I caught up with the director of the Pew Internet and American Life Project Lee Rainie after his presentation at the University of Minnesota Social Networks Research and Creative Collaborative. Rainie’s presentation was entitled the The Rise of Networked Individuals .

The lighting was poor in this interview, but the content timely and perhaps a bit of a conversation starter here. The questions are these, as the networked individual takes root in our new economy, do we begin to see interdependance among each other or do we break off into packs of networks? In the early adopter phase of the social web there was a sense of creating something new, contributing to something greater. As the adoption curve progresses, there is ample information to create what Rainie refers to as a culture of amateur experts who are now in competition selling their expertise and services. This is an information imbalance that can put significant pressure on companies, agencies and individuals. An imbalance where you may believe you give more than are getting back or taking more than you are giving. Interesting in that this is a similar situation that impacts personal relationships.

My perspective for many industries is for companies and individuals to give their way through this imbalance. Be as generous as you possibly can because technology and access to information are a breeding ground of new competition.

Networked individualism also has a stealthy side. As you look at an individual who is networked, you get the perspective of a single person reach out to hundreds even thousands of others. The less visible network, is the one where individuals combine for the gain of the group as a whole and individual benefit. For example the way wolves assemble in packs to hunt their prey. The network of the like-minded, the network of the ad hoc project team, are other ways individuals gain access to business, achieve their individual goals and create some of the scale that was once the exclusive domain of large companies.

Rainie posits that the following big forces are pushing/pulling us toward networked individualism

1. Affluence and affordable technology
2. Changes in family composition, roles, responsibilities
3. Expanding consumer options
4. Income and wealth volatility
5. Job security and longevity
6. Rise of free agency and freelancing
7. Employer changes pushing workers towards management of retirement and health care
8. Rise of DIY politics and religion

Do you believe social media is making us interdependent or highlights that we are independent entities?

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