Why You Hate Social Media

You're reading this now because you probably said, "I don't! I use it all the time!" and that's where most users go wrong. While you may like one, you probably like that one because it's the lesser of many evils, so to speak. It may be the one that (most of ) your peers use regularly and you feel the most comfortable with. Many users simply open accounts on a whim as a way to impress or stay connected with your friends. Do you sincerely like social networking, or do you just feel the need to stay in the loop? Not to mention the trash talk about the other networks. What's worse is that it doesn't even matter if they're true; negative stereotypes infect hashtags and groups like wildfires, criticizing Instagram's terms of service or Vine's featured content debacle. Many users of opposing networks use this as proof that they chose the right network, but the people who actively use Instagram or Vine brush the inconsequential issues aside.

It doesn't change their opinion, so why does trash talk happen? Everyone wants to prove themselves right. It's one of the basest instincts of the human mind and the most prevalent on the internet. You see people post "I told you so," or "See this? I knew it!" with links to doomsday sites or daily horoscopes, or media failures and miscommunication. Most (if any) of this will be of little note, but it makes others swarm to you as a beacon of originality or retweets and start your own following on twitter/facebook/youtube/google+/myspace.

And if you think you're an outlier? Then you probably have multiple social networking accounts. Many people who don't trash other networks have personal experience with them; hence, multiple profiles. You may have a Vine and an Instagram and chose not to trash either in a big way. While you may be perturbed, you don't make a fuss.

To bring this all back around, you don't hate social media. You hate all OTHER social networks and the way that the people act on them. You can tolerate the users on the one you use, or don't mock any of them. So what type are you?

Can you convince yourself that this isn't true? Discovered on Pinterest

Trust Issues and Design

These two health websites were used in a study of the effects of good design on the experience of users. Which one would you chose? Almost everyone in the study chose the second one, citing navigational confusion, cartoon-ish graphics, and other issues as reasons to not trust the source. However, only 6% of all concerns were related to content. That says that users will load your page and decide if they want to trust your company, product, or service before they actually find a reason to mistrust you in your content. You may be losing more customers by having a lousy website than if you didn't have one at all.
So what makes a good website?

The Long Answer: Lots of factors go into making users come back to quality sites (content, layout, style, etc.), and they then weave together to form the user’s experience (what he or she thought of your site). A user will only come back to a site if 1) It provided the content that the user needed in a easily understood format or better manner than any other site, 2) It provided higher quality content than any other site, or 3) If it is simply the most convenient place to find the content they want.
    Google can be used as an example for all three. Not only do they provide the search results in the order that it thinks they will be most useful to you, it also provides its own services to help users find the highest quality content. Try typing a formula or celebrity into the search box, and a graph or a list of movies will appear. Try to beat the convenience of that, Yahoo.

The Short Answer: Good design. Once you think you have it, do a quick survey to see if people will trust the layout and design, just to be sure. After all, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Sillence, Elizabeth, Pam Briggs, Lesley Fishwick, and Peter Harris. Trust and Mistrust of Online Health Sites. Trust and Mistrust of Online Health Sites. United States Naval Academy, 29 Apr. 2004. Web. 30 Jan. 2013.