Posts Tagged ‘ Facebook ’

The Problem With Social Media

TheProblemWithSocialMedia

Instagram now says it can republish and sell the photos users post on the platform without paying them or even notifying them, and this re-introduces the perennial problem of social media: you do not own your own channels. So you created a Facebook page for your business or organization and have spent years building up thousands of fans and populated that page with tons of fantastic content? Well, it could all disappear in a moment…on a whim of Facebook. But it’s not just Facebook. Whether you’re on Twitter or Tumblr or Pinterest or Pheed or whatever hot new social platform – a change in terms of service or a glitch or outage or a perceived violation in user agreement and you’re thrown out in the cold, content-less, identity-less.

The author/software developer Reginald Braithwaite, in translating Instagram’s new terms of service, pretty much perfectly explained social media as a whole: “You are not our customers, you are the cattle we drive to market and auction off to the highest bidder. Enjoy your feed and keep producing the milk.” I’ve talked about this before, but every instance like this is a reminder of just exactly how little control we have over what might happen to channels that we work so hard to develop and engage customers through.

But there is an easy solution: use social media as channels to engage your audience, yes, but, more importantly, use it to direct them back to your actual property: your website or blog. Those are the only places where you have control over what gets seen and how it’s presented. Almost all the content you post or share on social media should have a home on your actual website. I’m in a band, so I’ll use that metaphor: Think of social media platforms as venues where your band performs. You travel to the venue, play your show, hang out with your fans, but that’s all. You don’t store your instruments and equipment there, you don’t live in the basement of the venue. You may go play the same venue a number of times – but, if it closes down, it’s really no substantial loss to you because the venue is only a means through which you send your message. The band still has their albums, their merchandise, their band image that they can then go share (sell) at any other venue.

So, in this (only semi-applicable) metaphor, here’s what’s important: Be a rock star. Wait, no, that’s not it. The point is to have the hub for your content, your reputation, your online brand image somewhere you can control it, where you own it. Use Facebook, Twitter, etc. to go play your rock show, hang out with your fans, tell them about cool stuff – but always send them back to the hub: your website or blog.

2012
12/18
CATEGORY
Social Media
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Why Facebook Is Evil (or The Monetization of Facebook)

Facebook has, for quite some time now, been using algorithms to determine what shows up in your News Feed. But now, Facebook’s updated EdgeRank algorithm (explained well here) drastically influences what you see. It theoretically populates your News Feed based on assigned value to posts…but the problem is, it chooses those values for you. So, when a page you Liked never shows up in your feed and instead some spammy-looking “trending story” does, that is why.

This is a problem for this reason: If I have worked hard to build a following for a Facebook page I manage that has a large number of fans, you would think that when I made a status update that all of those fans (who voluntarily Liked the page) would see it, right? Wrong. Of course, that’s never been the case, but it’s even worse now.

Now that Facebook has introduced the “Promote” feature on posts, the algorithm seems to more aggressively limit the organic views of your posts. [note: This could be debated, but this is my theory based on conclusions from observed trends and a bit of speculation.] Facebook claims that using the Promote feature “increases organic views of your content” – which is only true because they have likely intentionally diminished the true organic reach of content so they can turn around and make you buy what you used to get for free.

Want an example?
I manage a page for the band I play in. For the past few months, we have typically reached 36% to 40% of our audience (i.e. the people who have Liked us). Since the introduction of the Promote option, our reach per post has dropped to only about 14%. Now, just to reach the same amount of people I used to reach, I have to pay at least $5 per Promoted post. This is why Facebook is evil. Or, evil genius if you want to think of it that way.

How about another example?
On a page I manage for xx xxxxxxx that has xx,000 fans, we went from having a xx% reach on an average post to having an x% reach – just since the Promote button has been introduced. Ok, decided to edit out that example so as not to give away any proprietary information.

On Facebook, you now have to pay for the same reach that you once got for free. I must say that Facebook did a damn good job of getting everyone on the bandwagon without ever letting on that the ride was eventually going to cost us a lot of money.

