Perspectives on Social Networking

McClelland’s Needs Theory

In his acquired-needs theory, David McClelland proposed that an individual's specific needs are acquired over time and are shaped by one's life experiences. Most of these needs can be classed as either achievement, affiliation, or power.

Look at Me / Us – Need for Acknowledgement
Look at Who I / We Know – Need for Affiliation
Look at What I /We Can Do - Need for Power / Recognition
Look at What I/We Made – Need for Achievement

I see these basic needs as intertwining and intersecting with each other and forming the foundational motivation for social networking.

Studies in distance education have demonstrated that an over emphasis on social presence may be inversely correlated to the facilitation of cognitive presence. We can actually generate certain rules / mores / norms online as we generate community, trust and belonging so that we might circumvent risk taking, more critical inquiry and challenging viewpoints or the co-creation of new knowledge.