Networking vs. Marketing : The Social Media Equation
If you have followed us around the web for a bit, then you might know that on occasion we have written about our distaste for social media being, well, misused as we see it. And it is not that we believe that our way is the only way, or that our perspective should even win out, it is just that every now and again, we feel like venting. After all, these misuses tend to come in the way of irksome intrusions into our spaces that we have reserved for connecting and sharing. Which may be completely presumptuous of us, but here we are.
And therein may lie the crux of our problem. For just because we have reserved these areas for these purposes, does not mean that everyone sharing these spaces has the same intentions as we do. Because social media is a relatively new market that is still evolving and finding its complete footing, so we have to make allowances for these kinds of growing pains. And they certainly are pains. But if do not assert our voice in support of the outcome we desire, then the equation is less likely to work out in our favor.
Where this all basically comes to a head for us is at the crossroads between two of the major uses of these social media outlets. Networking vs Marketing. It was only a matter of time before advertisers flocked to this new medium for communicating and connecting with people. And given the way that many of us use social media to share content, it is also easy to understand why they believed that as a whole, we would not mind the trespass, or find this to be intrusive at all.
But is this kind of reach for advertisers, really overreaching, or are those of us who have already tired of it merely oversensitive to this issue? There is no doubt that there are those who will dismiss us immediately under this header, but perhaps it goes deeper than any sensitivities. Perhaps it comes from a fundamental distaste for the difference in perspective. For those who look at these new markets that we look on for connecting, and see only an opportunity to shout us down.
Because make no mistake about it, that is exactly the way that some marketers use these new media outlets. As a virtual bullhorn to shout to the masses about their wares and services. It is not about adding value. It is not about helpful content for the online community. It is about bottom lines and dollars and cents. This is the source of the rub. Below we further break down and examine both approaches that figure into this equation, and shine the light on the reasons we feel less than favorable about the Marketing aspect.
In our eyes, and we do know that we are not alone in view, social media began as a means to allow for social interaction in a digital age where face to face interaction is no longer the number one means by which we communicate with our ‘friends’. And we put friends in quotes there, because even our defines and ideas of what constitutes friendship has evolved in this more digitally connected age. Years before the internet explosion, most people would never have considered someone a friend whom they had never met in person or interacted with in a face to face, physical environment. But all of that has changed. Thanks in large part, to SM.
So through these networks we have started building relationships with others throughout the online community. And through these relationships we all work together to build a stronger, more involved and interactive community. There is a common mission that brings many of us together via these social media circuits, and that mission is to add value to the community through the content that we create and share. And as we mentioned, that mission often places us at odds with those whose mission comes at these avenues of interconnection from a different direction. We have two basic purposes for tapping into these mediums day after day.
Excerpt from the Wiki – “Social media are media for social interaction, using highly accessible and scalable communication techniques. Social media is the use of web-based and mobile technologies to turn communication into interactive dialogue. A common thread running through all definitions of social media is a blending of technology and social interaction for the co-creation of value.”
One of the daily routines that bring us back to these social waters, is the sharing. We find or create content that is geared towards enriching the community that sustains us, and we pass it along. Share with others to increase the visibility of such meaningful content.
It is not about our own visibility, but about the visibility of the information that we feel needs to be seen and considered by anyone we can reach with it. Overall, we are hoping, like the quote says, to create a valuable dialogue throughout the online community.
That dialogue is the key to the other purpose that brings us back to the social media outlets on the daily. The meaningful interactions. Most of us in the design and development fields use these networks to build working relationships. We are building a foundation. We are building a trust. One that we do not take for granted or take lightly.
Social media marketing is something completely different. Companies have seen a new way to connect with their users and to seed and spread their message as well through these new avenues to their customer bases. A much more personal connection. Or at least, that is what you would think it would be, given the often times personal nature of these various networks. But rather than attempt to actually build or nurture said connection, these marketers are more seeking to exploit it. Or rather exploit a connection that users believe exist. Because at this stage in most users minds that is what these connections automatically constitute. Friendship.
Okay, so not many people would go forward actually mistakenly believing that Nike is going to hit them up to go out for coffee and run up some Four Square mayoral points, but you get what we are saying. (Well, hopefully you do.) Basically, we have gone out and sought to build a trusted connection through these mediums, so whenever someone reaches out to us via these networks, we tend attach those same expectations to them. And the companies who are opting for the social media marketing route are counting on that misplaced faith. They are effectively trading on our trust, and laughing all the way to the bank at our naivety.
Excerpt from the Wiki – “The growth of social media has impacted the way organizations communicate. Social media marketing programs usually center on efforts to create content that attracts attention and encourages readers to share it with their social networks. A corporate message spreads from user to user and presumably resonates because it is coming from a trusted source, as opposed to the brand or company itself.”
Direct Message and Direct Marketing are not interchangeable! Understanding that they do the same initials, DM’ing was not intended for you to effectively spam your intended via this new model marketing approach. Direct messaging is so that we connect directly to our contacts without involving or alerting the rest network.
It is an even more personal interaction. And an interaction, by definition is reciprocal in some form or fashion. There is also an element of underhandedness at work here when you ask why they would rather send this ad under the radar. It is so when you pass it on to your other connections, it seems genuine. Not solicited.
Another reason this direct invasion tends to be as irritating, and this marketing approach overall follows in suit, is because once again this is supposed to a reciprocal relationship. There is a give and take. An ebb and flow. But these marketing campaigns are completely one sided. Where we have conditioned ourselves to believe that social media is a kind of back and forth, that is not the case here. In this give and take arena, these companies disrupt that equation. It’s all about them.
Naturally, social media marketing would not be around if so many businesses and willing participants were not in the waters playing along. But given the founding and driving principles that have made these networks the powerhouses of communication that they are. Not to mention the seemingly permanent residence they have taken up in our daily lives. Perhaps advertisers should find a more appropriate avenue to exploit, than one that has become such a personal part of our communication. There is a time and a place for everything, and all we are positing, is that perhaps neither of those is in social media.
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