The ‘Psychology Of Sharing’

In an online survey of 2,500 self-identified “medium-to-heavy content sharers,” Latitude Research and the New York Times found that users generally fall into six “personas”: altruists (mostly female, attached to causes), careerists (it’s all about the job), hipsters (younger altruists and careerists), boomerangs (people who share simply to stir up controversy), connectors and selectives (related to careerists and altruists, respectively).

While people who are younger and view themselves as more tech-savvy have begun to forego e-mail as a communications tool, for the most part, e-mail remains the most popular way users choose to share news. Email also is viewed as more secure and private and therefore more “personal.”

As such, people tend to want to have a one-to-one conversation about news that moves them rather than a one-to-many. Social media, the study says, is all about “serendipity,” where a post can lost in the shuffle of a Twitter or Facebook stream.

NYT On The ‘Psychology Of Sharing’