Reading Reflection 1

GROUNDSWELL : What is it and how is it taking over OUR world?

To tackle these larger questions, let us take a look at one of my favorite websites: Pinterest. 

Pinterest is a "web and mobile application company that operates a software system designed to discover information on the World Wide Web, mainly using images and on a smaller scale, GIFs and videos." It is largely known for having cute DIY (do-it-yourself) projects and lots of recipes that people can 'collect' on boards, grouping them by titles such as 'Home Decor' or 'Food'. This 'pinning' feature allows users to easily access the saved content later on. I personally use the platform for artistic inspiration and as a way to show off the things that I created and am proud of. It offers myself and 250 million other active monthly users a community fueled by unique and ingenious ideas. 

Websites like this are exactly why Groundswell exists. In their book "Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies", authors Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff acknowledge the fact that the internet is not run by professionals and corporations, like the real world is. The internet is dominated by everyday people, just like you and me. This flip flopped social structure in itself IS the Groundswell. But these 'everyday people' aren't as clueless as people assume. They are educated people who are contributing in all different ways. 

In Chapter 2, Li and Bernoff reference many of these different ways that people can commit to contributing to the groundswell; by creating, connecting, collaborating, reacting to others, or by organizing content. Pinterest's platform does a wonderful job of easily allowing all of these aspects to take place on their site. Users can create original ideas and easily share it, connecting with members who are interested in the same organized content and allowing collaboration and growth of fresh designs or concepts by reacting to one another posts. This assists in users being able to "concentrate on the relationships, not the technologies," like the authors suggest. 

Web programs like this can go out of style over night. It's important that in order to maintain a positive presence on the wide world of the internet, you have to prioritize your efforts towards the people that use it. In order to keep gaining new members, the developers of Pinterest must look at their user statistics and define a target audience. The average age of a Pinterest user is 40. But what are those users doing on the site? Chapter 3 of Li and Bernoff's book on the groundswell delves into the "Social Technographics Ladder" of the internet, dubbing Creators and Conversationalists as being the most entangled in the groundswell mission while Spectators and Inactives contribute the least to the continued growth of the marketing phenomena. 

Having taken a closer look at the users of the Pinterest sites, we can see that despite the majority of the users being around the age of the 'Alpha Mom', the active pinners (a.k.a. the creators and conversationalists) are far below the ripe old age of 40. By talking and listening to opinions and reviews from users of all ages, organizations such as Pinterest can further enable customers or users to support one another and therefore develop and energize the company, increasing the longevity of the online program. 

Groundswell is a social trend. It gives power to the people and allows them to surpass the need for professionals and bigger corporations outside of themselves and their communities. Society changes constantly and so will this trend, hence why corporations attempting to participate in such a culture should focus on the customer to corporation relations rather than the format they chose to provide the customer.  

So I end with asking you this: Does Pinterest hit the nail on the head and engage itself full force in Groundswell phenomenon? What websites or companies have successfully taken advantage of this growing reality?