The Pandemic & The 4 Phases of Social Media and Group Behaviour
In the late 1970’s, the renowned American psychological researcher, Bruce Tuckman published a theory of group behaviours that he titled “Tuckman’s stages of group development”, which has influenced organizational theory and group behaviour studies ever since. So what does that have to do with social media usage during the current COVID-19 pandemic? Probably quite a lot.
Social media has a significant impact on humans organizing and communicating. It enables people to form groups at anytime, from anywhere as long as they have a device that is connected to the internet and the applicable browser or app. Social media reduces the frictions and tensions associated with organizing. Now, with people self-isolating and/or working from home, social media are playing a vital role in how humans are making context of this world today. It enables support groups to form, ways to create content and form as needed.
Give that, let’s look at the 4 phases of group development and how they then relate to what and how we may see social media use during the pandemic. This insight, if viable, may help companies understand how employees working from home may behave and governments and other organizations understand what may unfold in the digital world over the coming weeks and months. Here is a link to the 4 behaviours as described by Tuckman, if you want background for context as to how I am proposing we may see social organizing and group behaviours.
The 4 stages of group behaviour during the pandemic;
One | Forming: We’re in the early days the opening of how the pandemic will be managed. People are right now in the phase of forming groups for support, work and generally communicating. We are organizing information and seeking context. Groups that are forming are likely determining ground rules for what information will be shared, how they want to be organised, the tools they will use and group etiquette and behaviours. This process may be informal or formal, depending on if it is very social by nature or work related. This phase could last from 2–3 weeks or even a month. In this phase, everyone is in it together, working to establish the dynamics. Conflict and argument is minimal. People are largely on their best behaviour.
Two | Storming: Trust is built during this phase, but it’s not without frictions and contention. People start to assert and express their personal views and opinions. Group leadership may suffer during this phase as power dynamics unfold. This will be more so with ad hoc groups and less so for those working for a company where behaviours and group dynamics were already established to a large degree and they were already using tools like Slack, Monday or Microsoft Teams. Those situations will have some tension, but less than more social ones. Ad hoc groups will likely have a lot of arguments on social media. In a broader social context, we can expect to see a lot of anger being expressed as people deal with isolation and its affects on our moods and behaviours in a broader social context. Social media become a channel for expression of anger and frustration.
Three | Norming: Out of the ashes of the storming phase, groups resolve personality clashes, leadership is sorted out and work towards a common goal is coordinated and becomes more effective. In informal and ad hoc groups, those that fomented disruption will have either accepted the new norms or have moved on to form other groups. Cyberbullies and trolls will have been pushed out and find their places elsewhere, perhaps to inflict their behaviours in other new groups. For the most part, those that remain will be more tolerant of one another and start to find the quirky aspects of the group funny or acceptable and just part of how the group functions. In a broader societal context, people will produce content and engage in more positive ways. This isn’t to say there won’t be negative behaviours and fake news, there certainly will be. That’s just the way it is.
Four | Performing: As group roles have been established, etiquette is defined and the purpose of the group more defined, people start to perform. Positive outcomes happen. Dissent its acceptable and allowed, but it is within a more structured context. Speaking of context, it is around this time that people have their world in greater context, where they fit, how they are functioning day to day. There is more humour online. The group can adapt to different circumstances and pressures. In a broader societal context, society has also sorted out the context of the world.
These tips of digital group behaviours have been around for a while now. The difference now is the scale and that there may be a larger than usual number of groups that form in the coming weeks, especially for businesses and non-profits. Having an awareness of these stages can help in managing groups and being ready to work through these stages.
Other factors that will impact group dynamics are different real-world and digital world cultures and norms.
