Understanding Social Group Interaction Dynamics

Learning how to successfully interact with your customers through social media channels can be challenging. It can be especially challenging because it can be hard to know when you’re talking to an individual, a group, or a whole society.

The viral nature of social media suggests that any interaction could jump across groups & become hard to control. The term “going viral” generally refers to a positive outcome from a message posted on social media channel. The term “fire meme” refers to a negative outcome from a message.
With this lack of control, and risk of losing the essence of the message, why would a company agree to participate in social media channels? I think it’s understood that conversations will happen regardless of your participation, but with monitoring, analysis, and participation a company can act like a conversation rudder. It could help steer conversations, and respond to customers.

Anytime your brand, or industry, is mentioned, you have an opportunity to draw users into the top of your conversion funnel.
Understanding the nature of group dynamics can help you optimize how you interact with members of the social media channels you participate in.

8 Models of Group Construction

The Individual

http://thejordanrules.com/IMG/Groups1.png
Members: 1
Model: Individual
Caution: The individual model may have an established network built around him. If the individual deems the content of an interaction ‘shareable’ he may relay it to his network.
Successful Interaction: Although public interaction can be successful, generally, the most successful individual interaction is one-on-one private messages.
Examples: Twitter direct messages, e-mail, Linked-in In-Mail

 

The Clique

http://thejordanrules.com/IMG/Groups2.png

Members: 2 – 5
Model: Hub
Caution: The clique is generally comprised of one dominant personality, or hub of communication. Appealing to (or disgusting) the dominant member will likely be most impactful. Note: Invisible-dominance could be held in the clique model. This occurs when a seemingly passive member has substantial influence over the dominant member. (AKA The Puppet-Master)
Successful Interaction: The Clique model can quickly develop group memes. The understanding and use of these memes is important to successful interaction. Cliques are generally wary of inviting new members to join; a better strategy is to position yourself as a guest. Guests generally have the right to interact within a clique for a short (or pre-defined) period of time.
Examples: Guest blogging, Guest commenting

 

The Group

http://thejordanrules.com/IMG/Groups3.png
Members:  9 – 15
Model: Sympathetic
Caution: Sympathetic group dynamics make it easy for member opinions to be adopted by the rest of the group. The benefit of belonging to the group often outweighs disagreeing with the majority. (or even the risk of disagreeing)
Successful Interaction: Listen to the group prior to engaging. Calculating the possibility of the group responding positively to your interaction will give you insight on whether to interact with this group, or move on to the next.
Examples: Observing a Twitter chat prior to participating, Reading blog comments before posting your own

 

The Lattice

http://thejordanrules.com/IMG/Groups4.png
Members:  9 – 15
Model: Semi-Disconnected
Caution: The lattice is a group that doesn’t have strong connections between all members. This structure  can cause miscommunication between sections of the lattice. Much of the information within a lattice gets spread as second-hand information.
Successful Interaction: Following the spread of your message can help you correct any incidences of ‘broken telephone’. An often successful method of following & correcting message integrity is to comment or thank users who contribute to spreading your message.
Examples: Twitter hashtags, Backtype, SM monitoring software

 

The Class

http://thejordanrules.com/IMG/Groups5.png
Members:  15 – 50
Model: Tired (classes grouped together w/ mentorship)
Caution: Classes are hierarchical in nature; effort is required to enter higher classes. Interacting with a class above the class you belong poses the risk of being ignored or receiving negative attention.
Successful Interaction: Understanding the hierarchical structure of the class you want to interact with will allow you to plan how to gain acceptance into that class. Ideally, and invitation or introduction will take place to promote your social equity.
Examples: Re-Tweets from influential members of a class, an linked-in recommendation from an influential co-worker or client.

