Wednesday, January 7th, 2009...7:15 AM
Social Media In Plain English
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A very simple video based explanation in “plain English” of how social media can transform relationships between people and brands while it enables the phenomena of the long tail.
11 Comments
January 7th, 2009 at 7:58 AM
That’s a very creative way to describe social media.
January 7th, 2009 at 8:59 AM
I totally agree. Very simple. Very powerful.
January 11th, 2009 at 5:23 AM
Not a bad video, but I feel there were a couple of things missing with respect to what’s really happening out there with social media. First, there is only so much time in each day, so people can only absorb a finite amount of content. This means that many blogs and videos will simply not be seen by many.
Secondly, you have the dark side of the phenom. By that I mean the jealous, faceless haters. These are the mean-spirited people that leave behind rude, incorrect, libelous and otherwise useless comments.
The bottom line is social media is a great thing. It gives everyone a seat at the opinion table. This power has never before been in the hands of so many. When used properly, it’s an amazing force for good. Just think back to how comments left by other buyers has influenced what you might have just purchased from Amazon or any other e-commerce site that allows comments.
January 11th, 2009 at 8:57 AM
Tim – great comments. I too believe social media is a great thing in that it enables consumers to post their experiences to share with other interested people all over the world. This allows a homogeneous culture or cultures to be divided into very targeted segments. Hence it is not all about vanilla, chocolate or strawberry but a multitude of flavors and new ideas all with needs. As you say everyone is at the table with a voice. This is the long tail man at work. I surely see the cup more than half full here. This is enormously powerful and positive for all of us. The video demonstrates this phenomena in a very simple way. I see your point on the dark side though … I just thought this was a very simple way to illustrate all you and I have just commented about. It’s all good.
January 11th, 2009 at 8:47 PM
I appreciate abstract concepts explained in tangible ways – well done – thanks!
January 11th, 2009 at 11:11 PM
Great video. (And as someone who’s seen a lot of computer animation done from scratch, I love how devlishly simple their animations are while also being effective and charming.)
I agree with Tim’s point that the video mentions blogs in particular and that there are bazillions of blogs out there stating all kinds of opinions but only the few you have the time to read will make their mark. And so, for me anyway, the real power of social media in terms of buying decisions comes from the “hubs” where lots and lots of people are getting together to share opinions all under one roof.
Thanks for sharing this Jeff. I really enjoyed looking at this company’s other videos as well. http://commoncraft.com/show
January 12th, 2009 at 6:44 AM
Thanks for the comment Sarah. There is so much info on social media that sometimes it is hard for people to simply understand what this phenomena is.
January 12th, 2009 at 6:48 AM
Thanks Leah. You are right the “hubs” are where influence is really happening. Your site http://www.craftste.org is one of those influential hubs. Tim’s site is also a hub with similar influence: http://www.askthebuilder.com. The video was all in all well done…takes an abstract concept and makes it easy to understand. But from a practitioner point of view it is not 100%
January 14th, 2009 at 4:00 PM
To me the key part of the video is that social media pulls together “people that care”. If any brand or service has a core group of customers “that care” about their brand they should find a way to facilitate this dialogue. And let everyone else learn from their experience.
January 14th, 2009 at 4:12 PM
You are right Phil. Getting people to care is hard to do. If that can be achieved then it gets interesting. Brands have so many tools at their finger prints now to then listen, converse, test, help, incent, deepen the relationship. If presented correctly everyone in that process learns and “wins.” That is the powerful opportunity that social media brings to us today.
February 1st, 2009 at 9:07 PM
[...] Social Media In Plain English [...]
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