Tag Archives: social media

December 10, 2012 · 11:36 am

Got FOMO? Get A Life.

I was catching up with a business associate the other day.

Image representing Facebook as depicted in Cru...

Image via CrunchBase

He recently split up with his significant other, which took me by surprise and made me sad.  The reason was a case of terminal FOMO.  She couldn’t be “there” even when she was.  If you don’t know that term, it’s been used of late to describe Fear Of Missing Out .  I think the term began with people missing parties or other great events but is now commonly used with respect to the never-ending stream of electronic communications that flood our daily lives.  Emails, Facebook updates, texts, tweets, Instagram photos – you know the drill.  Many of us can’t turn away from the stream.  As this article noted:

(FOMO) is a very real feeling that’s starting to permeate through our social relationships. The question is — will we ever settle for what we have, rather than cling to the fear that we may be missing out on something better? Social media like Facebook and Twitter are making this increasingly more difficult.

I’d expand that notion to business emails as well.  I’ve written before about how we all have some form of digitally induced ADD.  We’re so concerned about missing out on something in our screen-based worlds that we ignore the important stuff right in front of us.  Conversations (the oral kind) with friends and family.  Enjoying a beautiful sunset or a musical performance without worrying about if the shot you’re taking to post is in focus or composed nicely.  I wonder about the effect of social networking and texting on the development of emotional and social intelligence. A whole generation has grown up thinking it’s normal to not be particularly present during a face to face conversation.  I can’t get used to people checking their phones in a meeting, much less at dinner.

I’m old school enough to remember the world pre-email, much less pre-social media.  There seemed to me enough time to think about things carefully as well as to enjoy the conversations (in person or via the telephone) and the quiet in between.  Obviously I appreciate the things all these technologies bring to us – efficiency, real marketing engagement, immediacy among them – but like ice cream and wine, too much isn’t so good for you.

If there’s a business point today, it’s to encourage those with whom you work to be a little less connected digitally and a lot more connected IRL – in real life.  Try it yourself.  As this recent piece asks – is it time to wean yourself off the smartphone?  Maybe for a little while each day?  What do you think?

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December 3, 2012 · 11:22 am

Caveat Venditor

We’ve all heard the Latin term “caveat emptor” – buyer beware. It’s a phrase used in commerce to indicate (at least in my non-legally trained mind) that the buyer needs to make sure of their purchase because they may not have any recourse to fix any issues later. This holds true unless the seller went out of their way to hide defects. Today, however, I want to flip that notion on its head and explain why sellers need to beware.

I read a report this morning from the folks at Pitney Bowes Software about the use by brands of social media.  While I’m not really surprised by the data I am kind of disappointed.  The poll of consumers found “that marketers need to be careful to make sure they are not overcommitting to social channels, and, moreover, that their actions on social media are aligned with consumer preferences.”  As eMarketer reported:

Adding to the need for marketers to approach social marketing somewhat cautiously, consumers have displayed time and again an indifference to—or at worst, annoyance at—marketing messages pushed at them on social media, instead preferring to use such platforms to engage in more conversational interactions. And it should come as no surprise that consumers were predisposed to marketing messages from brands and companies that they had already chosen to “follow” or “like.”

The annoyance rate of consumers who saw ads from brands they followed was 11%, but jumped to 24% for those confronted with social media marketing messages from brands they didn’t follow, showing that tolerance for unsolicited messages was noticeably lower.

The alarming thing is that another survey showed 57% of those who had seen a sponsored story on Facebook thought it appeared as content in a misleading way, while 45% thought the same about Promoted Tweets.  This sort of activity has a residual effect on consumers.  They don’t like being mislead and retain negative feelings about the brand that sent out the commercial message under the guise of a social interaction.

Every few days it seems I have a conversation with a marketer who wants to use a social channel as yet another megaphone the way we used to use older media.  The paradigm shift doesn’t seem to have happened yet in many marketers’ minds.  As the research shows, consumers know the difference and aren’t appreciative when brands misuse a social channel.  Sellers need to beware – the long-term effects will be a problem.

Make sense?  So what are you going to do about it?

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November 29, 2012 · 11:32 am

Until Someone Pokes Their Eye Out

With the holidays almost upon us, it’s getting to be the time when we all watch “A Christmas Story” for the umpteenth time.

A Christmas Story

A Christmas Story (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

As a parent, one line that always sticks out is the “you’ll shoot your eye out” phrase since it echoes something I used to hear as a kid. That was more like “it’s all fun and games until someone loses an eye” but the meaning is similar.

There’s a business reason why I’m raising this as well. Many businesses routinely assign inexperienced staff to support their digital efforts. This happens particularly in the social space, where it’s easy to get caught up in the meme of the day. What’s a meme?  You know them – everything from LOLcats to “Mckayla Is Not Impressed” to “Binders Full Of Women.”  Some are short-lived, some endure.  Maybe it’s not that sort of activity but just someone trying to be proactive – there’s interest in something the company is doing, let’s foster it.  In either case, an employee trying to have the business engage with fans can do a great deal of damage, and it’s not just to a business’s reputation.

For example – let’s say your social admin decides to challenge your fans to a contest of some sort.  There are no written rules and one of the losers objects.  Lawsuit waiting to happen.  Let’s say another admin posts an image and encourages fans to do their own version.  Who vetted the theme (was it copyrighted someplace)?  Who approved the materials (do we have a license for the image as well as for any actors/others who are in the image)?  Or maybe you decided to use one of  the Cheezburger Network’s LOLcats sites to create a meme with an eye towards starting something viral. Did anyone make sure the materials you are using are free for commercial use or have been licensed for your specific purpose?

Any time we charge someone with speaking for our brand or our company we should hear the Mom in A Christmas Story.  You really can shoot out a lot more than your eye if you don’t understand the business and legal ramifications that are well beyond understanding the technology.  That’s when it stops being fun and games.  Any thoughts?

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