are logging in to Facebook simply to see what others are posting, rather than creating content of their own. Their photos, updates, likes and dislikes are increasingly shared only in closed gardens like group chat and Snapchat.</p>
<h2>Why would they leave?</h2>
<p>Although there is not a great deal of published research on the phenomenon, there seem to be several reasons why younger people are opting for messaging over social media. Based on my discussions with around 80 American college students, there appear to be three reasons for choosing something like Snapchat over Facebook.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/109861/original/image-20160201-32251-1yofn4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/109861/original/image-20160201-32251-1yofn4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/109861/original/image-20160201-32251-1yofn4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/109861/original/image-20160201-32251-1yofn4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/109861/original/image-20160201-32251-1yofn4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/109861/original/image-20160201-32251-1yofn4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/109861/original/image-20160201-32251-1yofn4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/109861/original/image-20160201-32251-1yofn4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Granny did not need to see what you got up to last weekend.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-283931414/stock-photo-senior-woman-shocked-with-something-on-laptop-screen.html">Woman image via www.shutterstock.com.</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<ol>
<li><p><strong>My gran likes my profile picture</strong> As Facebook has wormed its way into our lives, its <a href="https://theconversation.com/thank-an-aging-audience-for-facebooks-proposed-dislike-button-47676">demographics have shifted dramatically</a>. According to Pew, 48 percent of Internet users <a href="http://example.comhttp://www.pewinternet.org/2015/08/19/the-demographics-of-social-media-users/">over the age of 65</a> use Facebook. As social media usage has spread beyond the young, social media have become less attractive to young people. Few college students want their parents to see their Friday night photos.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>Permanence and ephemerality</strong> Many of the students I’ve spoken with avoid posting on sites like Facebook because, to quote one student, “Those pics are there <em>forever!</em>” Having grown up with these platforms, college students are well aware that nothing posted on Facebook is ever truly forgotten, and they are increasingly wary of the implications. Teens engage in <a href="http://info.ils.indiana.edu/%7Eherring/teens.gender.pdf">complex management of their self-presentation</a> in online spaces; for many college students, platforms like Snapchat, that promise ephemerality, are a welcome break from the need to police their online image. </p></li>
<li><p><strong>The professional and the personal</strong> Increasingly, young people are being warned that future employers, college admissions departments and <a href="http://www.psmag.com/nature-and-technology/mo-friends-mo-problems-might-have-to-defriend-joey-with-the-jet-ski-bankruptcy">even banks</a> will use their social media profiles to form assessments. In response, many of them seem to be using social media more strategically. For example, a number of my students create multiple profiles on sites like Twitter, under various names. They carefully curate the content they post on their public profiles on Facebook or LinkedIn, and save their real, private selves for other platforms. </p></li>
</ol>
<h2>Is this a problem?</h2>
<p>We may be seeing the next evolution in digital media. Just as young people were the first to migrate on to platforms like Facebook and Twitter, they may now be the first to leave and move on to something new.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/109885/original/image-20160201-32231-x1227v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/109885/original/image-20160201-32231-x1227v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/109885/original/image-20160201-32231-x1227v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/109885/original/image-20160201-32231-x1227v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/109885/original/image-20160201-32231-x1227v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/109885/original/image-20160201-32231-x1227v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/109885/original/image-20160201-32231-x1227v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/109885/original/image-20160201-32231-x1227v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Young adults still are the most likely to use social media.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/10/08/social-networking-usage-2005-2015/">Pew Research Center</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This exodus of young people from publicly accessible social media to messaging that is restricted to smaller groups has a number of implications, both for the big businesses behind social media and for the public sphere more generally. </p>
<p>From a corporate perspective, the shift is potentially troubling. If young people are becoming less likely to provide personal details about themselves to online sites, the digital advertising machine that runs on such data (described in detail by Joe Turow in his book “<a href="http://yalebooks.com/book/9780300188011/daily-you">The Daily You</a>”) may face some major headwinds. </p>
