Alfred Hermida > Quotes

“People are not hooked on YouTube, Twitter or Facebook but on each other. Tools and services come and go; what is constant is our human urge to share.”
― Alfred Hermida, Tell Everyone: Why We Share and Why It Matters

“Emotions play a vital part in the social transmission of news and information. Interest, happiness, disgust, surprise, sadness, anger, fear and contempt affect how some stories catch on and travel far wider than others.”
― Alfred Hermida, Tell Everyone: Why We Share and Why It Matters

“Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and the myriad of other services resonate with the basic human urge to be social. The tools have changed, but human behaviour remains consistent.”
― Alfred Hermida, Tell Everyone: Why We Share and Why It Matters

“Talking about ourselves is good for society. It gives humans an adaptive advantage.”
― Alfred Hermida, Tell Everyone: Why We Share and Why It Matters

“Taken together, the rhythms of real time show how Twitter becomes a place to come together when everyday social bonds are strained. It serves as a fleeting town square for people to share their sorrow, fear and hopes.”
― Alfred Hermida, Tell Everyone: Why We Share and Why It Matters

“Every new form of communication brings with it a perennial angst about what it is doing to our brains. We are not the first to feel that everything is changing too quickly around us, and we won't be the last. Throughout history, communication technologies have been catalysts of societal and cultural change that upset the status quo.”
― Alfred Hermida, Tell Everyone: Why We Share and Why It Matters

“In less than a decade, social media is one of those things that has become part of the fabric of society. It is also something about which everyone has an opinion. At some point in a dinner party, someone tends to malign social media for being full of updates about lunch or photos of pets. Life is full of froth. It is the mundane that makes us human. The seemingly inconsequential tidbits we share help us forge social bonds and bring us closer together.”
― Alfred Hermida, Tell Everyone: Why We Share and Why It Matters

“Sharing our ideas with others is a way of showing what is important to us. We are sending out signals about ourselves as we highlight what we value and care about.”
― Alfred Hermida, Tell Everyone: Why We Share and Why It Matters

“We aim for an idealized projection of ourselves through the selective choice of what we share, when, where and with whom.”
― Alfred Hermida, Tell Everyone: Why We Share and Why It Matters

“A click to “like” a Facebook page cannot be dismissed as mere slacktivism. Even something as simple as a like can be a compelling signal that others share the same values and beliefs.”
― Alfred Hermida, Tell Everyone: Why We Share and Why It Matters

“It is a nightmare scenario for any executive who works in an industry that relies on asymmetries in information between the producer and the consumer.”
― Alfred Hermida, Tell Everyone: Why We Share and Why It Matters