The Hidden Psychology of Social Networks

How Brands Create Authentic Engagement by Understanding What Motivates Us

By: Joe Federer

Narrated by: Alex Knox

Leading marketing practitioner and thought leader Joe Federer draws on evolutionary biology, anthropology, neuroanatomy, and psychology, as well as more than a decade of hands-on experience, to explain why people act so differently in various online spaces and what they are seeking from participating in each one. With a framework based on Freud's Id, Ego, and Superego model of the human psyche, he demonstrates how the internet is a digital reflection of the collective human psyche and how different social networks correspond to different mindsets: platforms like Reddit to the unfiltered Id, Facebook and Twitter to the managed Ego, and Instagram to the ideal Superego. 

In the same way you behave differently when you're home alone, out with friends, communicating with family, or interacting with coworkers, people act and express themselves differently in these various online spaces. Context matters. Understanding this will enable you to develop and execute effective engagement strategies to reach your target audiences on each social network. Learn: how to create content that drives sharing and word of mouth; how brands can fit natively into different types of social channels; how to balance branded social presences across different networks; and why authenticity will only grow in importance to consumers.

©2020 Joe Federer (P)2021 McGraw Hill

Amazingly insightful!

I found this book incredibly fascinating and insightful! Joe Federer articulates how our brains take in experiences from various social media platforms and why we behave differently in the different spaces. The insight he provides into how our right brain takes in new experiences and how our left brain organizes them is super helpful in both business AND personal relationships. This book goes beyond behaviors just in social media and helps us understand how the Id, Ego and Superego play a role in all of our relationships.