Answering The Siren’S Call: Hopscotching Social Media

At virtually every turn recently, I am asked to recommend ways clients can utilize social media marketing as a means of message delivery.  Until recently, I read and heard a great deal about this new phenomenon, but resisted the siren call of such sites as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, et al, for fear of a replay of the severe addiction I succumbed to about 15 years ago when a friend hooked up my first home Internet connection. It was dial-up, connections were lost frequently and without warning, and it was slow—but I was quickly hooked and couldn’t get enough of mere “surfing,” researching  every subject I could think of,  and, of course, chatting. I sacrificed a great deal of sleep chatting into the wee hours of the morning with folks I knew, and folks I didn’t know.  That is why despite the growing professional necessity to be knowledgeable about social media, I have been trying to avoid it for personal use.

However, as I continue to investigate social media as a marketing tool for my clients, as well as my own business (not to mention personal curiosity), I find it is nearly impossible to make informed recommendations without first-hand experience.  So, this weekend I took the plunge and began by spending a fair amount of time on Facebook and MySpace, and just today I ventured on to Twitter. And, although I’ve already had the great pleasure of communicating with dear old college friends and colleagues I haven’t seen or spoken to for years, I have taken a solemn vow not to allow social media to become more important than sleep – or equally as important as ice cream!  My goal is to keep it all in perspective…..

Before I go any further, let me explain that my purpose here is in part to share some of my observations and comparisons of the most popular social media sites. But more importantly, it is to generate observations, comments and recommendations about the social media sites you use- and why. I’ve included a few questions at the end that I hope you will respond to.

Thus far from my limited exposure, MySpace still seems to be primarily youth oriented, despite the research that show its increasing popularity with all age groups. I have to say that I’ve found it is much easier to navigate than Facebook. I prefer the drop down menus on MySpace that are very clear and help the user move from one application to another with complete ease. On the other hand, MySpace has a good deal of annoying advertising and flashing animations that are rather distracting. In addition, movement from one application to another seems to take a quite a bit of time. But, I’ll reserve judgment on this until I’ve visited it a bit more—perhaps my initial visits were during high traffic times.

As to Facebook, I’ve found that if you want to move beyond reporting where or what you had for dinner, it pretty much leaves it up to the user to figure out what tools it offers and how to use them, offering very little explanation or assistance.  For example, since registering with Facebook, I have received notices that someone is throwing a shoe at me, that various folks have sent me “a throw beads request,” “ a sea garden request,” “a cupcakes request,” and more. I have no idea what these are, what they signify, or why I warrant such lovely sentiments!  The navigation is not as clearly organized as MySpace, or easy to follow, and demands a greater time investment on the part of the user to become proficient in using the site. This may be why, at least in part, after several visits I still get confused trying to find specific applications beyond reading status updates, reporting what I’m doing at that very moment, and “writing on walls.”  

That said, I’m a little intrigued that so many people are willing to share the mundane details of their lives, “Suzy is getting ready to eat a big salad with grilled chicken.” And I find it even more intriguing that so many people seem to crave being the recipients of these details. My guess is that these tidbits provide a kind of bridge, a comfortable means of reaching out and approximating “face-to-face” communication across the miles. Similar short personal messaging appears to be the sole purpose of Twitter – nothing more than very brief updates of one’s daily activities.  Well, I figure if Al Gore and Jimmy Fallon use Twitter, there must be something to it besides lunch, so I will investigate further.

And so, my research continues. Today I created a Facebook page for my business (www.IBZGROUP.com);  I became a fan of several Facebook pages; and I posted a note.  I also sent a friend request from MySpace and registered with Twitter where I will be “following” Al and Jimmy, and receiving messages from NPR Politics! That’s a lot of socializing for one day!

As mentioned above, I’d truly appreciate your responses to the six questions below to help me begin to better understand and develop recommendations on this subject. Shortly, I plan to post a full survey on Survey Monkey to gather more information on the ins and outs of social media as a marketing tool. If you’d like to participate in the survey, please let me know and send your email address to me through Facebook, or to admin@ibzgroup.com. I will send links to the survey as soon as it is posted.

 ·   How many social media sites have you tried, and which ones do you continue to use or prefer?

·   What site has been most effective in linking you with old friends, colleagues, or other people in your life?

·   What do you like about your chosen social media site(s)—what would you like to see changed?

·   On average, how much time do you spend each day communicating with friends -reading and/or commenting on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, or other social media?

·   Have you ever followed a posted recommendation? Tried a restaurant, seen a movie, checked out a political candidate based on the posting on one of these sites by a friend or acquaintance?

·   Do you pay much attention to advertising that appears on these sites?