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Innies and Outies
Our consumer-oriented society is very much outer-directed
by
Reid M. Neubert
I recently came across a very interesting statistic. It's not about belly buttons, it's about the greatly over-hyped site, Twitter: 10% of Twitter users are responsible for 90% of the Twitter posts, or Tweets, as they are called.
So, the bottom line is that Twitter gets so much hype because of 10% of their users! I was wondering how it was that so many people had so much time to devote to tweeting. Now we know. Most don't.
Another statistic I found interesting is that 60% of those who sign up on Twitter never actually use it. Like me. Well, I did tweet once just after I signed up. Even so, I have received a dozen or more requests, both from contacts and people I don't know, to "follow" me on Twitter. I'm thinking, I'm not going anywhere on Twitter, so why would you want to follow me?
Inner-Directed or Outer-Directed
I keep wondering what's the big deal? Then it hit me: I remember learning,
somewhere along the way, about inner-directed and outer-directed people.
As the terms suggest, outer-directed people are very much guided in their
actions and how they live by what others do or expect them to do, and
inner-directed people are much more guided by their own internal gyroscope.
Twitter is a service for outer-directed people. The outer-directed are concerned with what others are doing, buying, consuming, and thinking. Signing up to follow others and receiving their <140 character messages is totally outie.
Personally, I just don't see the point. I really don't care what coffee drink any of my friends just consumed. Or if someone is waiting in line at the DMV. I guess I'm more of an innie.
Now, what can we say about the 10% who are heavy tweeters? I'm not a psychologist, but – other than companies such as Dell that use it as a sales tool – it does feel like, "Hey, look at me, I have all these people hanging on my every utterance." Is that more inner-directed, I wonder, or outer-directed in another way, needing approval through having a following?
Longing for BelongingOur brand-conscious, consumer-oriented society is very much outer-directed. Brand-loyal consumers are heavily outie. Buying a brand is a way of belonging, of being part of a group. It doesn't matter that the only way to become part of the group is to buy your way in.
People like myself who are in the branding and marketing business don't usually talk about this, but it is true. If you are truly inner-directed, it doesn't matter to you what brand of car you drive, what designer's label is on your handbag, or what brand of suit or athletic shoes you wear. I guess it's fortunate for the whole marketing and advertising industry – and the GDP – that so many people do care.
Of course, another way to look at it is that one of the basic human needs is the need to belong, to be part of the tribe. Today, what tribes are there to belong to? The absence of real, meaningful tribes has spawned their replacement by superficial ones: the Nike tribe, the Yves St. Laurent tribe, the Facebook tribe, the Twitter tribe.
Gather 'round the campfire, kids.
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