You know what drug dealers do? They give you some crack or meth or whatever for free. And when you come back for more, they might even give you a little more for free. Once they have you hooked, all of a sudden what you once got for free is now gonna cost you hundreds of dollars just to get a fix. Who could have guessed that someone in mainstream culture would get away with that same business model?


2012
06/04
CATEGORY
Advertising
Social Media
4 comments

Facebook: You are not the customer. You are the product being sold.

Some Austrian dude decided he wanted Facebook to send him all the data they had on him in order to raise a ruckus about
whether or not Facebook is adhering to European data privacy laws. So they sent him all his personal information from 2008 to the present, totaling 1222 pages after he printed it out. (I’m pretty sure he printed it out just to be dramatic.)

He, along with some German privacy-rights folks, claim Facebook uses “invasive internet marketing practices that allow consumers to be observed, analysed and harvested for profit, with no regard for their right to privacy.”

Yeah, well, guess what? As a Facebook user, you are voluntarily posting information about yourself on a site that you use for free that you are in no way obligated to use. You know all that storage space you take up with your photos and status updates and witty comments? Well, that’s on Facebook’s servers, which you are not paying to use either. The entire concept of Facebook is that the user is not the customer. You are the product being sold. The product being sold for a pretty penny to advertisers. Why do you think they don’t ask you before they make changes to functionality or how your profile looks? Because they don’t care what you think.

If you don’t like being said product, then don’t be on Facebook. If you still want to be on there (since doing so is almost essential to anyone with a social life), then log out every time you leave the page and reset your browser (deleting all cookies and your browsing history).

Now if we were talking about someone reading my private emails in order to market to me, I’d be pissed about…oh, wait. I’m on Gmail, and Google reads my emails to know what to advertise to me. But again, guess what? That’s free too.

So I guess if you’re paranoid about your privacy on the internet, you can either get your own private server and host your own email. Or, you can be ok with being advertised to and be smart enough not to put sensitive private information on your Facebook page in the first place.

2011
10/27
CATEGORY
Social Media
2 comments

The medium is not the message

In the wake of the London riots, British Prime Minister David Cameron is pointing a finger at Facebook
and Twitter as the culprits, and he’s “summoned” them along with the makers of the Blackberry “for a meeting to discuss their roles during the violent outbreaks.” He wants to ban anyone from social media who appears to be using it to plot “disorder.”

So would he “summon” Smith and Wesson if there was a shooting spree or call in a fertilizer manufacturer if someone made a homemade bomb?

Cameron said, “Free flow of information can be used for good. But it can also be used for ill.” Sure, that’s true – but who gets to decide what is “for ill”? From my understanding, the riots in London were mainly perpetuated by a bunch of hoodlums who didn’t even understand why they were rioting, other than to steal some TVs. But what if they had a legitimate cause?

What about Tunisia? Egypt? Libya? I’m sure the ruling governments (regimes) of those nations deemed the organizing of the revolutions via social media to be “for ill.” But the rest of the world didn’t.

I heard a report about Turkey recently on how they are imprisoning reporters and individuals who speak out against the government in a negative way. And I really liked Hillary Clinton’s response. She said that, yes, in the United States she hears people speaking out against the government in ways she thinks are ill-informed, inaccurate or just plain reprehensible. But, she went on to say, the system is secure enough that it can handle such criticisms, and almost always the voice of reason from so many more citizens drowns out the nut jobs. (The use of the term nut jobs is mine, not hers.) Is the British government not secure enough to deal with some angry teenagers? Don’t you think if you ban social media, they’ll just find another way to use to organize?

So, Mr. Cameron, instead of pointing your finger at the companies who provide the medium, why don’t you use that medium yourself to persuade your citizens to do the right thing? Why not use Facebook and Twitter to drown out the fringe voices by providing solutions to their complaints or at least by offering a productive alternative to rioting? Why not show them that you’re listening to them, not just listening in on them?

2011
08/12
CATEGORY
Social Media
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One too many social networks

I only get around to checking my Google+ account about once a day, and I feel like I’m neglecting it. I’m already probably spending too much time trying to stay relevant and engaged on Facebook (personal, business and band page), Twitter, LinkedIn, WordPress and Tumblr.

