Is it surprising that people participate in social media?

Question

I find it very difficult to relate to anyone participating actively in social media. Usually by the time I have formed a statement that expresses a point I want to make, I have convinced myself it's not worth saying.Do others share this natural inclination? Have you ever overcome this? What motivates you to post opinions or respond at all, if you do? Is this a minority point of view, or is this a result of self defined sampling bias? Has anybody studied this?

brudgers · Accepted Answer

To me, HN is social media. So I am unsurprised. Recently, I've been thinking that the problem with social media is that it's hard to use. Culturally, it's so new that there isn't a good understanding of craft and people haven't learned good heuristics via osmosis. But I see the way my child and their friends use it, and it's much more refined and sensible than the way people my age do. It will just take time.