The Swift Life
A Smart Move By Taylor
One of the things that has stood out about Taylor Swift has been how great she is at looking after and interacting with her fans — she probably ranks up there with JK Rowling in this regards.
When a lot of social networks have been losing people due to the negative atmosphere created by algorithms and trolls, having your own little acreage of cyberspace where you can carve out the kind of community you want is probably where you want to be.
It’s obviously not the newest idea out there, but this iteration, using an app, is very forward thinking, and presents a lot of possibilities. Special offers, exclusives; an opted-in audience that you can promote to, and a fandom that you can protect.
The most successful artists are continuing to prove to be the best business people — you have to be savvy and understand what is happening with your money, but you also have to understand how you are promoted as well. Not that I am saying Taylor is totally hands on with this app, but she obviously had to sign off on it, and her image management seems on the whole very effective.
If the repeal of net neutrality works out how some of the doom merchants are suggesting then maybe the internet will atomize into these kind of really specialized communities. If that were to be the case it would be smart now to leverage the power that one of the big social networks offers in order to drive people into your own cul-de-sac of the net.
With how fast the devices and the space itself have evolved throughout the years, guessing exactly how it will all play out is not the easiest of things. Something totally new might come into play that we have failed to foresee.
The way that kids of a certain age interact with the different platforms that older generations use isn’t exactly the same anyway. There are different kinds of platforms that are in use as well, so looking to the social media networks that cater to people who utilize them for a huge nostalgia trip, or like an alumni site with the kitchen sink thrown in, aren’t necessarily the places where indicators of future growth will come from.
Keep an eye on The Swift Life, and look to the places where kids meet and interact, and then you may see what shape the internet is going to take on in the next period of so many years. One thing is certain — the way mobile devices changed the internet wasn’t really predicted, and we are due a sea change any time now.
