I realise that I run a marketing company that lists social media marketing amongst its (quite long) list of capabilities, so the title probably comes as a bit of a shock. I truly believe it though!

I came across an article in the American edition of Wired Magazine about the way homophily (also known as the echo chamber effect) alters not only what we believe, but also what we believe the world believes.

To break it down to the simplest terms, homophily occurs when a group of like minded people get together and share their parallel opinions. As each person in the group broadly concurs with the others, the general view of the group becomes more compounded with each opinion fuelling the others.

For those of you too lazy to read, but want the 'gist' of homophily or the chamber effect, i've added an illustration:

"We expect little resistance; pigs don't even have thumbs...."

A historic example would be John F Kennedy and his advisors in the run-up to the Bay of Pigs invasion. When the meeting with the Joint Chiefs of Staff started, it was careful and measured. Then as everyone in the room realised they all thought it would be a fairly good idea, each person bolstered the other’s belief in their opinions. By the time the meeting was over it was all high fives and ass slaps. The USA supported the group that stormed the beaches of Cuba (incase you’re wondering, it didn’t end well).

But some of my best friends are [insert sociological descriptor here]

Fast forward to mid-2011 and everyone I know thinks they are much more open minded and accepting of others than their parents were. We have the magical internet on which Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and countless other social media platforms operate. So we can connect to anyone in the world with absolute ease. I could ‘friend’ or ‘follow’ a farmer from Argentina, a cleaner from Greenland, or a moose jockey from rural Canada.... I could, but I don’t. The fact is that we Friend, Like and Follow people that we share opinions with, thus placing us smack bang in the middle of a great big echoing chamber.

On Facebook, we are still only friends with folks that we worked with, or that we studied with, or maybe some that we hooked up with on a drunken night in Blackpool a few years ago. Increasingly on sites like Facebook and LinkedIn, we are also part of groups that we find interesting. This is all great to pass the time or to find a sympathetic ear when something isn’t going to plan in business, but it is also where we start to blame the wrong people for the wrong things, and reinforce ideas that are, in fact, pretty crap.
LinkedIn throws up examples of homophily on a day-today basis. The groups change but the general theme is the same.

Problem: Business is slow

Shared Consensus: Government isn’t helping or it’s the bank’s fault

Course Of Action: Complain to each other

Result: Every believes the problem is worse than it really is, and the Government should be over thrown, and we should all take our money out of banks and use clam shells as currency.

I’ve investigated a few of the most prolific ‘sky is falling’ naysayers on LinkedIn, and generally, they are doing nothing to help themselves. Their website is straight from 1999, they use a hotmail email address, they are not clear on their USP, and their phone manner is terrible.

No one in the group is going to bring these points up, because they can’t imagine that it could be anything other than the government and the banks. Get rid of the tunnel vision and stop listening to 'yes men'.

Pre-internet, there were social clubs, sports clubs, political party groups, religious groups and any other number of groups that a citizen could have interacted with. The only thing that limited participation was the location of the group; if you could get to the meetings, you were in.

Now that broadband is almost ubiquitous, we can reach all over the globe to connect with massive groups of narrow-mindedness...

UNRECCOMEND A FRIEND

A few years ago I read about a suggestion of “Un- recommended Book” feature for Amazon. The idea was that you search for a title subject like: Lady Gaga Fashion Icon, and the un-recommend  feature displays Rudy Giuliani’s Biography. It is prompting you to read something you wouldn’t usually read, thus expanding your horizons expand your horizons.

Similarly I think Facebook should have an Un-Suggested Friends feature where I, for example, would see pictures of Amish people, or Canadian moose jockeys. Now that would make me more open-minded....