The Social Media Backlash
Five key implications the rise of anti-social media has for marketers
It seems only a matter of time that the proverbial pendulum would swing in the other direction. Social media penetration has hit its crest.
According to a 2011 Nielsen report, nearly 4 in 5 active Internet users visit social networks and blogs, and Americans spend more time on Facebook than any other U.S. website.
For as long as I can remember, the term ‘anti-social’ has conjured negative connotations. But has all of the connectivity and access and presence embedded in social media apps driven us to desire a different kind of ‘anti-social’ lifestyle? One where (dis)connectivity, removal, and absence are acceptable — even desirable —mainstays of our daily routines?
The emergence of apps like Cloak, Whisper, and Snapchat suggest that we’re on our way to an anti-social media kind of zeitgeist.
And people are into it. According to Chris Baker, Cloak co-founder, one week after posting the app to Facebook, it had 100,000 downloads.
We long for platforms where geo-local data can be used to avoid ‘friends’ you don’t want to serendipitously run into. One where you can be as authentic as you want in voice, tone, and looks without fear of your images, words, and feelings being smeared across the social web.
As marketers, branding professionals, and business people, it’s important to understand the implications of the rise and adoption of apps like the aforementioned. Here are 5 key implications:
Anti-social means more control, not total withdrawal.
Apps like Cloak and Snapchat are still inherently social. They rely on social data and feeds and infrastructure to produce anti-social ends. ‘Anti-social’ simply suggests the desire to have more control. Control over presence (literal and figurative) and control over content.
Take the ‘invisible’ feature on gchat, for example. Google provides the option for invisibility; you determine how/when/why you use the feature. Vocabulary, cues, and features should not be dictated, but they should be resonant to the target. Businesses & brands must design products and experiences that forgo elements of control.
Authenticity is here to stay.
For the last five to ten years, branding professionals and marketers have been talking authenticity on rudimentary levels. ‘Be true to your brand. Stray away from corporate speak. Be relevant to your audience.’ But it looks like consumers are angling for more authenticity. Avoiding corporate speak is not enough. Nor is being relevant. Brands need to take risks. Make mistakes. Look unfinished or undone once in awhile. Be a little gauche.
Not all ‘friends’ and ‘likes’ are created equal.
Social media has heralded a nuanced age of social vocabulary. One where ‘friends’ have become the avatars that fill the social networks, and your actual friends denote a different classification. Similarly, it’s important for brands and businesses to understand the different levels of engagement within social media networks. All ‘likes’ are not created equal. Recognize different needs and stages of engagement, and curate experiences based on those. And keep drilling down [without the corporate speak.] Become more personalized and customized.
It’s time to embrace anti-social media experiences in offline events.
How many times have you gone to an event full of #hashtags and social media cues plastered on every screen and handout? Imagine an event or experience that runs completely counter to this mentality; one that underscores the need to be private in public. Case in point: Norte Beer created a beer cooler that detects when a photo is taken and shines a flash, so that ‘whatever happens in the club, stays in the club.’
It’s all about your audience.
To what extent is your core audience or group of users embracing anti-social apps? What are the demographics of the downloaders of the apps? How can we — as businesses and brands — focus on experiences that meet our audience’s relative tendencies to connect versus disconnect?
We’re entering an anti-social media age, which suggests prime time to not only continue to look at social media spend as part of the marketing mix (social isn’t going anywhere), but to also look within social media spend to determine the right mix of events and experiences that emphasize social and anti-social elements.
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