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Social Media Sensationalism

February 24, 2010 · Filed under Social Media

After a crazy past few days at the office, I’m finally now sorting through the various articles that pepper my inbox and fill my Twitter feed. I just finished reading this MediaPost article that makes the “profound” announcement that social media is not the “preferred” recommendation source. The article then goes on to say that young adults value (age 18-34) advice from friends and family members over social media and online ads. Duh. The article then says (and if you already read the article I apologize for repeating ) that “oddly” younger consumers believe “search” has more influence over online ads and social media.

I’m not sure where to start in responding to this.

First of all, it annoys me when I see sensational-style headlines such as “Social Media Not Preferred Recommendation Source.” Are there people out there that thought social media WAS the preferred source? Are we, as marketing consultants, telling people it’s a preferred source to clients? If so, shame on us. Social media is a lot of things and is a great marketing tool, but it has a LONG way to go to EVER replace a reference from a friend or family member.

Second, I do not like to see surveys use such blanket categories like “search” or “social media,” especially as search continues to evolve, the lines between the search and social media continue to come closer and closer together. Often, when you “search” on something, the results include forums, message boards, review sites like Yelp, and Twitter content mixed with your traditional brand websites. So, when a young adult says they turn to “search” I’m thinking that they are thinking of it as a mechanism for finding the content they seek, not as content itself. Personally, I usually search on a product first, but make my end decision after reading forums, user reviews, etc. Isn’t that social media?

Which leads me to my 3rd issue with this article… what social media was included in the survey? Did it include forums and message boards, Yelp, etc. or did it just include social media sites like Facebook and Twitter? Social media is more than just Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, and Twitter (the four sites mentioned in the article). Come on.

Listen, I freely acknowledge that I don’t know the full extent of the survey and am merely responding to what little information I have about the study. But I suppose that is part of the problem too. Don’t publish these types of summary articles without access to more information. There are people out there which include “gurus,” consultants, and clients who will read the title, and skim through the article and then begin spouting this off as breaking news.

That’s dangerous and it does not help those of us who understand how the interactive mix complements the more traditional sources make any progress with educating our clients and peers.

Back to pushing that boulder uphill.

Posted via web from Daily Life Shorts

So Long Vimeo, I’m Just Not That Into You

January 8, 2010 · Filed under Social Media

When our son was born this past spring, L and I knew we’d be taking video at some point. When Apple launched the 3GS, consistent video became a reality and L began shooting multiple videos a day. The only issue was where those videos would live. Did we want to use YouTube? Did we want to use Vimeo? Well, not being as famliar with Vimeo as I wanted to be, I opted for Vimeo to gain a better understanding of capabilities and functionality. I was impressed at first, and L was able to email her videos in from the phone, albeit not as easy as the current post to YouTube button that is a default on the iPhone. However, it was easy enough, which is key when you have grandparents that want to see today’s video, yesterday.

However, about a month ago, our videos no longer posted over email. We posted comments through the Vimeo message boards and the support was just not helpful. First we were instructed to read the default FAQ response to videos not uploading. Then we were instructed to try again. Then we were instructed to try emailing while connected to a wifi hotspot (which we were every time anyway). Finally, we were told just to upload from the computer.

Sadly, that answer doesn’t cut it, not when YouTube and Flickr have no problem handling mobile uploads. I don’t have the time, nor do I remember to post videos from my computer. The inconvenience causes me to lose interest in what was a good experience. For any service to cut it in the competitive market that is social media technology, convenience and efficiency are key, and this is something that both YouTube and Flickr have figured out.

So, it is with regret, but with said efficiency, that we will be saying so long to Vimeo and posting all of our photos and videos to Flickr, thus consolidating our visual media in one location.

Yes, Grandma and Grandpa, only one click now… You’re welcome.

Posted via web from Daily Life Shorts

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How much is too much?

December 30, 2009 · Filed under Random Rambling, Social Media

As social media and technology opens the doors for sharing information with friends, family, (and random people) the types of information that we share also grows. I love technology… and as someone who suffers from my generation’s ADHD, I also love testing new social media platforms as they are introduced. I probably sign up for a new service or download a new application 3-4 times a week. And if it’s interesting, entertaining, or something that will make my life better I will continue using it. I have a service to share my favorite music, my favorite sites, my pictures, my videos, my location, quick thoughts, not so quick thoughts, my favorite movies, my friends, and the list goes on and on.

And then the other day, my wife asked me if I was worried about sharing too much information. So much so that my identity was potentially at risk. At first I brushed her off. After all, I am supposed to be the one in the know, the one who is much more educated about this than she is (though she’ll argue with me on this – what else is new?). But as I thought about it, it’s from her everyday perspective that I should be viewing the sharing of my information. How much sharing of information is too much information?

As we spent time with family and friends over the holidays, I wanted to tweet my presents, upload pictures of our one year old son opening his gifts for the first time, and share some of our holiday anecdotes. But every time I picked up the laptop to fire something off my wife’s concern nagged at me in the back of my mind (insert your favorite wife nagging joke here). Every time, I refrained from posting what I thought to be interesting information.

So, I’ve been wrestling with this question for the past few weeks: Why am I using social media? Not only am I throwing so much information out there that a quick Google search could tell you how negligent I have been on going to the gym, a quick scan would reveal that I may be using social media without any purpose in mind.

This thought process is no different than how any business should approach using social media. Everyone wants a Facebook page, or an iPhone application, but with what purpose? Who are you talking to? What are the objectives? As a business, you understand who your audience is, what media they consume, and what the message needs to be on a particular media to get your audience to take action. In this case, social media is no different than using any other media. The difference is understanding how to use the media to get your audience to take action. So, as you think about how you are going to approach using social media in 2010, ask yourself how much is too much, and with what purpose am I doing this? Believe me, I will be asking myself the same questions.