Assignment 1: Social Media Needfinding ​

Table of Contents ​

Hunch ​

What kinds of content and formatting have the greatest positive or inspiring impact on users? What do users contribute or receive from that sort of media?

Interview Questions ​

Background

• Where are you from?
• What is your educational background, career?
• Hobbies? What do you do for fun?

Intro to Social Media

• When did you start using social media? What prompted you to join? What apps do you use?
• What’s your favorite one? Why?
• Are there any features you really like? - Dislike? Any tips or tricks?
• Is there an app that you stopped using after a while? Why?
• How are things different now vs a couple of years ago? (more short videos, twitter -> X) Do you like the change?

Social Media and Lifestyle

• How does your social media usage fit into your life? Have you felt it’s made a positive or negative impact in your life?
• Do you remember a time when something you saw on social media stuck with you? Was it positive or negative?
• Tell me about a time when you’ve been excited to post something on social media/interact with your followers? Or not excited?
• Can you walk me through how you typically use this app?
  • What types of content do you like seeing?
  • Does your social media usage relate to your hobbies?
  • Do you use social media as a source of news?

Issues of Social Media

• Have you ever bought something after seeing it on social media? Do you think you would have bought it otherwise?
• Do you care about privacy settings/targeted ads? If there is an option to disable tracking, do you?
• Do you use the screen time feature? Has it helped you reduce time on the app?
• Do you follow influencers? Do you wish there were less influencers on social media?
• Have you ever closed an app after seeing something that upset you?
• Is there a social media app or platform that you avoid? Why?
• Have you ever taken a break from social media? Why, and how did that impact you?

Interview - Ahsan ​

Interviewee justification

Ahsan is early in his professional career with experiences and connections among multiple social media platforms. His expertise in technology and coding gives him a unique insight into digital media and his interactions with it, as he is both a content consumer and creator. His positive and philosophical perspective also adds a layer of depth to the conversation and how social media impacts his life.

Report ​

Ahsan is a graduate of Texas A&M University and recently moved to Seattle to work as a program manager at Microsoft. He started his social media accounts in middle school, starting off with Facebook and Snapchat but increasingly using Twitter and Instagram, which are his main forms of social media today. While he currently doesn’t use Snapchat for messaging, he emphasized that he still uses the “save” feature on Snapchat when taking photos— he loves receiving memory updates, where Snapchat sends the user “On This Day” notifications and pictures that were taken on that day in the past. Ahsan also currently uses X (formerly Twitter) to read thoughts and news from top minds in a variety of fields including philosophy, physics, and technology. He briefly enjoyed BeReal when it first was published in 2021, but stopped using it once his friend list expanded outside his circle of close friends, and as people began to post only at opportune times.

Ahsan had the most opinions about Instagram, specifically Instagram Reels. He jokingly remarked, “I wish Reels was never invented”, and described how he periodically deletes the app once he feels like he has several compounding bad habits, and has attempted to use the grayscale feature on his iPhone to reduce his usage. He wonders that if Reels give us so much instant gratification, we are “less grateful” or “feel less emotion in other scenarios”. On the other hand, he thinks that personally, he has a fantastic time on Reels and thoroughly enjoys sharing humorous Reels with groups or individual friends. He theorized that influencers, content creators, and Reels in general have a positive effect on society that outweigh the negatives, yet he admitted to curating his feed towards funny and positive content. In addition, he stated that he rarely is motivated to buy something after seeing an ad on Instagram, but has often donated to ad-based fundraisers involved in providing aid to suffering populations.

Design Opportunities ​

1. Shareable content compilations

• I envision a space where users can curate thought-provoking media that aligns with their interests, and can be viewed and discussed by others. Content in the form of articles, videos, podcasts, books, fundraisers, etc.. can integrate current events and social responsibility. This is worth exploring as users will have the opportunity to combine their parasocial relationships with their real-life relationships.

