Social Intelligence

Since being at Red and Yellow I have been analysing different aspects of myself in relation to others and it has become obvious that social intelligence is just as important as IQ, emotional intelligence and even spiritual intelligence. We are all innate social beings and raising our social intelligence is essential to living a healthy, happy life.

I used to think social intelligence was simply the ability to thrive in social situations but it clearly runs a lot deeper than that and relates to every aspect of college life, social life and work life as all these different areas ultimately become one single web of social interaction.

In order to simplify my life I like to categorise people into two compartments: Those that are real and those that are fake! Some people seem to be permanently putting on an act and this obviously comes as a result of needing the constant attention of others but there are some people who seem to do this while still coming across as being genuine while others are clearly hiding something. A great way to simplify this phenomenon is the Johari Window which shows that there is the part of ourselves which we know ourselves and show others and the part of ourselves which we keep hidden from others. Then there are parts we don’t even know about ourselves but which others can see and I believe it is all of these aspects combined that keeps the web of social interaction ticking. (see attached image)

One of the key aspects of Social Intelligence is the ability to instantly recognise people’s inner emotional state; this is widely known as empathy and is the one of the keys to excelling in the social arena. This can be taken a step further by how well we are able to offer a person our full attention and seek to understand them rather than simply trying to make our own point. Since being at Red and Yellow I have noticed how some people seem to have an ability to synchronise with those around them and are generally “well liked” as they give the people they are with their full attention. Then there are the people that struggle as they are so self engrossed that they seem to operate within a vacuum.

There is an actual condition called Dyssemia in which people are completely inept at reading social non-verbal cues such as facial expressions and body language, they will generally be perceived as being insensitive towards others and generally just have a tough time forming relationships. Then on the other hand we have the “social butterfly” that always seems to be in synch with everyone around them. Wherever we fall on the scale there is one thing I can tell you that is an absolute, undeniable fact which is: Social awareness stretches into how the social world actually works and is the difference between success in life and utter failure because decoding social patterns is how we build alliances without alliances we are alone. 

So then, what about social networks, in other words Facebook and why has it become so integrated with our physical interactions?

Clearly one of the most influential people in our generation is Mark Zuckerberg – in order to make Facebook the success that it is he needed to have a finely tuned radar when it came to understanding human behaviour. He obviously knew we all genuinely like to be connected to our friends and that it’s a practical way to communicate, but going back to the Johari Window I believe that what has made Facebook such a success is that gives people a much larger platform to show parts of themselves which they haven’t shown before. Let me give you an example: Most of us share pictures and photo albums on Facebook, now this was originally meant to be so that our friends could see what we’ve been up to but now unless you block “non-friends” everyone can see what you’ve been up to and since Facebook I have noticed that everyone is now a photographer and life has become a stage, but without the lighting.

A major reason for me being drawn to advertising is my obsession with human behaviour and the psychology behind why we are the way we are. In order to be successful in advertising we have to be able to gauge social trends and this means being plugged into the people around us. So then, Red and Yellow is the ultimate playground and also the ultimate classroom when it comes to social behaviour.