Social objects are the engines of socially networked experiences, the content around which conversation happens. Social objects allow people to focus their attention on a third thing rather than on each other, making interpersonal engagement more comfortable. People can connect with strangers when they have a shared interest in specific objects.
This is incredibly obvious, but something worth noting. Sports are a social object. Whether its gathering to watch a live event, talking to friends over Twitter/Text from afar, talking to coworkers the next day, or even breaking the ice with a stranger (“so….Tim Tebow…who saw that coming?”), sports are the catalyst for conversation. Sometimes the conversation ends at the surface level, sometimes it takes us deeper (“I saw it coming, I’ve been a fan of Tebow since we were both at Florida” “Oh you went to Florida?”…..etc).
I’ve had a screen saver on my TV for years that pulls in all of the photos of my personal Tumblr. Given my love for sports, a majority of the images tend to be sports related. Whenever we have people over, we turn on some music and the screensaver kicks on. Inevitably, within 5 minutes, an image goes by that sparks up a conversation (“Was that a picture of David Nied? Wow, remember that first Rockies team?”).