<p>For example, if young people are no longer <a href="http://www.phillyvoice.com/facebook-plans-use-likes-targeted-ads/">“liking” things on Facebook</a>, the platform’s long-term value to advertisers may erode. Currently, Facebook <a href="https://www.facebook.com/notes/facebook-and-privacy/a-new-way-to-control-the-ads-you-see-on-facebook/926372204079329">uses data it gathers</a> about users’ “likes” and “shares” to target advertising at particular individuals. So, hypothetically, if you “like” an animal rescue, you may see advertisements for PetSmart on Facebook. This type of precision targeting has made Facebook into a formidable advertising platform; in 2015, the <a href="http://investor.fb.com/secfiling.cfm?filingID=1326801-16-43">company earned almost US$18 billion</a>, virtually all of it from advertising. If young people stop feeding the Facebook algorithm by clicking “like,” this revenue could be in jeopardy.</p>
<p>From the perspective of parents and older social media users, this shift can also seem troubling. Parents who may be accustomed to monitoring at least some proportion of their children’s online lives may find themselves increasingly shut out. On the other hand, for the growing number of adults who use these platforms to stay in touch with their own peer networks, exchange news and information, and network, this change may go virtually unnoticed. And, indeed, for the many older people who have never understood the attraction of airing one’s laundry on social media, the shift may even seem like a positive maturation among younger users.</p>
<p>From a social or academic perspective, the shift is both encouraging, in that it is supportive of <a href="https://www.aclu.org/issues/privacy-technology/internet-privacy">calls for more reticence online</a>, and also troubling. </p>
<p>As more and more political activity migrates online, and <a href="http://politybooks.com/book.asp?ref=9780745695754">social media play a role</a> in a number of important social movement activities, the exodus of the young could mean that they become less exposed to important social justice issues and political ideas. If college students spend most of their media time on group text and Snapchat, there is less opportunity for new ideas to enter their social networks. Emerging research is documenting the ways in which our use of social media for news monitoring can lead us to <a href="http://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaa1160">consume only narrow, partisan news</a>. If young people opt to use open messaging services even less, they may further reduce their exposure to news and ideas that challenge their current beliefs.</p>
<p>The great promise of social media was that they would create a powerful and open public sphere, in which ideas could spread and networks of political action could form. If it is true that the young are turning aside from these platforms, and spending most of their time with messaging apps that connect only those who are already connected, the political promise of social media may never be realized.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/53274/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Felicity Duncan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Young people are starting to skip the very public postings of some of social media’s original platforms. Why? And where will that leave the companies that rely on our willingness to divulge everything?Felicity Duncan, Assistant Professor of Digital Communication and Social Media, Cabrini CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/528872016-01-08T11:18:53Z2016-01-08T11:18:53ZCan 10,000-character tweets boost Twitter’s flatlining user growth?<p>On January 5, Twitter founder and recently reappointed CEO Jack Dorsey <a href="https://twitter.com/jack/status/684496529621557248">appeared to confirm</a> a story on Re/Code claiming that the micro-blogging site is planning to <a href="http://recode.net/2016/01/05/twitter-considering-10000-character-limit-for-tweets/">change its signature feature</a>: the 140-character tweet. According to Re/Code, Twitter is planning to increase the character limit on tweets to 10,000, and in a carefully worded response, Dorsey suggested that the company is indeed considering loosening its 140-character limit.</p>
<p>The 140-character limit, while today embraced as a defining feature of the platform, <a href="http://www.adweek.com/socialtimes/twitter-basics-why-140-characters-and-how-to-write-more/442608">grew out of a pragmatic decision</a> made nearly 10 years ago. When Twitter launched in 2006, the smartphone had not yet been developed (the first iPhone would launch in 2007). Thus, Twitter decided to limit tweets to 140 characters so that people could update Twitter via text message. At the time, texts were limited to 160 characters, which gave users space for a short, 140-character text tweet plus a username. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"685190158803709953"}"></div></p>
<p>Since then, however, the online world has evolved. Today, Twitter allows users to upload images, and as Dorsey notes, many users have chosen to upload images of long pieces of text. This, together with the ongoing success of Facebook, which allows status updates of over 60,000 characters, may be driving Twitter’s consideration of a character limit update.</p>
<p>Importantly, Re/Code emphasized that the look of the Twitter feed won’t change significantly should the new character limit be adopted. Instead, the article speculated that a traditional 140-character tweet would appear in users’ feeds, together with a call for action (a “click for more” button, for example) that would expand the tweet to reveal additional text.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"684855025663905793"}"></div></p>
