Too Many Sirens and Flashing Lights Cause Social Media Gridlock (or Worse)
I was sitting at my desk last week, when I heard the siren of an ambulance as it headed north on Pleasantville Road past the Thompson & Bender offices. I could see out my third-floor window that the ambulance was making good time, and that other vehicles were moving aside quickly.
It occurred to me that many people look at social media as a way of attaching a siren and flashing lights to their digital communications. And in some ways, I guess there’s some validity to those thoughts. The thing that many fail to consider, however, is what would happen if EVERY vehicle were outfitted with special lights and sirens. Would we all get where we’re going faster? Hardly. We’d have mass chaos at best, and the results would likely be tragic.
There’s a finite amount of attention to go around, and we can only pay attention to a limited number of messages (or sirens) at one time. With social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, too many companies are still acting as if their message is the only one, and are subsequently surprised when it seems as though no one is listening.
Chris S. Cornell is the Director of Social Media at Thompson & Bender — a Westchester-based PR, advertising and marketing firm. He manages several online communities, and consults, speaks and writes about social media. You can follow Chris on Twitter at Cornell140.
Adam has worked in the local news industry for the past two decades in Westchester County and the broader Hudson Valley. Read more from Adam’s author bio here.
