Online Social Behavior

I went to happy hour before the holidays with a few girlfriends (free pizza with a purchase of a bottle of wine- can’t beat that), and we started talking about holiday gift ideas. Nicole brought up Pinterest, (www.pinterest.com ) and I’ve been addicted ever since.

I have a Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn and Google+ account. I read blogs. I now write blogs. However, for the most part I’m a pretty passive user. I love Pinterest, but I have yet to post anything original on one of my boards. I have repined and liked pins and enjoy following my friends and acquaintances’ boards. I feel like it gives me a quick snapshot of creative ideas for recipes- made spaghetti squash last night, or fashion ensemble ideas- plaid shirt under camel colored sweater, or decorating ideas for my apartment next year- fingers crossed. I enjoy that it helps me discover new blogs and new websites and knowing that my friends follow them makes it more appealing to me. I feel like they’ve done the filtering for me and are virtually recommending them to me.

Facebook, especially now that I can access it on my mobile, is a great tool for when I have a couple minutes to spare, since I despise waiting around. I look at it probably a bit too much though, although I’m sure it’s because as some would say I have “ADD”. I look at it when I wake up, before I go to bed, while I’m in line waiting for anything and when I want to procrastinate (take a break) from school work. Since I moved away from home for the first time last year to attend business school, it has also been a nice way to keep in touch with friends and family from home. I also have lots of family in Europe (cousins, aunts, uncles, grandmother) and following them on Facebook makes me feel closer to them and allows me to remember their birthdays and see pictures of their children growing up. I have 62 likes, which I’m sure people could infer information about me from, but I mostly pay attention to companies, like Nordstrom and magazines like Glamour and Self. I like the tips that they post, like the millions of different ways to wear a scarf and how to maintain a healthy immune system. I have over 250 pictures, mostly from other people tagging me, and check-ins spanning from Texas to Hawaii to Thailand. I love to travel and my Facebook page illustrates that.

The last time I tweeted was in December of ’09. I retweet, but for the most part I look at other tweets from companies, friends, celebrities, gossip magazines, and news outlets that I follow. I rarely look at Twitter and don’t think it gives much insight into my life, but when it first became popular, I was intrigued and every now and then I find an interesting update.
I use LinkedIn significantly more now that I’m back in school looking for a job. I started school with less than 50 connections and now have over 300. My profile is public, and anyone can see my education, and professional experiences. All my work experiences are in retail and many of my connections are from this industry. I use this site often to find connections and build my professional network. It has been a great resource to me and shows my passion and commitment to the retail industry. However, I am still pretty passive on this site, as my profile is not built out and I have no recommendations and have never posted an update.

One can infer many insights about me from my social media use; my likes, interests and whereabouts. I am a pretty passive user, which also correlates to my somewhat more reserved personality, but I am and my purchasing habits are strongly influenced by my friends and the companies I follow.

When looking at the persona we created for our Nordstrom project, I looked at a friend of a friend’s social media use, since she is an avid Nordstrom shopper and fits the demographic, but I am not close to her. All the information I found out about her are through my connections to her on Facebook, LinkedIn and Pinterest- which is somewhat creepy. However, this information is not public for the most part, so that would be a barrier for some companies to elicit insights.
LinkedIn gives good professional information about Jackie, where she went to school, where she works, but from a company’s perspective might not have the best insights on a person’s wants and needs.
Jackie just became a mother a month ago and her life has become consumed by this. She has already posted an album on Facebook dedicated to her daughter and has a board on Pinterest with ideas for her birthday parties and Halloween costumes. She likes to keep organized since she dedicated a whole board to organizational ideas. She like fashion, reads Vogue and loves to travel with her friends and husband.

Just by looking at her Facebook use, I learned where Jackie shops, where she travels, what cultural exposure she’s had, if she takes risks or if she stays in her comfort zone. I learned if she meets new people or interacts mostly with the same small group of friends. I learned about her family, her husband, her dog. I found out she likes Ellen, loves winter and drinks wine. I could elicit insights into her scope of exposure. Ultimately, I could find out what influences her and what she likes and enjoys.

Social media and the information we can elicit from it about people is still relatively new and it will be interesting to see how companies use this information to better tailor their products or messaging, since I think everyone is still trying to figure it out…