Made to be Broken?

Next, on a very special “Mike’s Blog…”

I kid. I kid because I am well.

Found a pretty interesting take on just how social media “works” for brands. Twas recommended the article from the NY Observer by a coworker. It basically explains that the free aspects of social media are essentially “broken,” and that you pay to make it work for you (as a brand/company/what-have-you. It works almost TOO well as far as personal information goes. See every TMIer* on Facebook and/or Twitter ever).

As sensational as it sounds… I agree a little bit.

Going to take an FB perspective here. Let’s say you build a page. Sweet. But no one’s here. So you buy FB ads to build somewhat of a base. People come and like it. These people want your content. Bingo-bango, sugar in a gas tank, right?

TWIST. Not so much — Page fans see about 15 percent of your posts in their newsfeed unless you pay to promote your posts to the same people that liked your page and probably want your content regardless. It’s a little funky, and almost like paying twice for the same thing to me.

I understand the how of it and the why, but I don’t necessarily agree with it, just saying. As a now-public company with shareholders to start impressing before more people want to get off the ride, they have to bring in revenue somehow, and I guess this is one way to do it. Regardless, I give it an eyebrow raise and an “uh…huh” because it seems like a bit of a (for lack of a better term) sullied way to go about it. It reminds me of a Free To Play model in an addictive game. Get the necessities and bare minimum you need for free, but pay for the real meat and potatoes of the experience.

Does wanting more  make me a little entitled? Sure, but people tend to flock to quality. And if someone starts offering a similar but improved experience to Facebook in the future, then who knows what could happen. It’s a longshot, but truth is stranger than fiction, especially in the digital realm. Who would’ve thought 140 character mini-blogs would become the juggernaut that is Twitter?

Hard to say what happens from here, but it’ll be interesting to watch the digital adscape develop, especially on social media. Read the opinion piece from The Observer, and let me know if you agree.

Ciao.

– Mike

PS This was probably the most serious-beans blog I’ve written in sometime. Save for that serious-beans part.

*Glossary:

TMIer — Too Much Information giver. Alternatively, an oversharer. E.g. that one crazy cousin with the weird stories.