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Posts Tagged ‘ social media ’

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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Networking (part 2): Sharing Your Passion

A while back, I wrote a post about networking and the importance of connecting on a real human level, not just a “so where do you work” level. After continuing to go to more networking events, I’ve realized something else that is key to successfully connecting with people: sharing your passion. To be more specific, if there’s something you want, share that with everyone you meet.

A good example of this: When I was in college, I played in a band that got some attention in the Dallas/Ft. Worth music scene (yes, I’m originally from Texas…shh!). Lance, a good friend of ours who was largely responsible for getting that band together, decided from the outset to be our booking agent and band manager. When he was a teenager, he started a production company called Spune Productions with the goal of bringing concerts to small West Texas towns where the kids wouldn’t otherwise have a chance to see live music.

I noticed that every single person we met who was in the music scene – and even a lot of people who weren’t – he’d tell them about Spune and about his passion to bring great music and well-known bands to the small town where our college was. But he wasn’t just sharing his goal…he was sharing his heart, his aspirations. At the time, I saw that is a bit self-centered. But looking back, I see that he was bringing other people into his vision in a way that got them excited, in a way that made them want to join in the mission and help in whatever way they could.

Because of his networking savvy, within a year my band that he was managing had played shows with a number of really well-known indie bands at the time and even played with the Grammy Award-winning band Switchfoot. Lance moved to Dallas after graduation and several years later was named Promoter of the Year there. Since then he’s also been named “Best Booking Agent” and “Best Record Label” by local press. To say the least, he’s having continued success with his business and is doing what he always wanted to do.

He knew what he wanted to achieve, and he told almost everyone he met about it. And it worked. I want to adopt this approach in telling people about my passion to help businesses and organizations communicate effectively and authentically through social media and grow thriving online communities that lead not only to more business but also improve the lives of their customers. I want to tell them how their company (whether for-profit or nonprofit) can have a mission that can make the world a better place. And it all starts with a handshake and “Hi, my name is Matthew.”

2012: 10/19
CATEGORY: Business
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
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The Power of Presence

That’s the name of the new ad campaign for the Range Rover Evoque. The first commercial I saw for it (below) really does illustrate that power – both in the original context (physically in NYC) and in the secondary context (the commercial seen on the web).

Though I wouldn’t quite call this a PR stunt, it is a clever, though simplistic, approach to launching a product. One of the best things about the marketing strategy here is that there is no attempt to control or influence the message. It’s just a “here it is” approach that displays a “and we’re know you’re gonna like it” kind of confidence in the product.

Their method also works well to translate word-of-mouth buzz generation to online buzz generation. I like that (except in the time-lapse shots) the focus is as much on the people and their reactions as it is on the SUV. And, the commercial as film has some nice touches – some tilt-shift, some nice cinematography and some great shots of NYC. All around, this one is a win. I just wish they would only use this one instead of some of the other edited-down versions of this commercial that just don’t do it justice.

And all this got me thinking about this concept, the power of presence, in relation to social media. ‘Cause it’s sorta the same thing: you’re giving people something to “look at” that represents your brand or organization. And what you’re giving better be 1) interesting and engaging and 2) less about you and more about them. The same way that many of the shots in this commercial focus on the people walking up to check out the car, the focus of any good social media campaign should be on the customer. Listen to them, watch their reactions, highlight them…all to the end of giving them what they want. And, it sure won’t hurt if you’re a bit flashy (but tasteful) with the content you’re putting out there.

2012: 04/02
CATEGORY: Advertising
Social Media
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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
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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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Book review: Launch by Michael Stelzner

In the preface of Launch, Michael Stelzner expresses his hope that the book will become my trusted guide. Well, his wish might just come true. Within the first 20 pages, I was already taking extensive notes and getting excited about how to apply some of the ideas to the nonprofit organization where I work.

Stelzner asserts early on that companies have to shift from asking customers What can we sell you? to asking How can we help you? His call for such a paradigm shift is not groundbreaking, but he does break new ground, or should I say reach new heights, with The Elevation Principle. The most basic description of the principle is provide great content, get other people involved and tone down your marketing. And that formula will equal growth. Another essential point Stelzner drives home is the importance of knowing your audience, knowing their interests/desires/problems and then figuring out how to fulfill those interests/desires and offer potential solutions to those problems.

While The Elevation Principle thematically drives the book, the deeper message is this: conduct your business with heart. By heart, I don’t mean passion but rather intentionality and consideration of others. Again, these are not new principles since they’ve been seen in books from Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People to Kaplan and Koval’s The Power of Nice. However, Stelzner moves far beyond simply rehashing these principles as he gives relevant ways to enact them. One example of this is that he doesn’t just tell you to give gifts, he tells you how to give gifts in terms of the content you offer. He adapts these great principles to the new business environment.

One major strength of Launch comes in its use of concrete examples. Stelzner offers examples of his successes with Social Media Examiner and examples of his failures in previous ventures. Sharing what he learned from his failures proves equally important because it provides valuable insight in addition to helping readers not make the same mistakes. Another strength of the book is the way Stelzner defines terms for the reader. He doesn’t do it in a way that dumbs down the text but in a way that makes you think about the terms in new and creative ways. His definition of a call to action, for example, is clear and concise but also thought provoking.

The only major weakness of the book is in the seeming repetition of the ideas of “primary fuel” and “nuclear fuel” that come in chapters eight and nine. However, Stelzner uses this structure to elaborate on those ideas and to offer a deeper explication of those terms and how to create and employ these types of “fuel.”

Launch offers a refreshing mix of big ideas, practical application and inspiration. Books in this genre often inspire you to “greatness” then leave you overwhelmed because you don’t really know what that looks like for you, and you have no idea where to start. Stelzner shows where he started and how he got to where he is now and presents the principles and strategies that can help you propel your business beyond the competition.

Disclosure: Social Media Examiner solicited this review and sent me two free copies of the book.

The good news is that you can win the 2^nd copy they sent me! This is how you can be entered to win:
1) Follow @mkvermillion and @Mike_Stelzner on Twitter, then
2) @reply to mkvermillion saying “I want #Launch by @Mike_Stelzner!”

2011: 06/29
CATEGORY: Social Media
Writing
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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.