EMOTIONAL CONTAGION IN OUR NETWORKS (Why we all matter)??
Samantha Wall ????
Digital Marketing Strategist- MCIM / Business & Student Mentor / Social Entrepreneur
?? Cause and Effect
No matter how small an impact you feel you contribute to the wider picture of what’s around you, (think again, your “own perceptions” often don’t give a true reflection of the reality).?
We all matter equally.?
Our own characters, actions, values are constantly impacting our environment in some way contributing to the bigger picture.?
?? Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards ??
I once used to think about crowds/hubs/gatherings/groups of people in a more disjointed way, without fully taking on board that “everything really is connected”?
Having an overview of society within a “frame” in the age of social media, lightening communications and our digital footprints ?? is eye opening!!?
I have seen whole networks impacted by positive and negative output in our social sphere.?
Through the ripples of positive and negative social media posts and videos, I’ve observed people’s moods drop or rise again, I’ve seen mindsets change and content output effected, these individual “mood shifts” are carried into our physical worlds changing our behaviours (even if we don’t realise or acknowledge it - it does occur and “subliminally” … and the after effects can substantially change our behaviours.
?? Causality?
For example, after coming offline, perhaps your mood has dipped a little and you don’t make that phone call because you aren’t in the right head space… perhaps you miss an opportunity, perhaps your mood dips a little lower, perhaps your motivation begins to dwindle and you don’t get as much out of your day and so on.?
The above is a very simple, subliminal scenario you may have experienced.?
?? Impact
Cause and effect is at play from the positive and negative messages in our ecosystems; it often can go on to effect our interactions with others in the physical world too, even effecting the perceptions we have of ourselves… subliminal “negative” or “positive” thoughts are swishing around inside us.?
For the most sensitive of us, in an online ecosystem that is projecting “negativity” I’ve seen people announce their own “exits” for a while.?
?? Physical Illness
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This even manifests itself physically in illness.?
I have noticed more people reporting symptoms of physical illness when the online ecosystem is in a negative spin, interestingly, Ive noticed this suddenly impacting significant influencers, almost simultaneously on a few occasions.?
Influencers are many things - within their own networks I often see them as the “gatekeepers” to “morale” so, with negative external factors impacting outside their own “network” visually I see it as waves hitting a “breaker” wall.?
Causality is happening everywhere, even if only minor, our reactions can actually cause a more major set of events which go on to impact ourselves and others.
?? Mood and Mindset
In our digital worlds, how we’re influenced changes our mindsets “mood & motivation; even if only for a short time, it can produce a knock on effect through our state of mind.
In a connected world we have more responsibility towards each other, to maintain support and understanding.?
None of this is a surprise to me, subconsciously I realised it, but I’ve observed it enough times to verbalise the reoccurring behavioural patterns now.
Reading and sharing uplifting and motivational posts isn’t a “cute” thing to use as a front for PR.?
These types of communications are an absolute necessity in our digital spaces.?
I feel a responsibility for recent events, but, not raising things publicly for as much awareness as possible, as I see it, allows the “loudest” person in your network to continue to have a conscious / subconscious negative impact on people.
Having a more balanced view on the realities of someone’s character helps sift thoughts better, within an ecosystem where “the cause” is a loud, regular voice coming from an unsavoury character.
If an anomaly like this, is left unchecked, it impacts greatly without the deeper insight to question it…. and likely for a much longer time to come.?
“For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring” Carl Sagan
My intentions are for a genuine, balanced, harmonious and honest digital space (and experience) for everybody. ??
?? Images of the Domino Effect (in relation to Emotional Contagion)???