<p>Despite these caveats, the news of the possible change was greeted with a <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Twitter10K?src=hash">predictable storm of controversy among Twitter users</a>, as well as exhaustive pro- and anti-#Twitter10k articles. Whatever their perspective, however, commentators were agreed that this would be just the latest salvo in Twitter’s ongoing effort to boost weak user growth and revenue.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/107585/original/image-20160107-14020-1q36r25.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/107585/original/image-20160107-14020-1q36r25.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/107585/original/image-20160107-14020-1q36r25.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=332&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/107585/original/image-20160107-14020-1q36r25.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=332&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/107585/original/image-20160107-14020-1q36r25.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=332&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/107585/original/image-20160107-14020-1q36r25.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/107585/original/image-20160107-14020-1q36r25.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/107585/original/image-20160107-14020-1q36r25.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Twitter’s monthly active users growth over time.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Twitter SEC filings</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Twitter’s growth conundrum</h2>
<p>Twitter’s user growth has been stagnating for some time; since the first quarter of 2013, it has averaged less than 5 percent quarter over quarter. As a consequence, the company has seen its share price decline. From a high of just over US$73 in December 2013, Twitter is currently trading at an all-time low, just over $20. </p>
<p>Hoping to boost its fortunes, Twitter has floated various site tweaks in recent months, including the highly publicized <a href="https://theconversation.com/does-twitter-moments-herald-the-comeback-of-human-beings-49417">Moments feature</a>, and more recently, a curated “<a href="https://blog.twitter.com/2015/while-you-were-away-0">while you were away</a>” feature. The potential character limit increase has been widely understood as another effort by Twitter to attract and engage new users, particularly those who may be put off by the 140-character limit when they are used to more unlimited platforms like Facebook. </p>
<p>However, the news of the potential character limit increase was <a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/8a650e34-b47d-11e5-b147-e5e5bba42e51.html">received negatively</a> by analysts and investors as well as users; the company’s <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/jan/05/twitter-shares-plummet-rumor-10000-character-tweets-jack-dorsey">share price fell</a> almost 3 percent on Tuesday after the Re/Code story broke.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/107592/original/image-20160107-13999-df7pw4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/107592/original/image-20160107-13999-df7pw4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=353&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/107592/original/image-20160107-13999-df7pw4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=353&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/107592/original/image-20160107-13999-df7pw4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=353&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/107592/original/image-20160107-13999-df7pw4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=443&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/107592/original/image-20160107-13999-df7pw4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=443&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/107592/original/image-20160107-13999-df7pw4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=443&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Twitter share price over time.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Yahoo! Finance</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Why #Twitter10k?</h2>
<p>Twitter’s need for innovation to drive user growth is clear; the company is currently losing ground to emerging social media platforms like Snapchat and Instagram, which have seen <a href="http://www.adweek.com/socialtimes/snapchat-is-the-fastest-growing-social-network-infographic/624116">double-digit user growth in recent years</a>. Twitter also struggles with <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/twitter-maus-with-no-discernable-user-action-involved-2015-1?r=UK&IR=T">a lack of engagement</a> among many users.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"684832677745180673"}"></div></p>
