Shane Life

On social media

Posted on Apr 04, 2009 by Shane in Blogs, Movies, Work | 8 Comments

Kansas City with the Russian Accent’s Meesha V. caused quite an uproar in the social media community with his post this week that lambasted the case study that Kansas City social media tracking company Spiral 16 did regarding the blogger preview of AMC’s Fork & Screen.

I’ve got a lot invested in this one. Not only did I attend the blogger preview (and blogged about it here), but I have made friends with AMC’s Justin Gardner, Spiral 16′s Whitney Mathews (who wrote the original and completely unattributed case study that Meesha liberally lifted from in his post) and other bloggers who attended the event.

There are always going to be people like Meesha who believe that as marketers we should just leave some things alone. That may be true. But I cannot fault Justin or AMC for trying something new when it comes to marketing to this demographic. The world that we live in has changed significantly over the last two years. Twitter (where Justin originally reached out to the KC Twitterati) has experienced 1,382% growth from February of last year to February of 2009. Facebook, which was already huge, still grew a staggering 228% during the same time period. Social media is the new word of mouth. Marketers who do not figure out how to be a part of the conversation are going to be left in the dust.

Tools like those that Spiral 16 provides are helping those of us in social media and online marketing to help measure results and show value to the people that we report to. Folks like Meesha may not like that, but it’s an important part of the process. One of the beauties of social media is that you have the ability to unsubscribe, unfollow, unfriend someone if you don’t want to hear from them. There’s also always the beautiful “Mark as Read” button. But exercises like AMC’s with bloggers and the Fork & Screen are going to continue to happen. I need only point to Universal Studios notifying seven people about the new Harry Potter Theme Park and getting it viewed by over 350 million people within 24 hours. That’s the power of social media to marketers. Traditional advertising and marketing isn’t working as effectively anymore and so we are looking to new avenues to find our customers.

For the last year or so, I’ve been a part of the Social Media Club of Kansas City, a group of bloggers, marketers, and ad folks who get together on a semi-monthly basis to talk about the challenges and pitfalls of this new online world that we’re dealing with. Speaking with some folks at Friday’s breakfast about this post and what it implicates was interesting. Accusations of “shilling” don’t sit well with me, especially since I’ve gone back to the Fork & Screen time and time again, paying full price each time because I like the experience. Others may not. That’s their opinion. But to accuse people of “shilling” just because they got a free movie…that’s attacking my credibility. I’ve always done my best to be myself on this blog and in person. Pensive Girl hit it on the head yesterday:

be yourself. be true to who you are in real life. the digital space is just an extention of you. don’t foreget this. don’t be fooled by how easy it is to just say whatever you want to say and “be” whoever you want to be. don’t use the digital space as a platform for creating the person you are not strong enough to be in the real world. be you. becuase if someone gets to know you this way. through your tweets and your blog and your thoughts. and if this person then meets you in real life, and you’re nothing like your blog or your tweets or whatnot, there is a huge disconnect between who you really are.

Now that part of my job is applying my knowledge of the web and social media to a large organization like Cerner, I only see the crossover between personal and business becoming more pronounced. This may rub some people the wrong way. But there are some of those people who use “online monikers” and “web personalities” and even their participation in social media isn’t entirely genuine.

The challenge as a marketer like myself who also uses the web as a personal outlet is to always remain authentic. Anyone who has ever met me in person knows that there’s no difference between the real-life me, @shaneomack, Shane Life blogger, and the corporate marketer I am. In fact, for anyone to suggest otherwise is insulting.

8 Comments to “On social media”

(jeff)isageek

Great post shane and I think you hit all the points well. love the quote you used from that blog post as well. so true!

- 10:24 am on 04 04, 2009
meesha.v

I didn’t mean to insult anyone personally, but my opinion about the social media being too easy to manipulate stands. I think it’s only a matter of time before seven people at the Harry Potter park realize that they just saved a corporation potentially millions of dollars for the price of admission and a temporary spike in popularity of whatever they write. If not them, Twitter and Facebook will want a cut. I was satisfied that many people in comments agreed with me to one degree or another. I am sure I wouldn’t get many nods at the social media meeting but I think even there people might appreciate an opposing opinion.

- 4:08 pm on 04 04, 2009
meesha.v

P.S. I’t not me on the avatar.

- 4:11 pm on 04 04, 2009
Patchchord

Great post, Shane. Social media, in my opinion, is actually a return to a very old marketing environment: the open air market.

A vendor will shout and hawk their apples to anyone within earshot. And if their apples are good enough, people will not only buy them but tell others about how good those apples are as they continue to stroll the market. Dividends are paid to those that can shout the loudest. But true staying power is awarded to those with solid product. Now just substitute “content” or anything else for “apples” and you get the gist.

Something to consider, though: sociologists are starting to identify a cognitive limit for relationships within digital social media that in some ways mirror our offline sociological makeup. Simply put, influence and interactions that contain actual value have their limits.

- 6:03 pm on 04 04, 2009
wrytir

Shane,

While I enjoy reading your blogs, I have to say this is your best, most relevant post (to me). The comment cited from @PensiveGirl gives voice to this chaos known as SocMed. Be yourself. The web is the web; but modern social media strikes the heart of disingenuousness when it can be corroborated in real life (IRL).

The medium offers amazing possibilities for anonymity and personal reinvention. The survivors, those who can demonstrate being genuine, will enjoy well earned respect, credibility and great success.

- 10:37 am on 04 05, 2009
logtar

I call shenanigans!

I am a real person and try to stay genuine to what I present online, however I don’t think that an online persona can EVER come close to giving you a sense of who a person really is IRL. Sure, you might stay behind what you say online and not have a “moniker” but the real Shane is not someone that can be really know until you have had a chance to either chat or have a longer interaction with clarification of some point.

When we read stuff, our brain will automatically relate what is said with our own experience and what you say could be interpreted in many different ways. I have been both very wrong, and right on about people that I have met through their online persona. However, to call yourself genuine is like calling yourself cool!

Also to call shenanigans again, to be manipulated by webster’s #2b definition is
“to control or play upon by artful, unfair, or insidious means especially to one’s own advantage”

I think that for that to happen it has to be unknown… we are all adults, we all have been marketed to, to say that we don’t know this is happening is dumb. I am glad the medium is being used… the BSoMeter has to be dialed to the people you “trust.” (I just cracked myself up.)

That said, Shane very well written!

And I am sure AMC loves all the hits that Meesha is generating! (YOU ARE THEIR TOOL!)

- 8:16 am on 04 06, 2009
Whitney

Great post, Shane. While I think a lot can get lost in translation (no pun intended…) online, I love the discussion that Meesha’s post has generated.

In a way, it affirms Spiral16′s niche in the marketplace, but also opens the forum for ethical questions. All I do is monitor what’s being said – not influence the content in any way. :)

P.S. The back of my hair looks really shiny in that pic. Much appreciated!

- 8:45 am on 04 06, 2009
Eric Melin

I have the same problem with being a film critic–except I don’t, really. Because people know what they’re getting from me. Your last paragraph summed it up: “there’s no difference between the real-life me, @shaneomack, Shane Life blogger, and the corporate marketer I am. In fact, for anyone to suggest otherwise is insulting.” As long as your reader understands this, you don’t have to worry about a thing. Establish trust. Be honest. I read certain critics because I trust them. Others I think are worried more about the peripheries, so I avoid them. Great post.

- 9:11 am on 04 07, 2009