2. Balancing close groups of friends

• As Ahsan mentioned, BeReal lost its sense of authenticity as his network expanded and prefers Instagram to interact with his friend groups. Designing an app that manages connections specifically among multiple circles reflects the real-life complexity and extent of our social lives. In addition, reciprocal exchanges of authentic and unfiltered content with friends and family are integral to creating engagement as opposed to one-way communication (newsletters, posts, etc.).

3. An emphasis on reflection and nostalgia

• This opportunity focuses on the idea of promoting reflection on shared memories. Friends who receive regular updates on shared memories could allow for reconnection and even personal growth. Exploring a timeline could also capture the evolution of their relationships. Users will enjoy the unique focus on preserving a collaborative digital archive that promotes revisiting past experiences.

Notes ​

Personal Background

• Recent graduate of Texas A&M, currently living in Seattle and working for Microsoft as a program manager
• Enjoys hiking, music (guitar), building personal coding projects

Social Media and Lifestyle

• First downloaded Facebook because older brother had it, didn’t use at all
• Snapchat was the first app that he really used, was popular in middle school, got it at age 13-14 and Instagram followed soon after that
• Since middle school, started using Twitter a lot more to consume content and Instagram to post
• “Twitter has the highest concentration of people with thought provoking ideas”
• Uses Twitter to follow leaders in tech industry, also people who are outside of tech world in physics and philosophy, reads a lot of news on here too
• Favorite app is Instagram, specifically enjoys using Instagram Reels and sharing with friends from college, high school, etc.
  • Funniest reels are the ones that hit a certain emotion that you feel but are scared to say
• Started using BeReal in 2021 when no one was on it
  • “I remember being on it first when no one was on it and it was like just my close friends and it was really fun and then I stopped two weeks later because everyone was on it and it wasn’t BeReal anymore, they were waiting for the perfect moment to post it.”
• Stopped using Snapchat– “the best feature on Snapchat in my opinion is the fact that you get these memory updates”
  • Takes pictures on Snapchat to save, not send to anyone just so he can view those memories again
• Posts on Instagram when there’s a life milestone or something that adds to his personality/to express the kind of person he is, usually related to his hobbies
• Curated Instagram feed to have funny, positive content
• Sometimes finds out about big events, health issues or family deaths that happen to relatively close friends
  • Kind of get an insight into people’s minds and thoughts on Instagram, positive side but can also get grounded
• Sends out “close friends newsletter” by email, sometimes feels like other people might feel closer to him than he is to them
• “You are the 5 people you spend the most time with and your parasocial relationships” parasocial relationships are one-way relationships like watching YouTube or keeping up with famous people on Instagram
  • all these people have an effect on the way he views the world
  • “you really are an aspect of your parasocial relationships”

Issues of Social Media

• “I wish Reels was never invented”, “Reels has me in a chokehold”
• Goes through periods when he deletes the app, and only uses it on his browser
  • the ability to find people/reach out to people/message someone if you don’t have their number.. something about that makes him re-download it
  • “I think it takes a certain amount of compounding events for me to delete it”
  • “If I stop working out, stop eating healthy, and am also on social media all the time, then the compound effect hits me and I’m like– I’m deleting this app”
  • Explicitly it doesn’t have a negative impact, doesn’t get jealous of people
• Reels has instant gratification, wonder if we’re diluting other experiences in my life
  • “Am I less grateful” “Do I feel less emotion in other scenarios?”
• Doesn’t directly buy something from Instagram, might go look it up on Amazon
• Sometimes gets ads for fundraisers and donates to those
  • What kind of posts motivate you to donate on the spot?
  • Lot of Palestinian friends, donate to Palestine fundraisers
  • Recently a huge earthquake in Morocco, donated to that
• In terms of privacy– “I want to limit the amount of access that Big Brother has to me”
• Tried using black/white filter to reduce phone time, didn’t work because used accessibility feature to switch on and off quickly
  • Needs more friction preventing him from changing it back
• Overall thinks that influencers/content creators are net positive in society
• Generally think that bad actors don’t win in the long run, has positive outlook
  • “Good” content creators generally have a longer lifespan when they generate positive things
  • Thinks that the positive effect reels has had outweighs the negative effects
• Personally has a fantastic time on reels

Interview - Zoe ​

Interviewee justification

Zoe is an established family law attorney in Texas and invests her time in her law practice, family, and hobbies. Her professional endeavors mainly shape her social media usage, as well as her role as the parent of two teenagers. This user provides a unique perspective of the role of social media in maintaining professional relationships and a work-life balance.