<p>A more generous character limit might achieve several things. First, it could attract new users who find the 140-character limit arbitrary and confusing. More pertinently, as Slate’s Will Oremus <a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2016/01/05/twitter_isn_t_raising_the_140_character_limit_it_s_building_a_wall.html">points out</a>, having more text housed within Twitter would help keep users on-site. Currently, many tweets send users away from Twitter by linking to externally hosted articles and blogs. If Twitter housed more text, users could read the news without leaving the platform (this is a key driver behind Facebook’s <a href="https://instantarticles.fb.com">Instant Articles</a>). </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/107605/original/image-20160107-14027-38z71w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/107605/original/image-20160107-14027-38z71w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/107605/original/image-20160107-14027-38z71w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/107605/original/image-20160107-14027-38z71w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/107605/original/image-20160107-14027-38z71w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/107605/original/image-20160107-14027-38z71w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/107605/original/image-20160107-14027-38z71w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/107605/original/image-20160107-14027-38z71w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Are you up for reading voluminously long tweets?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/23680544@N07/4342933198">Sarah Ross</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Ultimately, however, the increased character limit may help Twitter give users more of what they want. A 2009 paper by Syracuse University’s Philip R. Johnson and Sung-Un Yang found that <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Philip_Johnson3/publication/228959109_Uses_and_gratifications_of_Twitter_An_examination_of_user_motives_and_satisfaction_of_Twitter_use/links/53d85dfb0cf2631430c31e58.pdf">Twitter users were more interested</a> in the platform as an information source than as a space for satisfying social needs. </p>
<p>In a similar vein, <a href="http://aisel.aisnet.org/sighci2010/3/">a 2010 study</a> by Michigan State University’s Constantinos K. Coursaris, Younghwa Yun and Jieun Sung found that the need for companionship and social interaction were not significantly associated with Twitter usage, while needs for entertainment and relaxation were. Finally, High Point University’s Shaun W. Davenport, and Shawn M. Bergman, Jacqueline Z. Bergman, and Matthew E. Fearrington of Appalachian State University found a relationship between <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2013.12.011">narcissism and active Twitter usage</a> among college students. </p>
<p>This research suggests that people are not necessarily using Twitter as a social space for building relationships, but rather as a space for idea exchange, content dissemination and information gathering. Platforms like Whatsapp, Facebook Messenger, and Snapchat, which have been growing rapidly, are spaces for relationship building in a way that Twitter is not. </p>
<p>Instead, Twitter’s utility appears to lie in its ability to connect people to new, pertinent information and opinions. From that perspective, the increased character limit may indeed make sense, not as a ploy for driving user growth, but as a way to give current and future users more of what Twitter does best.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/52887/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Felicity Duncan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The social media company seems to be mulling a massive increase in tweet length from the iconic 140 characters users have grown accustomed to.Felicity Duncan, Assistant Professor of Digital Communication and Social Media, Cabrini CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/494172015-10-23T19:22:22Z2015-10-23T19:22:22ZDoes ‘Twitter Moments’ herald the comeback of human beings?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/99535/original/image-20151023-27601-lf3oz5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Maybe Moments is just the human helping hand new Twitter users need.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-253197052/stock-photo-kiev-ukraine-january-hand-holds-twitter-logotype-bird-printed-on-paper-twitter-is-an.html">Twitter image via rvlsoft / Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Earlier this month, Twitter <a href="https://blog.twitter.com/2015/moments-the-best-of-twitter-in-an-instant-0">launched a new feature</a> called Moments, which offers a curated and frequently updated collection of tweets that the company describes as the “best of what’s happening on Twitter.”</p>
<p>Under the headings “Today,” “News,” “Sports,” “Entertainment” and “Fun,” <a href="http://mashable.com/2015/10/06/twitter-moments-hands-on/#DUXwUZNSESqn">Moments showcases a series of text, video and photo tweets</a> on topics ranging from the latest developments in the US presidential race to cute pets.</p>
<p>Moments has attracted a great deal of attention, both for the fact that it represents a major effort by Twitter to reverse sluggish user growth, and for the fact that it relies on human curators. This reliance on human expertise raises important questions over the value of people in tech-driven information services and the limits of today’s cutting-edge software.</p>
<h2>Why does Twitter need Moments now?</h2>
<p>The main driver behind the development of Moments is Twitter’s stagnating user growth.</p>