 

The Tribe

http://thejordanrules.com/IMG/Groups6.png
Members:  50 – 150
Model: Common ideology
Caution: Tribes are often comprised of several smaller group organizations held together by some ideological thread. This can cause radically different points of view on given subjects. Appealing to the common ideology can spark passionate polarization.
Successful Interaction: Offering logical reasoning for tribe approval is a safe way of retrieving feedback without alienating parts of the tribe. Acting as the conversation moderator can help elevate your reputation as an authority of a subject.
Examples: Facilitating a Twitter chat, Opening a Linked-in Group

The Community

http://thejordanrules.com/IMG/Groups7.png
Members:  50 – 550+
Model: Common Proximity, Many Ideologies
Caution: The size & nature of a community may require a greater frequency & consistency of  messaging. Opposing views will be common, however passionate community members will often adopt the roll of moderator. An influential group within a community poses the greatest risk of a fire meme.
Successful Interaction: Community mapping & ethnography can help derive insights on the most effective interaction techniques. Monitoring software & work-flow management may help with community management. Understanding how to interact and nurture different tribes, classes, and groups within a community is important. Communities can become irrelevant or inactive when sub-groups are not given the opportunity to be expressive.
Examples: The Dell Community, The Kiva Community

The Society

http://thejordanrules.com/IMG/Groups8.png
Members:  2500+
Model: Common heritage
Caution: A society often includes a passionate community surrounded by decreasingly passionate society members. Focusing your interaction on the passionate community could alienate the long-tail of less passionate members.
Successful Interaction: A multi-pronged communication strategy (or SCRM strategy) is generally required for the most effective interaction with a society. This would allow you to customize messaging (and frequency of messaging) for the passionate & the less passionate. Conversation support & facilitation is required in a greater degree when interacting with a society. This is best accomplished with a group of individuals & social monitoring, workflow, and analysis software.
Examples: Best Buy Twelp Force, CNN, The Obama Campaign

 

Understanding this framework of social group dynamics can assist you to craft your social media strategy, response assessment guidelines, engagement activities, and digital communication strategy.

 

If you found this post useful, or if you have any comments; I encourage you to post them or Tweet them. You can follow my thoughts here: @thejordanrules

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Understanding Social Group Interaction Dynamics

Learning how to successfully interact with your customers through social media channels can be challenging. It can be especially challenging because it can be hard to know when you’re talking to an individual, a group, or a whole society.

The viral nature of social media suggests that any interaction could jump across groups & become hard to control. The term “going viral” generally refers to a positive outcome from a message posted on social media channel. The term “fire meme” refers to a negative outcome from a message.
With this lack of control, and risk of losing the essence of the message, why would a company agree to participate in social media channels? I think it’s understood that conversations will happen regardless of your participation, but with monitoring, analysis, and participation a company can act like a conversation rudder. It could help steer conversations, and respond to customers.

Anytime your brand, or industry, is mentioned, you have an opportunity to draw users into the top of your conversion funnel.
Understanding the nature of group dynamics can help you optimize how you interact with members of the social media channels you participate in.

8 Models of Group Construction

The Individual

http://thejordanrules.com/IMG/Groups1.png
Members: 1
Model: Individual
Caution: The individual model may have an established network built around him. If the individual deems the content of an interaction ‘shareable’ he may relay it to his network.
Successful Interaction: Although public interaction can be successful, generally, the most successful individual interaction is one-on-one private messages.
Examples: Twitter direct messages, e-mail, Linked-in In-Mail

 

The Clique

http://thejordanrules.com/IMG/Groups2.png

Members: 2 – 5
Model: Hub
Caution: The clique is generally comprised of one dominant personality, or hub of communication. Appealing to (or disgusting) the dominant member will likely be most impactful. Note: Invisible-dominance could be held in the clique model. This occurs when a seemingly passive member has substantial influence over the dominant member. (AKA The Puppet-Master)
Successful Interaction: The Clique model can quickly develop group memes. The understanding and use of these memes is important to successful interaction. Cliques are generally wary of inviting new members to join; a better strategy is to position yourself as a guest. Guests generally have the right to interact within a clique for a short (or pre-defined) period of time.
Examples: Guest blogging, Guest commenting

