Notes of narrative
Digital self expression
Notes have landed at substack and (for now) it all feels very polite and grown up. I wouldn’t expect anything less and neither should you. Online spaces are an extension of real life, and this certainly feels like we have found ourselves in a room with some people we know, and the rest are friends of friends…
New online tools give us different ways to digitally express ourselves, but its social identity theory that is the heartbeat of online behaviour. Way before the internet was a thing, psychologists Tajfel and Turner (1986) suggested that the view we have of ourselves is related to the group memberships we are part of. Offline this can look like the school or university we attended, the work we do, the neighbourhood we live in, or political leanings. Online, our interests are served up in highly nuanced ways, substack ‘reads’ is the ultimate expression of our digital tastes (it’s also possible to hide what you read ).
The fascinating thing about any space, online or offline, is the way we think about everyone else (our in-group members, and out-groups), and how this adds to the way we think about ourselves. For now, the out-group feels conceptually bigger than substack reading preferences. The out-group are other social media platforms who are not as nice as this quieter (and for now politer) space, but I say we give it time.
What will notes bring to substack? psychologically speaking it will shift the flow of information we consume, and it could lead to more action through collaboration, as a way of sense making in our online space.
Notes is a new space on Substack for us to share links, short posts, quotes, photos, and more. Now, I’m not sure how I plan to use it yet, although psychologically speaking I’m likely to be lurking and watching with interest! I may even post photos of tomato seedlings in my greenhouse if it turns out you like that kind of thing…