<p>Twitter, which <a href="https://about.twitter.com/company/press/milestones">launched in 2006</a>, has struggled to achieve mass penetration of the US market. According <a href="http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/08/19/the-demographics-of-social-media-users/">to data from the Pew Research Center</a>, only 20% of the US adult population uses Twitter, compared to 62% who use Facebook, 26% who use Pinterest, 24% who use Instagram and 22% who use LinkedIn.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/99403/original/image-20151022-8013-t77qjc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/99403/original/image-20151022-8013-t77qjc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/99403/original/image-20151022-8013-t77qjc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99403/original/image-20151022-8013-t77qjc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99403/original/image-20151022-8013-t77qjc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99403/original/image-20151022-8013-t77qjc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99403/original/image-20151022-8013-t77qjc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99403/original/image-20151022-8013-t77qjc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Twitter’s Monthly Active User growth, as reported in quarterly SEC filings.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Furthermore, Twitter’s user growth has been slowing over the last three years, falling from 18% in the first quarter of 2012 to just 3% during the second quarter of this year.</p>
<p>Freshly reinstated Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/29/technology/twitter-quarterly-earnings.html?_r=0">has diagnosed slowing user growth</a> as a symptom of a confusing platform that’s difficult to navigate. Moments is intended to help solve these twin problems.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/99404/original/image-20151022-8010-1e5xzi6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/99404/original/image-20151022-8010-1e5xzi6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/99404/original/image-20151022-8010-1e5xzi6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99404/original/image-20151022-8010-1e5xzi6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99404/original/image-20151022-8010-1e5xzi6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99404/original/image-20151022-8010-1e5xzi6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99404/original/image-20151022-8010-1e5xzi6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99404/original/image-20151022-8010-1e5xzi6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Twitter user activities, based on data from GlobalWebIndex’s third quarter 2015 study.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>First, Moments is designed to highlight the key function of Twitter. Data from <a href="http://insight.globalwebindex.net/social">GlobalWebIndex’s Social report</a> indicate that Twitter is most widely <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/moments-could-boost-twitters-users-2015-10">used as a news service</a>. As the chart shows, 41% of Twitter users report having read a news story on Twitter in the last 30 days, and 35% report having logged in to see what’s happening (without posting), or to look at trending topics.</p>
<p>Moments facilitates this sort of passive monitoring by providing a one-stop look at the news of the day. It highlights what users find most attractive about Twitter: access to interesting, current information. For new users, Moments can be an easy introduction that helps explain what the platform does.</p>
<p>Second, Moments makes it easier to navigate Twitter. Instead of the disorganized, reverse chronological timeline that the platform’s experienced users are familiar with, Moments provides a stable and structured collection of content. For new users who find the Twitter interface confusing, Moments offers clarity and ease.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"657430281276792832"}"></div></p>
<p>If Dorsey’s diagnosis is correct, Moments may help increase user growth for Twitter. However, not all observers agree that user confusion is the key culprit of stagnant growth.</p>
<p>For example, Harvard Business Review contributor Umair Haque <a href="https://medium.com/bad-words/why-twitter-s-dying-and-what-you-can-learn-from-it-9ed233e37974#.wfuowkt95">posits an alternative theory</a> – namely, that Twitter’s growth has slowed because of the abusive interactions that often occur on the platform. So it remains to be seen whether or not Moments is the correct medicine for Twitter’s ailment of an only slightly growing user base.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/99534/original/image-20151023-27619-tdoi48.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/99534/original/image-20151023-27619-tdoi48.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/99534/original/image-20151023-27619-tdoi48.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=254&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99534/original/image-20151023-27619-tdoi48.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=254&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99534/original/image-20151023-27619-tdoi48.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=254&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99534/original/image-20151023-27619-tdoi48.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=319&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99534/original/image-20151023-27619-tdoi48.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=319&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99534/original/image-20151023-27619-tdoi48.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=319&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Examples of abusive tweets sent during the ongoing Gamergate controversy. Captured by the Washington Post in 2014.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Twitter, via the Washington Post</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>How does Moments work?</h2>
<p>Perhaps the more interesting aspect of Moments is the technology behind it – because it can’t even really be called technology. </p>
