I came across this info graphic through Alltop--one of Guy Kawasaki's sites. Info graphics always draw me in since I am a visual learner. After reviewing the numbers and stats, I started to think a little more about the idea of a social ask. Is it overused? Well, yes of course. But is it necessarily a bad thing? Now with the complete infusion of social media in our day to day lives, we are able to do everything from share our latest thought of the day, picture of a meal, preferences, or even direct location with the click of a mouse or even more likely, the swipe of a finger on an iPhone or iPad. The ability to do this is one feat in itself, but the practice of doing this voluntarily is remarkable. Human beings want to connect with other human beings in that social level. I believe people want to bond, connect and share opinions within their circle of friends, acquaintances or even followers for social acceptance/validation. So as we are inundated with thousands of pieces of useless information about our friends and acquaintances through Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Loopt and other social media platforms--is the social ask really bad? Not really. If anything, we have trained ourselves to view the social ask not as negative, but rather empowering. We have the ability to say "yes" I like you, this product, this cause, or this event or to say "no" I don't. Now more than ever, companies and organizations have the ability to get direct, instant feedback from their customers, clients and members. The social ask may be overused, but I don't think anyone is running away from social media due to the several asks a day. Instead, people have trained themselves to make these decisions quicker and more efficiently, or to refuse to make a decision at all. Since people are constantly overwhelmed with social asks, there are many asks that are overlooked. Social asks may be growing, but I don't think it's a negative thing for users, if anything it will just cause people to be more selective and decisive.
