SM = Social Media.

As in Facebook, Twitter, and the like. First of all, online interaction *is* human interaction, especially through social media. After all, who’s pushing those keys & hitting “post”? Last I checked, I was human.

80/20

Given the recent articles about vanity & narcissim running rampant on Facebook, the #LetsBlogOff conglomerate is weighing in with their thoughts.

I love the 80/20 rule:

The Pareto principle (also known as the 80-20 rule, the law of the vital few, and the principle of factor sparsity) states that, for many events, roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes.

Let’s apply this to the latest theories about whether social media (Facebook in particular) is diminishing the depth of human interaction. By that logic, there IS a shallow, vanity laden quality of interaction on Facebook, and its presence is due to 20%  of the activity there.

Given the enormous user base of Facebook,  it may seem that an extremely high percentage of activity on Facebook is of a less intimate & more fleeting in terms of relationships.

But then there’s that other 80% of the users, who are not as insecure & superficial as the naval gazing ME ME ME population. Those folks are in it to promote business, catch up with old friends, and maintain an online presence on very high trafficked sites.

It’s the driver, not the car.

Or in this case the typer, not the keyboard. I can personally attest that easily the last dozen people I have interacted with through social media have resulted in valuable, genuine relationships. That goes not only for the ones I ultimately met or spoke with in real life, but also the ones with whom I now regularly communicate with online.

I see it happening with others, too. There are many lasting relationships just within the interior design communities that have congealed on Twitter. Look at the bonding that has happened from Brizo Fashion Week events.

That’s not to say there aren’t less deep interactions between people, even within communities that have developed through Social Media. I’m sure that within the growing medley of organized chats on twitter that both shallow & deep relationships occur.

It’s really up to the individual that has moved beyond the blingy dazzle of online publishing & social media & recognizes it as an extension of our social worlds, not something separate.

And just like in real life, we bump into the I-Love-Me’s occasionally. Se la vie.

For many more interesting thoughts & angles on this round of #LetsBlogOff, hit the Let’s Blog Off site for a list of posts, & settle in for some compelling reading from my non-shallow SM comrades!