Can social media change our behavior?

So I’m listening to a new CD right now by a band I absolutely love and I’m enjoying the hell out of it. The thing is, it’s not “out” yet, meaning the band has not officially released the disk to the public. You can pre-order it (which I’ve actually done, BTW), but I still technically have this music illegally. The release date remains in the future.

Interestingly, I’m finding myself experiencing a tension around having and enjoying this music before I’m “Supposed” to — a tension I wouldn’t have felt several months ago. What changed? Twitter.

Because I use Twitter as part of my daily internet life, it’s now quite natural for me to type something like “Loving the new album from -insert band name here-!” Except I know that members of this band are on Twitter and I know that Google Alerts looks at Twitter, so there’s a real chance that such a tweet could make its way back to the band.

Make no mistake, I have no real fear of legal prosecution for this transgression. The tension I’m feeling is a social one. I actually don’t want this band — the members of which I respect and want to succeed, both financially and creatively — to know that I cheated and got their album before its release date. I don’t feel all that much *moral* tension — as I said, I have already paid the band for the music — it’s a social awkwardness that is changing my behavior. I’m censoring what I say on Twitter (and in this blog post) because I’m trying to avoid embarrassment and the possibility of this band thinking ill of me. How weird is that?

This tension did not prevent me from accepting and listening to the music, but who knows what the future will bring once we’re all totally connected and our lives are even more transparent. Maybe basic social pressure will come to bear more on these sorts of decisions as online social consequences increase with our connectivity.

Casey The Contrarian’s recent Twit-off with the Comcast Cares Twitter jockey is an interesting example of this. Casey’s (very reasonable) reaction to Comcast the corporation is extremely hostile. He’s suffered greatly as a result of their poor customer service and he’s been vocal about that. Comcast (smartly) has a person (a guy named Frank Eliason — poor sap) who monitors chatter about Comcast on Twitter and reaches out on behalf of the company, trying to resolve issues and improve customer relations. It’s more difficult for someone like Casey to be openly hostile to Frank Eliason than it is for him to be openly hostile to Comcast. Comcast sucks, Frank is just the guy they hired to deal with the haters. It’s very shrewd of Comcast to put Frank’s photo and real name on the Comcast Cares Twitter profile. It’s just harder to call someone an asshole to his/her face.

With widespread commenting on blogs the conventional wisdom has been all about how anonymity and a lack of consequences turns otherwise reasonable people into trolls (The Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory). I wonder if we may someday see the opposite effect take hold — where all of this real time, searchable connectivity with real people will result in a new set of social norms where people online find themsleves shamed into being polite with each other — even occasionally choosing to purchase media rather than steal it.

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On March 10, 2009, Spine said:

I wonder if we may someday see the opposite effect take hold — where all of this real time, searchable connectivity with real people will result in a new set of social norms where people online find themsleves shamed into being polite with each other — even occasionally choosing to purchase media rather than steal it.

That would be nice. It may be a long time coming, though. I’m amazed at the speed with which comment threads can turn into brutal battlefields of full-throated hatred. I guess anonymity is still the most potent variable in these situations.
On March 10, 2009, Spine said:

Which anonymity you mentioned yourself, of course.

Maybe the interwebs will split into two strata: one for people who cultivate and protect their online personas and one for the fuckwads who just want to fight.

This has happened already, I guess.
On March 10, 2009, Dave Gibson said:

Once you’ve become addicted to social, you want to share all your thoughts and actions…. yet some of those aren’t so pure.

Is the result of the new habit of sharing and subsequent scrutiny exposing the internal moral dilemmas that we had otherwise cast aside before we felt so compelled to share? Very interesting.
On March 10, 2009, E to the M said:

Interesting. I’m trying to think of a time when I’ve had a similar experience and I can’t find one. Not even with music. Hell, everything I listen to is live steamed to last.fm any way. But even when we’re not talking music I can’t think of an example.
On March 10, 2009, billsimmon said:

I’m amazed at the speed with which comment threads can turn into brutal battlefields of full-throated hatred.

Yeah, me too, but there’s also a pretty dramatic line between commenting communities that don’t really ever devolve into that (i.e. those that work the way they’re supposed to) and those that quickly become unreadable garbage. The difference, I think, is one of moderation and leading by example.

Steve’s commenting community at Carpetbagger/Washington Monthly is an example I like to give. He does relatively little active moderation, but his commenters are remarkably civil and the signal to noise ratio is quite high. I think Steve engenders that with the tone he sets. That goes a long way toward keeping things unfuckwady.
On March 10, 2009, billsimmon said:

I cross-posted this at The Contrarian and Tanner left a comment that is worth repeating here…

Thanks for this Bill — you make such a good point here.

I remember taking a marketing class in the days before microblog was even a word (look at that word! WELCOME to the future.), and we learned about how technology was turning society “privately mobile.” Phones on the go, computers on the go (they were two different things then), drive to work come home and watch tv… we were losing the ancient socializing force of Human Interaction.

Reading this post, I realize the possibility of an outcome contrary to the teachings of my old Uni prof.

Bringing back the shame is the best thing that could happen. The majority of us are intensely social beings, and care deeply about how others perceive us. Accountability for the self — what a concept! Maybe more of us will start paying for our downloads, even though we don’t have to. Lest MC Hammer DM you…
On March 10, 2009, billsimmon said:

Wait, it was Ken, not Tanner that posted the above comment. My bad.
On March 10, 2009, casey said:

Here’s my response (about Comcast, not music leaks), complete with the archived #comcastcares thread.