I’ll be honest here. I’m a person who reads voraciously and likes to share what I find. I’m a person who loves to write (even if limited to 140 characters). And I’m a person who usually has plenty of things to say on lots of topics, from social media to Mediterranean food. Despite all those characteristics plus my extreme extrovertism, I don’t have enough to say or share to fill up all my media streams. Well, I should say I choose not to fill them all up. Sure I could share every technology or current events article I read, but I doubt that everyone always wants to be hearing from me. (Even I don’t want to always be hearing from me.)

So it may actually be somewhat ironic that I’m writing a blog post about how I don’t have anything to say, but at least I can go post a link to this post on all aforementioned social networks.

But what I’m really getting at here is this: Where do we draw the line? When should we stop promoting the work that we’re doing and actually go do more of that work? It seems to be getting to the point where everyone is spending more time promoting their stuff than they are creating the stuff they are promoting. I can’t tell you how many articles I run across via Twitter where the tweet promoting it is more interesting and contains more information than the article itself. Remember people, horse first, then the cart.

Where do you post the most? And how do you decide what to put where?

2011
07/19
CATEGORY
Social Media
4 comments

Taking a break

Do you ever feel like you’re running out of time, but you don’t know what for? I’m sort of in a position with a few things in my life where I’m having to wait…and be patient. Things both professional and personal. I’m such a mover and shaker that being patient can be hard. In the specific situations I’m thinking of, I’ve done the work, I’ve made the right connections, and now I’m just waiting to hear back. And that is an odd state of limbo to be in, where I can’t even really execute (or even start to make) alternative plans since doing so would be counterproductive at this point.

Driving home from band practice tonight, I realized that I like to stay busy so much that I can push myself to the breaking point. As we were rehearsing, my fingers weren’t going to the right frets on my bass guitar, and I just felt off. Afterwards I realized that I have been going nonstop for about six months straight. Working, writing, editing, networking, socializing, rehearsing music, playing shows, socializing, exercising, socializing. Today around 5pm the go go go lifestyle hit me like a prizefighter’s punch. So—to keep with that metaphor—I’m gonna go down for the count…but voluntarily. I have a short vacation that starts tomorrow at 5pm, so I’m gonna go away for a bit.

And as hard as it is, that means a break from social media. This is the first real break I’ve attempted to take since diving into my new career, and it’s gonna be as hard for me not to check my Facebook, blog, email, Twitter or Tumblr from my iPhone as it is for a crack addict not to take a hit from a pipe being handed to him. I’m driving up into the beautiful Rocky Mountains of Colorado, so let’s hope that their majesty can steal my heart away from wanting to tweet about how beautiful it all is…at least until I get back on Monday.

2011
06/13
CATEGORY
Life
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Why Google just won

Not that I really need to explain, but note where my Facebook profile comes up in the search results (click on image to see larger version), then check out the newly-improved Google profiles.

2011
06/01
CATEGORY
Social Media
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Social media savvy cracker

I’ve always loved the taste of Triscuits, now I love their ethos. This is one of the coolest marketing/brand reputation-building ideas I’ve seen recently. The box includes a “seed card” and instructions on how to use it to grow your own basil.

  

They call it “home farming” with the tagline “Plant a Seed Grow a Movement.” I’m the kind of guy who has never successfully grown anything (except for an ivy plant I had once that grew like crazy, but because I watered it too much, the dirt birthed more than 20 flies – and yes, it was disgusting). BUT, I might give this a go. And they’ve even got a way I can “join the home farming movement” by going to a Facebook page for…oh, wait…the Facebook page for Triscuit.

So, nice work getting me to the Facebook page for a cracker. I’ve often wondered why some products, like crackers or toilet bowl cleaner or toothpaste need Facebook pages to begin with. Nonetheless, Triscuit does have a nice FBML page on there with helpful home farming resources for planning a garden, tracking and sharing it with others, etc. Despite all that effort on their part, their lack of a nice looking and persuasive landing page didn’t convince me to click the “Like” button. But hey, their creativity succeeded in getting me to write a blog post and tweet about it, so maybe this campaign is working pretty well after all.

