Facebook As A Validation Of Our Lives


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I always find it interesting when visiting somewhere amazing how people seem to be more focused on getting the best photo of the place, rather than just enjoying the experience. It’s as if they don’t get that right photo, then their friends might not actually believe they went there and it wasn’t actually that great.

 

 

 

 

 

I find that whenever I’m at a gig over half the people there are basically watching the gig through their phone. Why not just watch the DVD of the concert at home? It seems people want to record and document every moment of their lives.

Life Through A Lens

Life Through A Lens

 

 

 

 

Now that we have Facebook, is this an extra way to seek the attention and approval of our friends, and have someone to share day-to-day life with?

 

 

 

 

 

I know it’s really corny but I always liked the line in the movie Shall We Dance about how people need a witness to their lives, which is usually in the form of a husband or wife –

 

 

 

 

 

“We need a witness to our lives. There’s a billion people on the planet … I mean, what does any one life really mean? But in a marriage, you’re promising to care about everything. The good things, the bad things, the terrible things, the mundane things … all of it, all of the time, every day. You’re saying ‘Your life will not go unnoticed because I will notice it. Your life will not go un-witnessed because I will be your witness’.”

 

 

 

 

 

Maybe Facebook has replaced the need to get married? Now you can document everything about your life and get the validation that someone out there knows what has happened to you. I mean, what’s the point of going somewhere amazing if you can’t then brag about it to your friends – or better yet, have random people you went to school with comment on your photos?

 

 

 

 

 

Queen Latifah summed it up nicely, when she said:

 

 

 

 

 

“When I meet someone I want to enjoy the moment of connecting with them. If they’re scrambling to get a picture to post on twitter, they’re losing the memory by missing the moment. Real life and social networking are not the same. I’m in a hotel room right now looking out at Central Park. The people out there are living life, playing soccer. Do I want to kick the ball? Or take a picture of it? I want to kick it.”

About The Author

Bethany Hoskin

Bethany Hoskin

Bethany Hoskin is a Client Services Manager at Social Media Library, taking care of all our lovely subscribers. She has a Communications degree and previously worked in PR for St John Ambulance, Zing and Republic PR. Whilst she enjoys knowing what’s happening in social media, she may be caught watching the new Sex and the City trailer, or the latest episode of Glee…


Bethany Hoskin, Social Media Comment, Social Media News


Put Down That Bacon Sarnie! Is Social Media Powerful Enough To Change Your Diet?


As part of a growing campaign, Meatless Monday has taken to social media to spread its cause. The movement which, as it says on the tin, encourages people not to eat meat on a Monday, can be traced back to the first world war, when civilians in America were encouraged to cut back on the amount of meat they ate by the government so it could be sent to feed soldiers and civilians in Europe, where supplies had been affected by the conflict.

But why is there a need for this now, in 2010? The campaign argues that eating less meat improves your health, will decrease the risk of chronic preventable illness and improve the health of the planet.

Would you go meatless on a Monday?

Would you go meatless on a Monday?

The campaign has a number of aspects which we like here at Social Media Library:

-The name. It sounds pretty catchy, probably deriving from the trend started by Twitter’s #FollowFriday. Alliterated titles like this have become more and more common since the Twitter explosion. It works well, in that it rolls off the tongue, encourages commentators to write about it and, of course, it can be slotted in to a Twitter hashtag just like that.

-On their blog, they have a section where businesses have pledged their allegiance to the idea, telling the public what they are doing to keep things meatless on a Monday. Within this, there are links to their blogs, which then host recipes or just blog posts that relate to meatless Monday. All great stuff for increasing the awareness of the campaign.

-On top of this, they are also on Facebook, with just under 7000 likes, allowing them to communicate to up to 13000 people in total.

-If we read between the lines of this campaign, the thinking could be that you are more likely to indulge on unhealthy products on the weekend. Whereas when you get back in to the weekly routine, you tend to think more healthily about what you are eating. It feels as though the start of a new week is a reset for your body. This ties in neatly with the name of the campaign.

