Social Media – Fear Mongering Continues

It happens daily, a shot at social media properties about privacy. Today I came across an article in the Tech Alert email program of the Globe and Mail titled “Think twice before you ‘Like’ on facebook” written by Chris Taylor. It seems the fear mongering continues.

My beef with the article is that although it’s informative, clearly it’s a shot at facebook and social media in general by a traditional media that is fear mongering at minimum. Last month I wrote about a similar issue titled “Social Media Misery – Unlikely” in the Raven5 Blog … I’ve linked it here.

I’m really tired of traditional media banging social media. It’s bit of a stretch, the article clearly states “And here’s a little secret: While companies are certainly happy to have you as a fan, what they’re really interested in isn’t you; it’s your friends.” WOW, shocking … imagine trying to gain your ‘Like” just to influence others. Traditional media let’s say a TV commercial on the superbowl, or a full-page ad in a national newspaper, or even a radio ad … is just so special as it only targets you (not your friends).

I’m the first one to tell you that privacy is clearly at risk, if you ever had it that is, and as I’ve said before, with all this data flowing everywhere, there is privacy just based on the amount of data. Data is only valuable when analyzed and acted upon.

How sinister, trying to influence your friends, really? Right now I’m writing this blog, wearing a Roots’ hoodie, wonder if that branding is trying to influence anyone?

The ‘Like” button is a brilliant way of brands connecting with the masses on the masses terms, they choose to ‘Like’ and clearly understand the basic fact that

a) Brands are going to offer something of value

b) Friends are going to see that ‘Like’

This isn’t sinister and certainly advertisers have been doing this for decades. Fact is that you can easily and quickly ‘unlike” any page and it’s done immediately. Clearly people like the ‘Like’ button according to the article with over a million ‘Like’ buttons are being clicked DAILY.

The most offensive fear-mongering claim in the article, “Corporations are doing this for a reason, of course. They’re building marketing lists, they’re aiming to boost sales” HOW SINISTER!

The take away from us at Raven5 is clear. Facebook pages and implementing a social media program is very valuable, if you want proof, Coco-cola has 36 Million facebook ‘Likes’ that can be tapped into and messaged at anytime as required. It’s a new world out there, time to get your “game on” facebook style.

Michael Bickerton, Raven5 Ltd, Toronto, January 2012

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