I appreciate your quick response and I agree that participating in a social network for ratings alone is again to totally miss the boat on why social media exists. There was a great article written about the Top Ten Reasons Why You Should Run From Social Media (Outspoken Media) that in addition to being on networks just for ratings or to be apart of the popularity game, also lists other reasons why social media might not be such a great choice for you or your organization (I use the term you loosely here). Here is the link if you want to check it out. http://outspokenmedia.com/social-media/avoid-soci... - Great chatting with you.

Although I understand where you are coming from with your psychology angle, I think you are truly missing the big picture when it comes to social media. Yes we are a social culture and it does drive us to want to share, even with those we know only in passing or with those you could argue that we don't really know at all. However, the medium of social media represents much more than that. It is also a shift in the way we view our world, advertising marketing, brandinging, PR, relationships, the media etc. Our culture has been altered by social media, there is simply no denying that. I am all for remaining positive and not worrying or getting to caught up in negativity or in how much klout or influence we wield, but as a social media consultant, journalist and a conservationist, I have seen so much good come out of the social media movement that I refuse to discount it as merely a fad wherein people are only worried about updating their personal status as some sort of vain way to gain popularity points. Your article was well written but I think a bit off the mark.

Kristina (a fellow Brazen Careerist)