Debating the Virtues and the Evils of Social Media
There was a gathering of media professionals at Benjamin Steak House in White Plains last week, sponsored by Westfair Communications and Entergy Corporation, to debate the effectiveness of social media as an advertising and marketing medium and the effect of digital technology on communications at large.
Elizabeth Bracken-Thompson of advertising and public relations firm Thompson and Bender asked the questions, which generated some feisty responses from the three panelists.
Kristen Ruby founder of Ruby Media, a public relations and social media agency said digital media was changing cultural definitions and giving the consumer control of the communications experience.
B.J. Mendelson, author of the book “Social Media is …BS” called social media a buzzword and said the numerous platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and others were just platforms that benefitted the large corporations running them.
Ted Miller, the calmer voice in the debate, agreed with both but added that the balance of power had changed in favor of the consumer and that had to be paid attention to. He also acknowledged that a wise marketing approach would integrate many platforms depending on the market niche and focus on strategic marketing.
The discussion was reminiscent of an age-old debate over whether technology in itself is the driver or if the applications that technology is put to become the drivers.
For the purpose of this debate, it seems the arguments came from a perspective on either side of that coin. When put to the more thoughtful discussion, all three had their own distinctive spin but a definite agreement that integration across several media types, including print, digital and social media should be applied in varying degrees depending on the target market.
Ruby said she felt social media worked well in the hospitality industry, having experienced success in getting local people to a specific event using Facebook. She also noted that for small businesses, the use of social media was very inexpensive and could easily be done in-house.
Mendelson quoted statistics about the current success of local weekly print newspapers and emphasized the fact that good marketing is simply good marketing no matter what the platform. He also quoted Coca Cola’s recent claim that social media had no impact whatsoever on actual sales, a comment the company later adjusted to indicate that it was still very engaged in social media, or at least in maintaining its image online.
For Mendelson, the true drivers of content in the digital domain are the large media companies that put the news stories out in the first place and the journalists and marketers that follow them.
Miller again noted that with social media, the one percent could have tremendous negative influence over the remaining 99 percent. “The trust level that comes from a personal recommendation is very high,” he said.
Five years from now what everyone saw was convergence.
Will it be convergence to little text and short video clips, which Mendelson calls “thoughtless,” or something new we haven’t thought of?
