Large networks of “friends” are out; intimate circles are in


Consider that according to a study conducted by GoodMobilePhones, people don’t know 20 percent of their Facebook friends. Or that USA Today recently reported that social media users are “grappling with overload.” Finally, the latest Edelman Trust Barometer,
my employer’s annual tracking study, notes that experts are now far
more trusted than peers and friends. This is a dramatic shift from 2006
when the opposite rang true.

Steve Rubel

Whatever happened to that trusted network of friends?

It may still exist, but you might not see on the surface as intimacy and privacy are the ascendancy, Rubel says.

He looks to startups like Instagram for clues. Do you find yourself gravitating toward “intimate social networks” as opposed to Facebook and the like? Do you have social media overload? I find myself increasing missing things I wanted to know or read in the windy storm of Social Media.

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