<p>The content in Moments is not selected by algorithm; <a href="https://about.twitter.com/company/moments-guidelines">it’s entirely selected by human beings at Twitter</a>, with help from news organizations like The New York Times and the Washington Post. In other words, rather than looking for software-based solutions to its user-growth problem, Twitter has turned to human beings. For Twitter, this means higher-quality content and less risk of embarrassing errors (which the company experienced with <a href="http://recode.net/2015/04/27/twitters-latest-attempt-at-content-misses-the-mark/">earlier, algorithm-based attempts at aggregation</a>). </p>
<p>For news organizations, involvement with features like Moments represents an opportunity to attract traffic to their sites as they struggle to adapt to <a href="http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/09/24/how-social-media-is-reshaping-news/">the impact that social media is having on the news business</a>.</p>
<p>Twitter’s decision to use human curators comes at a time when the threat of <a href="http://www.economist.com/node/21661017">sophisticated robotics and software</a> to human employees in industries ranging from <a href="http://qz.com/521848/robots-are-taking-your-white-collar-jobs-too/">food service to journalism</a> has become a prominent news topic. But as concern over this issue mounts, a growing number of technology companies are replacing algorithms and software with human beings.</p>
<p>Examples abound beyond Twitter’s human-curated Moments. At YouTube, an Alphabet (formerly Google) subsidiary, the company recently announced that it would <a href="http://youtube-global.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/eyewitness-video-on-youtube-your-window.html">partner with the humans at news agency Storyful</a> to curate a video news feed. Similarly, Apple has invested in expert human curators for both its <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/jun/16/apple-news-app-editors-curation">news app</a> and its <a href="http://mashable.com/2015/06/30/apple-music-hands-on/#T01n0SBZvSqN">music service</a>.</p>
<p>These examples are a marked contrast to the use of algorithms that often shapes feeds. Facebook’s news feed, for example, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/help/327131014036297/">uses an algorithm</a> that takes into account who you follow, what you “like” and which of your connections you interact with most frequently to determine what content to show.</p>
<p>One possible reading of these announcements is that they herald the return of the human being, that they represent an acknowledgment that there’s some value to human judgment that cannot be replicated by mere software. However, a more realistic interpretation may be that these decisions by tech companies merely reflect their recognition of the limitations of the current generations of software.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.wnyc.org/radio/#/ondemand/534614">In an interview with Note to Self</a>, Yoshua Bengio, a professor of computer science at the University of Montreal, emphasized how underdeveloped current machine learning or artificial intelligence systems are. Comparing such systems to human infants, Bengio explained, “They are even younger than babies; they are proto-babies, they are not nearly as smart as babies.”</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"616910438417174528"}"></div></p>
<p>This proto-infancy in machine learning was highlighted by an incident earlier this year, when Google’s photo recognition software <a href="http://www.wnyc.org/story/deep-problem-deep-learning/">mistakenly labeled an African-American couple as gorillas</a>. Google apologized for the error, and took immediate steps to prevent any similar problems, but the inherent issue remains; current software is just too stupid to make the calls that adult humans would make intuitively. And companies like Apple, Alphabet and Twitter have too much at stake to bet their businesses on software that is at the “proto-baby stage.”</p>
<p>So it’s likely a mistake to proclaim we’re entering a new era of human beings at places like Apple and Twitter. Instead, these developments may represent a pause in the march of mechanization. Once the algorithms grow up, human curators may go the way of human auto workers.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/49417/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Felicity Duncan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Twitter recently launched Moments, seemingly to solve a business problem. The cutting-edge technology it relies on isn’t technology at all, but rather human curators.Felicity Duncan, Assistant Professor of Digital Communication and Social Media, Cabrini CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/476762015-09-16T20:56:17Z2015-09-16T20:56:17ZThank an aging audience for Facebook’s proposed ‘dislike’ button<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/95089/original/image-20150916-6295-1cizg8x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Turn that thumb upside down.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/goiabarea/5886225374">FACEBOOK(LET)</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-media/mark-zuckerberg-facebook-working-dislike-button-n427851">recently announced</a> that the company is finally working on a much-desired feature: a “dislike” button. According to Zuckerberg, this feature has long been one of those most-requested by the Facebook audience. Although <a href="https://www.facebook.com/qawithmark/videos/vb.823440467713730/992176984173410/?type=2&theater">his comments</a> suggest that the new button more likely will express sympathy or empathy, rather than simple dislike, Facebook users have nevertheless greeted the announcement with enthusiasm.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"643950794434322432"}"></div></p>
