In October of last year, we published Akira Amano's book "The Psychology of Sharing: Seven Perspectives for Understanding the Information Environment of SNS" (published by Sendenkaigi).
To deepen the discussions presented in the book, we are serializing a series of dialogues featuring guests from diverse backgrounds.
For the second installment, we bring together Professor Yutaka Iida from Ritsumeikan University's Faculty of Industrial Society and Akira Amano from Dentsu Inc. Media Innovation Lab. Together, they will approach the possibilities and issues surrounding our "sharing" from a more sociological perspective.
How Have Festivals and Halloween Changed in the SNS Era?
Amano: In this discussion, we will examine the nature of the "society that cannot function without sharing" in which we live. While the information behavior of sharing became widespread and normalized with the proliferation of the internet and SNS, I believe that even in the information environment before that, people were actually continuing to "share."
From this historical perspective, let's explore together the horizon of our contemporary world, now stepping into the post-internet era!
In books and seminars, the characteristic of modern smartphone users is sometimes described as "living to find moments when everyone wants to share." Professor Iida, how do you initially perceive this current state?
Iida: I found your book, The Psychology of Wanting to Share, very interesting. Last September, my research colleagues and I published a book titled Contemporary Media Event Theory: From Public Viewing to Game Commentary (Keiso Shobo). Our book focuses on events that occur in a dimension relatively disconnected from the flow of everyday life, but I felt that we shared many of the same concerns as Mr. Amano regarding the current information environment and information behavior.
Mr. Amano classifies the types of information dissemination into three categories: "mass type," "influencer type," and "simulacrum type" (simulacrum: a shared virtual reality that appears real but is not, created by our sharing of information), drawing on the concept of Jean Baudrillard. Following this categorization, I think we can say that we have focused on "mass-type" cultural phenomena and how they interact with "influencer-type" and "simulacrum-type" information dissemination.
For example, music sociologist Junichi Nagai discusses how the use of social media by millennials has had a significant impact on music festivals, touching on the revitalization of visual communication through photos and videos among young festival enthusiasts. Following Amano's lead, this could be called the simulacrum type. Also, like music festivals, video games themselves are a "mass-type" cultural industry, but live game commentary is, so to speak, a form of "influencer-type" sharing culture.
Amano: It's certainly a good fit with that kind of cultural industry. It makes sense that the former, which values the participatory experience, spreads in a simulacrum-like manner, while the latter spreads information in an influencer-like manner.
Iida: At the beginning of The Psychology of Sharing, you analyze Halloween in recent years, and you refer to it repeatedly throughout the book. I think your description of it as "a rare stage set where the game of showing off can be played out both in the passage (the bustling streets of commercial spaces) and on social media" is very accurate. Actually, Halloween is a phenomenon that I wanted to cover in Contemporary Media Event Theory, but I wasn't able to do so effectively.
I'm interested in viewing these "festivals" and everyday "excitement" as continuous phenomena, and considering how cities and mass media serve as sources for "moments everyone wants to share."
Amano: So, the meaning of "events" is changing as the information environment where anyone can become a broadcaster becomes established. I feel the trend is strengthening that for both the festivals and Halloween you mentioned, the experience isn't complete just by enjoying it on the spot; sharing it has become part of the event's utility.
Interpreting the difference between mass media and social media with "synchronization" as the keyword
Amano: Earlier, you commented that you have been focusing on "mass-type" cultural phenomena and how they interact with "influencer-type" and "simulacrum-type" information dissemination. What analytical perspective is needed when considering this issue now? Or are there any cultural phenomena or trends that Professor Iida is paying attention to?
Iida: In your book, Mr. Amano, you introduced a case study of Snapchat utilizing video filters for promotion. It was based on the tradition of the "Gatorade shower" (where players from the winning team sneak up behind their head coach and douse him with Gatorade from a water cooler) that took place during the American Super Bowl. From an analytical perspective, I'm personally more interested in how the meaning of this "national event" itself changes through such shared experiences.
International sporting events like the Olympics or World Cup, or even traditional national or religious ceremonies, can see their reception experiences shared through social media in ways distinct from mass media. You could call it a different kind of simultaneity compared to mass media.
Amano: Taking the Olympics as an example, the 2012 London Games are often cited as the first to fully embrace social media. Progress in this direction has continued steadily through Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020.
The main focus, after all, is how to engage people who aren't physically at the venue, right? This is also a necessity driven by the ever-increasing scale and economic significance of sporting events.
Of course, there's the synchrony of watching the same moment live and getting excited together. But I think the real point here is moving beyond that literal "timing" to mechanisms that cognitively create a sense of shared experience.
And it seems that recent information technology is gradually enabling this in various forms. The Gatorade shower on Snapchat could be seen as providing an opportunity to consume the Super Bowl event in a new, synchronized way.
In that context, the keyword you mentioned earlier—"a simultaneity distinct from mass media"—becomes even more significant! The relationship between information technology and time (experience) is a fundamental theme. Numerous scholars, including Bernard Stiegler (philosopher, Artistic Director of the Centre Pompidou), have discussed how our temporality is transformed by information technology.
Iida: What Stiegler seeks to clarify using the term "program industry" seems closely aligned with the problem-setting in media event studies. Stiegler argues that while the World Cup is watched by hundreds of millions, even billions, worldwide, this massive temporal alignment excessively synchronizes the collective consciousness and unconscious of viewers, homogenizing the singularity of people's experiences.
In contrast, as art critic Jonathan Crary argued in 24/7: The 24-Hour Society, with the spread of the internet and mobile media, communication has become optimized for individual interests and concerns. One could criticize that this framework loses its validity in such a context. However, recalling the earlier examples, the two can be seen as continuous, right?
Amano: Both arguments present a very essential dichotomy when considering the contemporary information environment. As Professor Iida also mentioned, I feel it's crucial to focus not on their opposition but on how technology fosters their continuity. To reiterate, the Snapchat Gatorade shower example is fascinating because it shows how communication unfolded in a time-synchronized big event, yet was optimized for each individual's network and interests.
I'd like to conclude the first half by saying that I think the "homogenization of the singularity of experience" mentioned in the earlier comment may paradoxically open up experiences more widely. As I hypothetically touched upon in my book, I find it interesting that cultural phenomena such as simulacra, where each individual had a completely different experience in a different place, are organized as packaged experiences based on hashtags, bringing about a new synchronicity. A video work expressing this is also available online (Instravel - A Photogenic Mass Tourism Experience).
I want to focus on the depth of how "sharing" on SNS does not merely spread or mediate information, but also brings about changes and deepening in our perceptions. On platforms such as Instagram, I want to view positively the fact that it functions as visual communication that transcends national borders, as this is nothing less than a contemporary possibility.
Iida: In your book, referring to Hiroki Azuma's Genron 0: The Philosophy of Tourists, you write, "Simulacra may contribute to some extent to connecting a world that is becoming increasingly divided, while promoting visual communication across national borders and increasing the flow of tourists." I agree with this.
We will bring you another conversation between Mr. Iida and Mr. Amano next time.
The Psychology of Sharing: Stories That Make You Want to Share [2]
