or “Now that social networks have become politically and legally relevant, where the hell are you?”
The American Idol/Social Network Generation knows no world without the internet. Online video and other bandwidth-heavy experiences, to many of this generation, are as reliable as gravity. Be they fresh out of college or still bushwacking through the various levels of school, the people of this generation are known for rejecting traditional ways of consuming news such as print and television, and embracing newer, instantaneous ways such as websites, Twitter and now Facebook. Traditional ways of consuming information are increasingly coming up short as the definition of “news” becomes more literal every day and this generation is spearheading the change-over.
Over the past few years, social networks, once single-purpose tools for students trying to keeping in touch, have integrated themselves ever more fully into the fabric of the larger global society. After the college crowd, Facebook and other social networking sites expanded into the professional realm as a centralized tool to meet and keep in touch with professional contacts. After a more diverse cross section of people (and corporations) began to spend significant portions of their time on social networks, people began looking for social network-based outlets for information like news and politics.
The most recent, and possibly the most powerful, of these groups are the multitude of groups devoted to sharing photos from the recent Gaza conflict. Using photos of mangled and murdered children (be warned: very disturbing images), the groups are effectively presenting an unheard version of truth about a conflict that is a world away and making it hard for any user of social networking sites to ignore.
Recently, people have been using the groups and apps built into these sites as ways to even challenge and protest legal rulings. While many of these movements are largely symbolic, check out the millions of dollars possibly lost by Cinemark (to the tune of 4%+ of Sales) due to unpopular campaign donations by the CEO. With social networks taking such a large role in many aspects of society and people using social networks as a place to share their deepest concerns with the larger world, companies who resist social networks in favor of more traditional advertising need to ask themselves if their reasons for avoiding social network advertising are out of prudence, or out of fear.
Even if you fear these new locations as places to engage in marketing, in this recession, might it make sense to lay a foundation on these networks so that you have them as outlets for your message during the coming boom times? The financial and PR risk are significantly lower than other types of marketing, so what’s stopping you from reading some Chris Brogan or calling a successful social network marketing company? Ignore social networks, their communities and the marketing and messaging opportunities they offer at your peril.
Hi Brennan,
Great post.
I agree that the world of social media is taking the news-gathering world by storm. Just look at the number of professional bloggers who now provide up t the minute coverage of events worldwide. Unfortunately, this also poses a problem for objective journalism. As news coverage moves faster, less research is conducted and journalistic integrity is diminished. Organizations cannot ignore social media and must use it to effectively deliver its response. To use your example of the situation in Gaza, the Israel Defense Force uses a youtube channel to show people the other side of the story. Another example can be seen in an earlier Pandemic Labs blog post about Twitter. Instead of Starbucks ignoring users on the medium, it actively engages them. By reaching out to its customers and participating in their dialogue, Starbucks is able to increase its customer satisfaction rates and turn potential PR disasters into positives.
Social media has given the masses a tremendous voice which significantly impacted corporations, politics, and pretty much everything else on the planet. Let’s make sure we use that voice responsibly.
-Adam
Adam,
Thanks for your thoughtful comments.
I’m intrigued by the IDF’s use of their YouTube channel. I have to admit that, after watching the video about the booby trapped school/zoo, it does provide a level of believability I’ve never seen before in political news. How much “spin” could there possibly be in this video? I think other political movements would do well to leverage video in this way.
I view your point about the integrity of journalism slightly differently. I only view immediate news as exactly that: raising an awareness that something notable has happened. I don’t think it decreases the overall accuracy and effectiveness of the journalism as the news outlets still report on the news for days, weeks or months afterward. They have time to refine their story as a clearer picture comes to light. I view this kind of immediate news as simply an impetus for people and news providers alike to focus on new issues more quickly and start the vetting process earlier.
Thanks so much, this was a very thought-provoking comment and is exactly what the team here at PandemicBlog loves to see.
I believe in Niche social networks, because they add more meaning to the network suppose you have a biotech student who wants to be friends with another biotech guy, why should he meet a asian, a electrician and an carpentar along the way to a another biotech guy.
Niche websites give him the opportunity to connect direct. That is the difference I think the big networks will break down into smaller niche specific networks and more people will be involved.
And marketing to such targeted growth is easier. You can make money unlike facebook struggle with monetization process