There’s a new word in the dictionary. The description of overshare (verb) is “to divulge excessive personal information, as in a blog or broadcast interview, prompting reactions ranging from alarmed discomfort to approval.”
There has been plenty of discussion over the interwebs of our new and often rather ugly tendency to overshare. Especially with personal info, many theories, both positive and negative, have cropped up as to where this overflow was spawned.
The writers of the Cluetrain Manifesto claimed that the creation of the internet coincided with an inevitable social shift, and gave an outlet to our voices which had been suppressed to some extent since the industrial revolution. Mass production, media, and marketing had, until now, reduced us to stereotyped audiences rather than individuals. Now social media has given us somewhere to voice our personal views.
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I’ve been spending some time, as of late, thinking about how we, as a company, understand various social media platforms (namely Facebook, Twitter etc…). This process has involved looking at a number of factors:
- What the social media platform is for (as defined by the creators)
- What the social media platform is actually used for (as defined by the users)
- What emotional needs the social media platform meets
- What rational/funcational needs the social media platform meets
Whilst the uses (both creator and user defined) and the functional/rational needs the SMPs meet differ between platforms, it’s become apparent that the emotional needs - by and large - remain constant regardless of the SMP. After the jump I’ll tell you what these emotional needs are…
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There’s lot to appreciate about Lessig’s latest foray, “Remix: Making art and commerce thrive in the hybrid economy” (Bloomsbury 2008); its released under a Creative Commons license, it has its own website, a page of all of the links referred to in the book, a wiki for critiquing, extending and commenting on the book and natch; it’s own widget.
I imagine that many of you will have seen Sysomos’ recent in-depth Twitter audit (twaudit?). Interesting stats, i’m sure you’ll agree. Just reposting them would be dull and tiresome, so instead i’ve decided to see how these stats map on to Forrester’s social technographies, something we’re fond of here at Ryan*MacMillan.
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Tags: forrester, social technographics, sysomos, twitter
One of the most enjoyable presentations at the recent Btween09 conference in Liverpool was from Jon Drori on how to botch relationships between big (government / public body) entities and small businesses (independent social media agencies perhaps?). Jon is, amongst many other things, the former Head of Commissioning for BBC Online and with the Government’s DCMS as Director of Culture Online - a programme to bring culture and the Arts to new audiences. So he knows of what he speaks, having seen many a blossoming relationship successfully botched by any number of these methods. As a small independent entity who is almost always dealing with large entities it was salutary advice. And along with the rest of the audience I especially enjoyed seeing my own experiences (and mistakes) revealed in all of their naive glory.
To get the full impact you need to take a look at the original, which I am told will soon be available in the archive on the btween site. However for your short term elucidation I’ve included some of the ones that really stung me with their relevance; you can check my CV to see where they are most likely to have occured.
I should also add that Jon presented these not as I’ve written them; as things to avoid a botched relationship, but as their inverse; as things to ensure botching. His approach works much better as a comedic device, but not so much as a top tips for building better relationships with large organisations. I’ve gone for utility over hilarity (sorry). Read more →
Tags: conferences, planning, relationships