<p>But why is Facebook introducing the button now, after so many years of <a href="http://readwrite.com/2011/04/25/no_haters_allowed_why_a_dislike_button_is_not_coming_to_facebook">audience lobbying and corporate resistance</a>? One explanation could be the changing profile of the site’s users. Facebook is increasingly a technology used by mature adults, not vulnerable teens.</p>
<h2>A dislike button as too negative</h2>
<p>While Facebook users have expressed a desire for a “dislike” button for many years, the company resisted its development because it did not want to, in Zuckerberg’s words, “turn Facebook into a forum where people are voting up or down on people’s posts.” As he explains:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>You don’t want to go through the process of sharing some moment that’s important to you…and then have someone down-vote it. That isn’t what we’re here to build in the world.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In other words, Facebook tried to keep its community positive; it did not want to invite the type of engagement that sites like Reddit thrive on – up voting, down voting posts off the page, trolling and pointed criticism. By limiting users’ ability to express negative emotions with a single click, Facebook tried to create a space that was emotionally safe, an important consideration when many users were teenagers, whose parents were concerned with issues like cyberbullying.</p>
<p>This continues to be a concern of users who aren’t clear on the nuances of the emotion the new button will express.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"644152408495517700"}"></div></p>
<p>Furthermore, by avoiding the “dislike” option, Facebook created an <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1461444812472322">environment that is appealing to advertisers</a>, who would not want to see their brands down voted.</p>
<p>And the “like” button plays an important role in the economics of Facebook. Users’ decision to “like” brands, products, artists and other items serves as a valuable piece of information that <a href="http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/57944/">Facebook is able to sell to advertisers</a>, and it’s unclear how the information generated by a “dislike” button will be used.</p>
<h2>The aging Facebook user</h2>
<p>However, as Facebook’s users, and their activities, have changed, the calculation behind the “dislike” button has evolved.</p>
<p>When <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2007/jul/25/media.newmedia">Facebook got its start in 2004</a> as a network for Harvard students, virtually all its users were in the 18- to 22-year-old range. After it expanded to high school students in 2005, the social media site’s demographics skewed even younger.</p>
<p>However, once Facebook opened up to everyone with an internet connection in 2006, older users began to move onto the platform. Today, large majorities of older online adults are on Facebook, and there is evidence that <a href="http://www.ibtimes.com/facebook-gets-older-demographic-report-shows-3-million-teens-left-social-network-3-years-1543092">younger users are jumping ship</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/95084/original/image-20150916-6281-92lh91.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/95084/original/image-20150916-6281-92lh91.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/95084/original/image-20150916-6281-92lh91.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/95084/original/image-20150916-6281-92lh91.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/95084/original/image-20150916-6281-92lh91.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/95084/original/image-20150916-6281-92lh91.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=542&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/95084/original/image-20150916-6281-92lh91.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=542&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/95084/original/image-20150916-6281-92lh91.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=542&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Social media by age group.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Pew Research Center Internet Project</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/01/09/social-media-update-2014/">Data from from the Pew Research Center</a> illustrate this. Across all internet users, Facebook is, by a wide margin, the most popular social networking platform; it attracts <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-34082393">over one billion hits a day</a>. However, older users favor Facebook by a wider margin than younger users: 61.9% of Facebook users are now <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/new-social-stratosphere-who-using-facebook-twitter-pinterest-tumblr-and-instagram-2015-and-beyond-1622">over the age of 25</a>.</p>
<p>In addition, recent research from <a href="http://www.piperjaffray.com/3col.aspx?id=3441">investment bank Piper Jaffray</a> and from <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Tales-Facebook-Daniel-Miller/dp/0745652107">Daniel Miller</a>, a researcher at University College London, has shown that <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2015/02/21/why-teens-are-leaving-facebook-its-meaningless/">young teenagers are abandoning Facebook</a> in large numbers. As parents and grandparents have moved onto Facebook, teens and young people have begun to move off, transferring their social media activities to <a href="http://www.fastcompany.com/3031259/these-kids-today">Instagram and Snapchat</a>.</p>