Report ​

Zoe is a family law attorney from Texas and is raising two teenage children along with her husband. Her introduction to social media was actually through her husband, a big social media user who encouraged her to create a Facebook account. Her first impression of the app was positive-- she was pregnant and sick with a sinus infection when she found many useful home remedies through the app. Zoe's Facebook usage has since evolved to the point where it serves an important role in her law practice. She described how there are private groups on the app, which vary based on general or specific fields within law. The groups serve as exchanges of useful information-- one could post requests like "I need someone in the Houston area for this case", or "I don't understand this...". Within this community, there are specific groups focused on mental wellbeing for lawyers where they can share stories, ask for help, and share contact information to continue conversations. In addition, while Zoe has a LinkedIn profile, she receives lots of business referrals from Facebook. In terms of personal usage, she enjoys posting pictures of food, political things, and pictures of her kids. Notably, she uses Facebook as her primary messaging app, stating that it's easier to receive and send messages especially if you're on a laptop.

Zoe recently created an Instagram account shortly after her children started using it. She became concerned when her daughter once wanted to buy 10 gallons of ice cream for a social media challenge. After that, she wanted to be able to monitor what kinds of people her kids were following. She also keeps privacy in mind, preferring to set her accounts to private. Even on Facebook, she prefers to be less discoverable and to receive connections through mutual relationships.

Design Opportunities ​

1. Mental wellbeing for professionals

• Based on this conversation with Zoe, there's an opportunity to design a safe space for like-minded professionals to share and receive support for things like stress, workplace difficulties, and burnout. Users could have open conversations as well as share resources that have benefitted them in the past.

2. A family-oriented social hub

• An app that incorporates communication, scheduling, and connectivity could be used among families looking to centralize their social media interactions. A digital space tailored towards the kinds of activities that are unique to families might allow parents to coordinate carpools or kids to share pictures and accomplishments, all while maintaining a strong line of communication.

3. Selective and private networking

• Limiting discoverability on social media might seem counterproductive, but it could actually lead to stronger and more purposeful connections. Preserving real personas but limiting exposure by privatizing followings and other measures could offer a refreshing change to users.

Notes ​

Personal Background

• Family law attorney in Texas, married and has 2 teenagers
• Spends time reading, keeping up with kids’ extracurriculars

Social Media and Lifestyle

• Currently uses Facebook, Instagram, has Tiktok doesn’t use it (“Tiktok is SO jolting”)
• Downloaded Facebook first, husband is a big social media user and encouraged her to create an account
• Used Youtube to stream live court cases during covid to keep up with trials, judges, lawyers
• Downloaded Facebook, started using it while she was pregnant/sick and found a bunch of useful home remedies
• Downloaded Instagram when kids started using it
  • Surprised her kids were following people from President Biden to Taylor Swift
• On Facebook, there are general and specific private groups for lawyers in Texas (usually ones that have their own practice)
  • Has useful information, or things like “I need someone in the Houston area for this case”, or “I don’t understand this…”, etc., lots of information exchanged
• Uses Facebook Messenger to message husband, easier to use on laptop/with a keyboard
• Also uses Facebook to message friends, to ask random legal questions that she doesn’t want everyone knowing about
• On Facebook, posts food, political things, pictures of her kid
• Also gets lots of business referrals from Facebook
• Has had Linkedin since it was invented, doesn’t use it as much

Issues of Social Media

• Makes sure profiles are set to private, prefers to be less discoverable
• Youngest daughter once wanted to buy 10 gallons of ice cream for a social media challenge, prompted her to create an account to monitor what kinds of people her kids were following
• Private Facebook groups focused on mental wellbeing for lawyers, for each area of law