 

These kind of causes are ripe for social media engagement, so long as campaigns utilise the technology correctly, alongside more traditional means of spreading the word. Meatless Monday are ticking a lot of the social media boxes. Whether you’ll ditch the bacon sarnie in their name though, is another thing entirely!

About The Author – Tom Clayton

Tom Clayton is an intern on the research at Social Media Library. He is a student from Nottingham and is going to college next year to study Economics, Physics, Computing and Mathematics.


Social Media Case Study, Thomas Clayton


Social Media Stories, A Couple Of Warnings


A couple of very different stories have come to my attention this week that both demonstrate, in quite different ways, the power of social media and how it can be used against you.

The first is one of the more amusing social media stories of recent weeks. Kanye West joined Twitter on July 28th and quickly gained almost 500,000 followers. After waiting for four days he decided to follow one person. Just the one. And that person was…wait for it…Steven Holmes of Coventry. Now Steven didn’t ask to be followed by Kanye. But, seemingly at random, the singer chose him. Which led to a whole lot of people suddenly becoming very interested in young Steven. All rather amusing. But, as is typical of a press who love to be seen ridiculing the inanity of Twitter, much was made of some of Steven’s more, shall we say, everyday Tweets, such as “Drinking coffee at 2 in the morning isn’t a good idea.” Which all left me feeling a bit sorry for poor Steven. He didn’t ask to become the centre of worldwide attention for five minutes, it just happened. Since the event, he now has a lot more followers, but has only Tweeted twice, both reiterating has lack of desire for fame. Which makes him something of a hero in my book.

Kanye West

Kanye West, randomly shining a light on unsuspecting Tweeters

Still, the point is that some stuff that he said, for no reason other than the absolute random whim of a slightly crazy pop star, was broadcast to the world and, in some cases, derided. But the lesson that perhaps Stephen, and maybe all of us, could learn is that what you say on Twitter, Facebook et al really is public and anyone can use it to have a pop at you in any number of ways, if they so wish.

The other, perhaps more damaging, example came when it was discovered that US retailers, Target, had donated $150,000 to MN Forward, a pro-business group backing Republican candidate Tom Emmer. They say they donated the money because of his stance on tax and jobs. However, Emmer is also known for his anti-gay marriage views. Target, on their company website, state that “diversity is a core value we integrate into every area of our business”. Which could be seen as slightly conflicting. And has been, by a Facebook page that has attracted 46,000 fans, a petition set up by moveon.org and a host of Youtube videos of Target customers cutting up their storecards. The company have since apologised to the public and their staff, reiterating the company’s reasons for the donation, but the donation stands and the damage is done.

Target

Target, exposed by the power of social media

So, here we have social media acting as a platform for whistleblowers, which has no doubt taught Target and other big brands and organisations that they must scrutinise their own dealings to the nth degree. They must leave no stone unturned to make sure that their dealings are watertight and cannot be pulled up on by staff or the public. Social media has the power to find, expose and rapidly spread any possibly wrongdoing.

Social media is an incredibly powerful medium, but these two examples prove that due care must be taken when using it.

Note: It seems that Kanye has unfollowed Steven. Heartbreaking stuff!

About the Author

Paul Barnett

Paul Barnett

Paul Barnett is a Social Media Analyst for Social Media Library, responsible for developing the content within Social Media Library. Paul lives in a world of blogs, blogs and more blogs, scouring the web and plucking out the juiciest information he finds. Previous to this, he worked as a Music Press Officer. He is also a freelance writer, an organiser of Scrabble Sunday and blogs about stuff that he does here.


Paul Barnett, Social Media News


Walker’s Crisps Prove The Joy Of A Simple Social Media Idea, Well Executed


In the spirit of fairness after yesterday’s blog, today’s post is a congratulatory one to Walker’s Crisps’ social media campaign.