<p>As a result of this migration, Facebook news feeds have changed; instead of pictures of parties, there are pictures of babies. Instead of sharing high school gossip, users are sharing the latest on the Trump presidential bid.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/95090/original/image-20150916-6295-os5tfm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/95090/original/image-20150916-6295-os5tfm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/95090/original/image-20150916-6295-os5tfm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/95090/original/image-20150916-6295-os5tfm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/95090/original/image-20150916-6295-os5tfm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/95090/original/image-20150916-6295-os5tfm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=558&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/95090/original/image-20150916-6295-os5tfm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=558&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/95090/original/image-20150916-6295-os5tfm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=558&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Gramps needs his dislike button to deal with current events.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-177348914/stock-photo-older-man-working-on-tablet-pc.html">Man image via www.shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Facebook reads the news</h2>
<p>As demographic shifts among Facebook users have taken root, the company has begun to focus on areas that are of greater interest to more mature users – in particular: news.</p>
<p>Facebook has established itself as a key portal through which people access news. According to Pew, <a href="http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/09/24/how-social-media-is-reshaping-news/">30% of US adults got news from Facebook</a>, far exceeding the 8% who got news from Twitter and the 3% who gt news from LinkedIn in 2014. (It’s still lower than the 87% of Americans who got their news <a href="http://www.americanpressinstitute.org/publications/reports/survey-research/how-americans-get-news/">from TV, and the 65% who got it from radio</a>.)</p>
<p>We know from years of research by organizations like the <a href="http://www.americanpressinstitute.org/publications/reports/survey-research/social-demographic-differences-news-habits-attitudes/">American Press Institute</a> that, across all news categories, older audiences are more interested in the news than younger ones. Facebook’s prominence as a news portal can be understood as a consequence of the growing number of older users. </p>
<p>Facebook users share what interests them. For older adults, that is often the news of the day, and Facebook has begun to embrace its role in the news business. The recently launched <a href="https://instantarticles.fb.com/">Instant Article</a> function is an example of the company’s new focus on itself as a news source and portal.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/95087/original/image-20150916-6287-18kmbv4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/95087/original/image-20150916-6287-18kmbv4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/95087/original/image-20150916-6287-18kmbv4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=200&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/95087/original/image-20150916-6287-18kmbv4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=200&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/95087/original/image-20150916-6287-18kmbv4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=200&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/95087/original/image-20150916-6287-18kmbv4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=251&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/95087/original/image-20150916-6287-18kmbv4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=251&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/95087/original/image-20150916-6287-18kmbv4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=251&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Not a fan?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/smemon/5683562879">Sean MacEntee</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>So, why the ‘dislike’ button?</h2>
<p>Facebook is not what it was a decade ago. Instead of vulnerable teens, its user base largely comprises adults. And with the increased tendency of these users to share news, the ability to express something other than “liking” has become more pronounced. As Zuckerberg notes:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Not every moment is a good moment, right? And if you are sharing something that is sad…like the refugee crisis that touches you…it might not feel comfortable to Like that post.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The development of a “dislike” button – in whatever empathetic format Facebook eventually releases – can thus be seen as an acknowledgment that the site has changed. It’s become, in part, a forum in which grown adults discuss adult issues. A new form of expression is necessary to support this changed reality.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/47676/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Felicity Duncan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>At long last, Facebook looks on the verge of releasing an alternative to the ubiquitous ‘Like’ button. After years of users clamoring for one, here’s why the time might be right.Felicity Duncan, Assistant Professor of Digital Communication and Social Media, Cabrini CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.