Somebody Finally Said It

Wow, somebody finally articulated very clearly and engagingly my opinion regarding social media.

"Facebook is the 21st century malt shop. It's where people go to hang out. And the last thing they want is some salesperson trying to have a "conversation" with them while they're figuring out what movie they're going to see. They don't want to talk to you. They want to talk to their friends.
The whole appeal of social media sites is their independence from advertising. People like the fact that they can say whatever they want to other people without becoming targets. Yes, they'll tolerate banner ads or search ads on the page, the same way that in the malt shop they tolerated place mats with ads on them or a Coke sign on the soda machine: That sort of advertising is innocuous and quickly becomes part of the general scenery."

Good on you, Alan Wolk.

The Emperor Has No Clothes

There is a interesting article over on AdAge about the fact that Facebook, YouTube, Twitter etc. operate without any sort of plan to generate revenue. With all the adulation directed toward these social media behemoths, it never occurred to me that their reigns might be very short-lived indeed. I am curious to investigate this subject a bit more, as I would be very sorry if Facebook decided to shut its virtual doors (where could I store and display all my photos so effectively?) or YouTube went off the air (where would I watch David After Dentist?). In any event, I enjoyed the joke purportedly made by a Facebook exec to an ad exec, "Didn't you know we're a nonprofit?" It's apparently all too true.

Social Media: Shut It

I'm beginning to lose my temper with all those who are harping on the unconditional, effortless benefits of social media. It's my opinion that those in the ad world who believe that social media is the advertising holy grail (of young, captive opinion leaders brimming with discretionary income) are delusional and worse, old. Those who disregard the perils of social media don't fully understand the mechanics of social media and don't understand the state of social media users. Therefore, it was encouraging to hear Facebook's Sheryl Sanderg talking about what companies can do to be less obnoxious on social media. I like the idea of a "stream" in which the ad must blend seamlessly to be effective. Companies must tailor themselves to appeal on this new frontier. Social media is a different channel than anything that has been developed before, and marketers must keep up and create ads as organic and innovative as the means of communication.