And, p.s. the title of this post is actually about Triscuits, not about me, though that description applies to both.

2011
05/09
CATEGORY
Social Media
1 comment

Social media and valuable communication

I just was reading an article that argues that your company’s Facebook or Twitter can’t make users feel like valued customers. I would change that statement slightly to make it more accurate: your company’s Facebook or Twitter alone can’t make users feel like valued customers. The digital marketing firm Razorfish just put out a report based on a study it conducted, and the findings indicate that “Across the board, consumers cited ‘feeling valued’ as the most important element of brand engagement,” which leads them to conclude that “companies should worry less about building out numerous channels and touchpoints and more about ensuring each customer interaction communicates value.” Social media can help customers feel valued as long as there is other value offered, whether that be service or content or whatever your business provides.

The challenge now with Facebook is that on most users’ News Feed, so many updates are coming in at such a high rate that a user doesn’t process much of that information—and even more of it the user doesn’t even see. The growing inundation of useless information and advertisements on Facebook may eventually lead to a dramatic shift in what people use the site for. It may become viewed as less reliable for important communications – and I think that’s why we should not abandon traditional websites and email.

The (Instant) Information Age has overloaded all of us, and for a business or organization to be successful, we need to give our customers less noise and more meaning. That means targeted (and less frequent) email blasts, meted out Twitter and Facebook updates, useful and continually updated content on the company web page, well-thought out and insightful videos or podcasts and an overall more intentional approach to digital communications.

Addendum 2/4/11:

In an article about entrepreneurs and their relationship to social media, I ran across an interesting quote from blogger Mark Henricks:

It’s not considered important enough to engage [entrepreneurs’] attention at this point. And I don’t believe there are sufficient success stories with social media for that to change soon. It’s interesting to speculate whether social media will remain vibrant long enough for it to be of great importance to the vast majority of small businesses. So many large corporations and sophisticated marketers are moving into the space so rapidly that it seems possible that it will become pervasively commercialized much more quickly than the Web at large.

He raises the relevant question of just how much time an entrepreneur should spend on social media. However, I don’t think that “whether social media will remain vibrant” is something to speculate about. Social media will continue to evolve, but it’s not going away anytime soon.

2011
02/02
CATEGORY
Uncategorized
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Personal/Professional

As the tide of social media sweeps fully into the business sector, the lines between personal and professional are getting blurred, especially in a position like mine as an online media coordinator. I’ve always kept my online identity in the semi-public (yet mostly private) sphere. I mean, total strangers have been reading my various blogs for years—but a stranger reading my blog is quite different than my boss and co-workers reading it. Which I kind of feel weird typing because they may read this.

And that’s just the catch. I’ve had personal blogs for years, but now I need to be able to share my blogging in the professional realm to prove that I know a thing or two about it. And I can’t very well share the blog where I make all kinds of candid confessions. Now it’s extending to Facebook too. I manage two Facebook pages for my organization. To get administrative access to them, my boss had to add me as a friend first. That wasn’t actually much of a big deal because my current boss is young and cool and would not judge me professionally because I might have a couple photos of me acting silly on my Facebook page. But if she wasn’t … that’d be a different story.

As I get more and more business-minded, I want to use my Facebook page as a promotional tool of my “brand” where I can follow other social media professionals and writers and comment on their updates and links and whatnot and not worry about them viewing my profile and finding an off-color joke from one of my friends posted right at the top. (Not that such a thing happens frequently, but it’s a possibility.) Or even worse—if I made a status update that seems politically or religiously inflammatory for anyone who doesn’t fully know my stance on the issue.

Hence: dilemma. If I make my Facebook page professional, then my friends will have little or no interest in it and will not get to know about any of the quotidian details of my life that Facebook is so great for announcing. If I keep it personal, my colleagues will likely learn more about me than I want them to.

2011
01/25
CATEGORY
Uncategorized
1 comment
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