Social?
What’s in a name?
There’s a reason governments worldwide want in on the social media explosion. But this blog isn’t going to be about data mining and colour revolutions; we’re talking trust, community, reputation, and how the paradigm shift of social media has facilitated a resurgence of neighbourly behaviours.
This harking back to an era of stability and traditional values may be evidenced in the fad for fashions from yesteryear, with the roaring 1920’s to the glamorous housewives of the 1950’s; business was local and food was fresh; you knew your neighbour and wouldn’t be horrified if they popped over to borrow some sugar.
Do people even ring doorbells any more? At our house, it hasn’t worked for at least 10 years, and we tend to prefer it that way.
Need a plumber? A Facebook post can save you the trouble of hiring an unknown company, and paying through the nose for a stiff tap.
Communication used to be channelled through either monopoly service providers and operated by said tycoons or the presiding government.
It’s been less than 10 years since Facebook came onto the scene, and after a little encouragement in the form of “[Name] feels” or “What would you like to share today?”, we were hooked. And as with every democratised invention, once first adopters became familiar, the entity that was Facebook was no longer under the steering of bureaucrats, and its real value began to take shape – without its users, Facebook is little more than a platform.
So what do: big brothers desire to data mine our every digital move, have to do with Twitter and ‘Winnies Wool shop’?
Egalitarian ideals are burgeoning in the minds of today’s technologically astute. Social platforms provide each voice with an outlet. By freely downloading their media, chatting after school on messenger till bedtime (millennials will remember MSN!) their default perspective challenges the eras of exclusivity. Where children of the 90’s struggled with dial up connections, a lack of content and connected peers, we find the barriers of today are obfuscating idols and intellectual gatekeepers, but this all pales in comparison to the objective facts at their fingertips. Which they can corroborate with the planet. And no amount of cash spent in the form of damage control or brand management can cover sins of being unsocial.
In’t olden days, to be banished from the tribe was the ultimate death sentence. Humans ARE social animals, and this explains why solitary confinement is literally maddening. Reflected in our language just crowd sourcing our office for synonyms gave us: exiled, extradited, excommunicated, excluded, shunned, our existence relies on our connections
What does the philosophy of objectivity and opportunity have to do with social media?
TripAdvisor, Amazon reviews, crowd-sourcing requests; this is where the savvy consumer goes for a cheap holiday, a 10-litre pressure cooker or a recommendation for a hairdresser; and you no longer need to rely on your immediate relationships since anyone in the connected world is able to share their experience – good and bad.
This is why I take writing Amazon reviews very seriously!! You never know who you may help along the way.
Perhaps you are starting to appreciate why governments and corporations around the world are interested in the power of social media. Think about the power of gossip, a fundamental habit in humans which can actually serve extremely protective purposes, since it’s fundamentally about sharing information.
It’s a relatively well accepted concept that within any population you have early adopters who have a profound influence on the behaviour of the whole. Behaviourists say it only takes 10% of a given population to influence the rest.
This is reflected in a well-known, recent study that we are rarely more than 6 degrees of separation, from any person in the world. Moreover, the psychological well-being those who make up the chain of our nearest and dearest has a huge effect on us personally. That friend who always drags you down, isn’t just affecting your energy levels, but those of your friends, and you don’t even know it.
So what’s the take away?
To be active in social media is to engage in the conversation, you’ve got to be in it to win it; and if you aren’t, people will still be talking about you, you just won’t have a voice.
And once you find your voice, it’s important that it is: genuine, reciprocal and altruistic. There are incredibly active communities whose members sometimes can spend all day talking them through their particular issue, with no promise of reward or recognition (mostly).
This is where exceptional, honest, customer service and solid, mutually beneficial relationships with your consumer – as well as your product – can make or break your brand.