Earlier this summer, the crisp brand launched 15 World Cup flavours (in stereotypical country meets food flavours, ie, England = Roast Beef, Germany = Bratwurst etc.), which featured a competition on the side of the packet encouraging so-called Superfans to make photographs and/or 30 second videos proving their love for one of the flavours. They were then directed to the Walker’s website where they could upload their efforts.

OK, it’s not a mind-blowing idea, but what it does do is capitalise on the original marketing idea of having 15 World Cup flavours really well. By featuring flavours from countries around the world, the video/photo idea works brilliantly because it gives a wide scope for entrants to use creativity and humour in their submissions. The flavours, being typical dishes associated with the country, encourage a certain level of stereotyping, which many of the winning videos play upon, to great effect. The proof really is in the pudding.

Also, a quick look at their Facebook page reveals how well they’ve been using Facebook to promote the campaign and talk to their fans. It features constant mentions of the promotion and almost every wall post is responded to by Walker’s Facebook guy, Sam. Good work, all round!

Here’s one of our favourite clips, by a local Hackney-based duo:

About the Author

Paul Barnett

Paul Barnett

Paul Barnett is a Social Media Analyst for Social Media Library, responsible for developing the content within Social Media Library. Paul lives in a world of blogs, blogs and more blogs, scouring the web and plucking out the juiciest information he finds. Previous to this, he worked as a Music Press Officer. He is also a freelance writer, an organiser of Scrabble Sunday and blogs about stuff that he does here.


Paul Barnett, Social Media Case Study


The Random Factor: Why Your Brand Needs To Stay Alert To Social Media


For marketers, social media is basically useful for one thing – spreading your message. Pages and pages of discussion have been devoted to the best ways that a brand can use the new media to direct attention towards your product or service.

But what if fate takes hold and produces some random element which causes your product or service to gain attention?

Yesterday, Monster Munch began trending in the UK on Twitter. The reason for this was because one Debbie Taylor appeared on GMTV talking about how she’s eaten nothing else but Monster Munch for the last 10 years.

Debbie Taylor - Inadvertently kick-started a social media trend

Debbie Taylor - Inadvertently kick-started a social media trend

Upon seeing the crisps mentioned in trending topics, my first thought was that it must have originated from Monster Munch themselves. But no, a large amount of people were sufficiently amused/appalled by the tale of Debbie Taylor that it took hold and spread organically (even if only for a short period). So, rather than Monster Munch kick-starting a campaign which got the public talking, the public simply started talking, by themselves. A sure stroke of luck indeed!

However, could Monster Munch have done anything to maximise the opportunity presented by this slice of good fortune? Could they have effectively done what most brands do when using social media but in reverse, and used the public talking about them to kick-start a campaign?

While a portion of the country was talking about their brand, Monster Munch were nowhere to be seen.

Monster Munch

Monster Munch

A quick search reveals that they don’t have a Twitter account (although Walkers do) but they have a Facebook page and a, no longer updated, blog. For a brand with such a visible and marketable presence (the monsters!), this seems strange. By being active on Twitter, they would have seen the interest randomly generated in their product and they could have capitalised on it. An awful lot of people revealed their love for the crisp and their intention to buy some straight away. Monster Munch could have conversed with these people, built up relationships, made the conversation last longer and actually made something out of this randomly generated publicity. Instead, the monsters were hiding.

About the Author

Paul Barnett

Paul Barnett

Paul Barnett is a Social Media Analyst for Social Media Library, responsible for developing the content within Social Media Library. Paul lives in a world of blogs, blogs and more blogs, scouring the web and plucking out the juiciest information he finds. Previous to this, he worked as a Music Press Officer. He is also a freelance writer, an organiser of Scrabble Sunday and blogs about stuff that he does here.


Paul Barnett, Social Media Tips and Tricks