A decade ago, I bought several packs of notecards from corporate satire specialists Despair.com (see bottom of post) and mailed them to my clients.
They loved them (proof a little self-deprecating humor won’t hurt you), and now the wily business satirists are taking aim at the overheated social media space with a stunning t-shirt graphic:
The subhead on the t-shirt product page? “Unlocking the Awesome Potential of Behavioral Disorders.”
Yes, I think they’re making fun of all of us (at least the social media world), and frankly, it’s about time.
Stay engaged, Tom Chandler.
p.s.:
Right now, the social media world is the online equivalent of an all-night rave: The noise level is deafening, the posturing is mind numbing, and every 18 seconds, a bad decision is made.
Remember when MySpace was going to rule the world? (And Second Life, and Friendster, and…)
Suddenly, it’s not looking good for the social network famous for its jumbled page layouts and teen sensibilities – especially on the monetization front, where rival Facebook is sucking the ad dollars (and the fluffiest, most desirable demographics) right out of MySpace’s Twinkie:
A Makeover for MySpace as It Slips in Popularity – NYTimes.com
Meanwhile, Facebook has surpassed MySpace as the biggest social network in the world and is on track to beat MySpace among United States users this year.
Furthermore, there are indications that MySpace is losing audience outright. While the site drew 70 million unique visitors in the United States in February and in March, that figure was down from 75 million in December and in January.
Compared with the overall online population in the United States, the site draws disproportionate numbers of teenagers, twentysomethings and people whose household income is less than $25,000 a year, according to the measurement firm comScore. The Facebook audience tends to be more affluent, making it a more appealing space for higher-end advertisers.
There’s no doubt social media is here to stay, but which social network is ripe for engaging with customers & prospects? Where should a company put its resources?
Unfortunately, we’re afraid to ask an expert; using powerful scientific methods far too complex to explain here (we extensively surfed the Internet, and wrote numbers on a napkin until we found one that looked impressive), the Engagement Principles has conclusively proved there are more social media experts in existence right now than there are human beings on the planet (hey, science isn’t perfect).
The question isn’t if Facebook and Twitter will win. It’s “who’s next?”
And how many companies will get hosed along the way.
Social media is in its bubble stage, and while there’s no denying the utility of the bazillions of social media channels appearing hourly, some perspective is needed – perspective not found in the social media’s own echo chamber.
Remember; authenticity, attitude and personality are key. The basic laws of marketing still apply. And when someone offers to fire up your social media program for you, make sure they’re (at least) out of high school.
Stay engaged, Tom Chandler.
myspace, facebook, social networks, monetizing social networks
I’ve viewed the rampant hype — and sky-high valuations — of social networking sites with more than a few questions. In a hyper-connected landscape, how scalable are social networks?
Or more simply, how many networks can one belong to – or how many connections can someone make – before the quality of their interactions falls below the level at which they’ll bother to maintain them? (Hint: I keep seeing the number 150 bandied about, including in the top comment of this Nicholas Carr post)
A recent report suggests social network growth is plateauing, and the copycat social network sites are starting to shutter their doors:
Social Networking Gets a Sanity Check – GigaOM
After years of hype, noise and funding, the social networking sector is finally getting a harsh, but necessary, sanity check.
Today there are numbers out from comScore that indicate plateauing growth for the big two — MySpace and Facebook — in the U.S. Last week, Revision3 canceled “SocialBrew,” an online video show dedicated to social networking. Meanwhile, Monster killed its Tickle social networking service (first reported in April by TechCrunch), following closely on the heels of CondeNast’s shuttering of Flip and Verizon’s decision to close up its virtually unknown network, which had managed to garner a mere 18,000 members. (Verizon has shifted its community to Facebook.)
Of course, plateauing growth isn’t the same as impending doom, though the combination of slowing growth and ongoing difficulties with monetization raise some troubling issues.
The larger question is really this; will the biggest social networks fall under their own weight, only to be replaced by smaller, self-segregating social networks? Will they simply be high-tech versions of the same old message boards, groups and forums that have existed largely since the Internet’s inception?
It’s possible (if not downright likely) we’ll see more targeted groups emerge from the hysteric fog of today’s social networking frenzy. In the meantime, organizations looking to engage with consumers and prospects will best do so by creating their own content, and using that to prime the “user-generated” content pump.
Relying solely on “connections” to engage readers represents wishful thinking taken to an unlikely extreme.
Stay engaged, Tom Chandler.
Technorati Tags: social networking, social networks, facebook, myspace, engagement marketing