 

The Group

http://thejordanrules.com/IMG/Groups3.png
Members:  9 – 15
Model: Sympathetic
Caution: Sympathetic group dynamics make it easy for member opinions to be adopted by the rest of the group. The benefit of belonging to the group often outweighs disagreeing with the majority. (or even the risk of disagreeing)
Successful Interaction: Listen to the group prior to engaging. Calculating the possibility of the group responding positively to your interaction will give you insight on whether to interact with this group, or move on to the next.
Examples: Observing a Twitter chat prior to participating, Reading blog comments before posting your own

 

The Lattice

http://thejordanrules.com/IMG/Groups4.png
Members:  9 – 15
Model: Semi-Disconnected
Caution: The lattice is a group that doesn’t have strong connections between all members. This structure  can cause miscommunication between sections of the lattice. Much of the information within a lattice gets spread as second-hand information.
Successful Interaction: Following the spread of your message can help you correct any incidences of ‘broken telephone’. An often successful method of following & correcting message integrity is to comment or thank users who contribute to spreading your message.
Examples: Twitter hashtags, Backtype, SM monitoring software

 

The Class

http://thejordanrules.com/IMG/Groups5.png
Members:  15 – 50
Model: Tired (classes grouped together w/ mentorship)
Caution: Classes are hierarchical in nature; effort is required to enter higher classes. Interacting with a class above the class you belong poses the risk of being ignored or receiving negative attention.
Successful Interaction: Understanding the hierarchical structure of the class you want to interact with will allow you to plan how to gain acceptance into that class. Ideally, and invitation or introduction will take place to promote your social equity.
Examples: Re-Tweets from influential members of a class, an linked-in recommendation from an influential co-worker or client.

 

The Tribe

http://thejordanrules.com/IMG/Groups6.png
Members:  50 – 150
Model: Common ideology
Caution: Tribes are often comprised of several smaller group organizations held together by some ideological thread. This can cause radically different points of view on given subjects. Appealing to the common ideology can spark passionate polarization.
Successful Interaction: Offering logical reasoning for tribe approval is a safe way of retrieving feedback without alienating parts of the tribe. Acting as the conversation moderator can help elevate your reputation as an authority of a subject.
Examples: Facilitating a Twitter chat, Opening a Linked-in Group

The Community

http://thejordanrules.com/IMG/Groups7.png
Members:  50 – 550+
Model: Common Proximity, Many Ideologies
Caution: The size & nature of a community may require a greater frequency & consistency of  messaging. Opposing views will be common, however passionate community members will often adopt the roll of moderator. An influential group within a community poses the greatest risk of a fire meme.
Successful Interaction: Community mapping & ethnography can help derive insights on the most effective interaction techniques. Monitoring software & work-flow management may help with community management. Understanding how to interact and nurture different tribes, classes, and groups within a community is important. Communities can become irrelevant or inactive when sub-groups are not given the opportunity to be expressive.
Examples: The Dell Community, The Kiva Community

The Society

http://thejordanrules.com/IMG/Groups8.png
Members:  2500+
Model: Common heritage
Caution: A society often includes a passionate community surrounded by decreasingly passionate society members. Focusing your interaction on the passionate community could alienate the long-tail of less passionate members.
Successful Interaction: A multi-pronged communication strategy (or SCRM strategy) is generally required for the most effective interaction with a society. This would allow you to customize messaging (and frequency of messaging) for the passionate & the less passionate. Conversation support & facilitation is required in a greater degree when interacting with a society. This is best accomplished with a group of individuals & social monitoring, workflow, and analysis software.
Examples: Best Buy Twelp Force, CNN, The Obama Campaign

 

Understanding this framework of social group dynamics can assist you to craft your social media strategy, response assessment guidelines, engagement activities, and digital communication strategy.

 

If you found this post useful, or if you have any comments; I encourage you to post them or Tweet them. You can follow my thoughts here: @thejordanrules

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