"The more connected that individual is to an issue they care about, the higher probability there is they will stay involved over a longer period of time"
About this Quote
Connectivity is Hughes's polite way of saying stickiness: if you can wire a person into a cause so it feels personal, habitual, and socially reinforced, you don't have to keep re-selling them on the mission. Coming from an entrepreneur who helped build Facebook, the line reads less like a civic fortune cookie and more like a product principle disguised as wisdom. The key move is the quiet shift from beliefs to bonds. Not "the more informed" or "the more outraged", but the more connected. Connection is measurable, engineerable, and scalable; it's also the currency of platforms whose survival depends on sustained attention.
The intent is pragmatic: long-term involvement isn't mainly a matter of willpower, it's a matter of architecture. If the system creates repeated touchpoints (updates, groups, events, visible peers), participation becomes a default setting rather than a heroic choice. Hughes is describing a feedback loop: identity leads to engagement, engagement strengthens identity, and the network turns private commitment into public performance. That's the subtext - belonging is a stronger adhesive than argument.
Context matters because "connection" can be emancipation or capture. In the best case, it names what organizers have always known: people stick around when they have relationships, not just talking points. In the platform age, though, it also hints at how movements get optimized for retention, not necessarily for outcomes. Staying involved longer can mean deeper solidarity; it can also mean being kept in a perpetual state of managed urgency.
The intent is pragmatic: long-term involvement isn't mainly a matter of willpower, it's a matter of architecture. If the system creates repeated touchpoints (updates, groups, events, visible peers), participation becomes a default setting rather than a heroic choice. Hughes is describing a feedback loop: identity leads to engagement, engagement strengthens identity, and the network turns private commitment into public performance. That's the subtext - belonging is a stronger adhesive than argument.
Context matters because "connection" can be emancipation or capture. In the best case, it names what organizers have always known: people stick around when they have relationships, not just talking points. In the platform age, though, it also hints at how movements get optimized for retention, not necessarily for outcomes. Staying involved longer can mean deeper solidarity; it can also mean being kept in a perpetual state of managed urgency.
Quote Details
| Topic | Team Building |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
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