Gratification - "to be or not to be"

We're living in a intricately digitally connected world where now in 2022, we have 7.26 billion people using a mobile phone, thats 90.72% of the world's population! Users who were born from 1981-2020 i.e. Millennials & Gen Z have had or been around a mobile phone for a large part of their lives. In a lot of cases, these users have grown up with gratification coming instantly, what do I mean by that?

In their technical advancement Millennials and GenZ were introduced widely to technology and for much of their lives, through mobile phones, toys, games, television etc, technology has played a big part in their communication, their learning and their understanding of the world and how gratifications were passed, received and given. ?Pretty much these days on a mobile phone, game or toy, gratification is instant.... A voice congratulates you, you win points, prizes, tokens, coins (not real coins), you can LIKE a post, DISLIKE a post, Send an Emoji, SMS, Repost, ignore an SMS or Email, etc. You may have noticed that many younger people and children, tend to ask for gratification, if it is not given quickly.

More generally, we are sharing more about what we are doing in any moment than ever before! It's not surprising this, because we now have 3.004 billion more mobile connections than their are people worldwide (8.003 billion people worldwide). You would think that this digital connection means we know more about one another, however, I am not sure this is actually the case. Quite often people try to portrait the best and many hide from the reality. Does social media like TIK TOK encourage this type of behaviour? Does instant Gratification reward this type of behaviour?

So why is gratification so important to these generations? Is it important just to these generations?

Actually its not just these generations that require instant gratification. Everyone does! No matter who they are or where they are in the world. If they have a human brain then instant gratification is needed, it helps us feel safe and builds our self esteem. The human brain prioritises instant gratification over long term gratification for most people.

This is why in the workplace, its so important to play close attention when it comes to designing employee experiences and employee rewards and recognition. Ensuring you have the right systems in place will mean you're likely to get better results, particularly, if you can include instant ways to show gratification, as well as validate data to present more longer term gratification, such as performance bonuses, profit related payments etc. Having a system that does both can bring consistency and transparency to the process, helping to satisfy a persons needs if we just take Maslow's theory as an example.

In 1970 Abraham Maslow suggested that uses and gratifications theory was an extension of the?Needs and Motivation Theory. The basis for his argument was that people actively looked to satisfy their needs based on a hierarchy. These needs are organised as?Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs?in the form of a pyramid with the largest, most fundamental needs at the base and the need for self-actualisation at the tip. RAHMAN ULLAH (PhD. Scholar), Chairman, Department of?Journalism?& Mass Communication

In today's digital world, communicating gratification or information to satisfy someone's needs via technology makes sending, giving, receiving, easier and quicker than ever. This is all great and smooth running if you have the right systems in place, however, if you fail to follow the expectations then that's when we stand to reap the downside of the speed and reliance of digital communication aiding gratification. This can make the difference between securing that next candidate, project opportunity or support. #communication #digital #speed #gratification

People expect to be acknowledged, kept informed and updated, praised, provided feedback, included and be in receipt of shared knowledge and activities. ?