Social media, our voice, and the power to destroy
Jan 30th
The ability for all of us to publish on the social web — to have a voice — is among the most profound sociological, economic, and political developments of our lifetime. It gives us the power to elevate a little boy from Canada to an international singing superstar or to unite a group of people to tear down a dictatorship.
This democratization of power is the central theme of my new book, Return On Influence. This new power is breathtaking and beautiful. It is inspirational and revolutionary. And, it can be deadly.
We have all seen how social media can be used to bully and destroy. A few months ago on {grow} Leslie Lewis told the story of how her career was destroyed by a social media stalker. A year ago, a student at Rutgers (where I teach) killed himself after Internet humiliation.
Last week, I was also in a position to use social media power to destroy.
My wife had been admitted to a local hospital for a routine procedure. We experienced the usual delays and administrative foul-ups (had wrong name on her bracelet!) that we have come to expect from the medical profession but nothing prepared me for the horror I was about to experience.
When I was called to her recovery room (where she was still asleep), I could not believe my eyes. The room was filthy. The trash can was filled with tubes and debris from another patient’s procedure. There was trash all over the floor — paper, a used drinking straw, and pieces of some strange green organic material. Worst of all, there were drops of blood (not hers!) across the floor. I was disgusted and outraged. These were like the conditions I have heard about from missionary doctors working in a Third World country.
I took out my phone and took both pictures and video to document the mess … with my wife sleeping peacefully in the middle of it. Nobody would believe this.
I finally was able to flag down an attendant and angrily pointed out the problem. Her response was “Oh … I didn’t see that.”
Perhaps you could overlook a clear drinking straw on a white floor, but certainly not bright red blood drops or a trash can overflowing with used plastic tubes.
When the surgeon came in, I explained how repulsed I was … and I was still feeling ill about the unsanitary conditions even after the blood was wiped up (with a wet paper towel). He said that he would report it and that I would be getting a call from the hospital administration.
Twenty-four hours later I had not received a call and I was still seething. My adrenaline was saying “post the video.” Instead, I posted a query on Facebook and asked the world what they would do. The recommendations ranged from “keep it in-house” to “get the media involved.”
I called the patient advocate and reached a voice recording, notifying me that she was only available during certain business hours. I also tried to leave a request through the hospital website but the form was broken and I just got an error message.
Later that day, I received a return call from the patient advocate. She was professional and apologetic and said she would investigate the situation.
Two days after this discussion, my wife got a call of apology from the head of the department and a letter from the patient advocate. And that’s how it stands.
This episode represented the first time in my life that I had a “social media voice” go off in my head … “DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM? I HAVE A VOICE!” I knew that I could have humiliated this hospital on the evening news … maybe even caused an investigation of some kind. Perhaps I should have.
But whether you agree with my decision or not, I hope you will consider this advice: If you ever get into a situation where you can use your social media power to destroy, don’t let adrenaline make the decision for you. That’s how people are getting hurt and humiliated these days.
When I let the adrenaline subside, I thought about the situation and realized that if I went public with this, the most likely outcome would be that some hourly-wage attendant would lose her job. I would probably be hurting a family more than a hospital. That is not what I’m about. That was not the right decision for me.
Every day I see destruction, hate, and viciousness on the web from people who can’t keep their adrenaline in check. The social web is a place of stunning beauty and terrible darkness … just like the human race I suppose.
I’ll open myself and my actions to public scrutiny because this is an important topic we are all likely to face at some point. Did I do enough as a civic duty in this case? What would you do if you were in a position to use social media to destroy?
Have you become a STOP SOPA lemming?
Jan 17th
Note: If you’re just stumbling on to this post, both bills have been withdrawn at this time but keep reading. The points are still valid. An excellent wrap up of the issue is contained in this New York Times piece: It’s time to put down the pitchforks on SOPA.
The current controversy over the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), also known as U.S. House Bill 3261, is highly disturbing on several levels, and the actual bill might be the least of our worries, in the long-term.
I am against piracy, but I’m also against this bill. The proposal is so out of touch with reality that it is embarassing. It looks like the opposition is gaining momentum, so that is a relief.
But here is something that is just as disturbing to me. Many people I know became “Stop SOPA” lemmings.
Follow the leader?
Legend has it that a lemming is a little rodent that blindly and unquestioningly follows their leader, even when they follow them over a cliff to their death (they don’t actually do this but that is another story).
I questioned three well-known social media leaders about why they were supporting SOPA and actively encouraging their followers to attach a “Stop SOPA” badge to their profiles. Here is a summary of their responses:
“I’m not what you would call an expert on this. I haven’t even read the bill. I’m trusting what I read from others.”
“To be honest, I don’t know what is in the bill. But based on how people are reacting it must be bad.”
“I have not read the bill and I do not intend to read the bill. What is in the bill is irrelevant. They are taking away our rights.”
You see, on the social web, “Stop SOPA” is not a political issue, for many. “Stop SOPA” has become a meme. This movement was passed from person to person without much independent thought or an educated response. It has become the Keyboard Cat of political statements.
I fully appreciate the importance of “social proof” on the Internet. In the absence of direction, we may look to trusted others for an idea of what to do. But come on folks. This proposed legislation directly affects the very heart of our lives and our livelihoods. There is no excuse in encouraging action from your trusting followers without doing a little homework.
But what about the problem?
The third level of concern this proposed legislation created was the fact that everybody seems to be against SOPA but there has been little intelligent dialogue about the actual issue of stopping piracy. And stealing is “our right” is not a viable answer in my book. Please, take a strong stand … but also help provide some answers.
Here is the problem in a nutshell. I just spent nearly a year of my life writing a book. If there is no hope of getting paid for the difficult work and sacrifice that goes into creating content like this in the future, I will never write another book. And so on.
When you steal content, you’re not beating a greedy corporation. You’re not sticking it to “the man.” You’re sticking it to me, and millions of other writers, filmmakers, musicians, software developers, and other hard-working content creators.
Some claim that alternative monetization models will emerge to allow people to continue to create and prosper in spite of what seems like unstoppable piracy. But we have been stealing legally-protected content for 20 years now. If an easy monetization alternative were available, wouldn’t it have emerged by now? It hasn’t, and it won’t. And yes, I’ve read the book Free
OK, that is enough of the rant. This time it was SOPA. But the next time we “go lemming,” will it be something even more important? And at what cost? I was really disturbed by the herd mentality I witnessed. What about you?
Online Games Teach Kids Valuable Work Skills
Dec 27th
By Neicole Crepeau, Contibuting {grow} Columunist
Yes, you heard me right. For all the complaining that our children are too plugged in and too obsessed with online games, I think playing those games is actually teaching our children critical work skills.
The Amazing World of Minecraft
If you haven’t already heard of the indie game Minecraft, you will. This little online computer game is taking the younger gaming world by storm. Middle schoolers through twenty-somethings are flocking to it– it even appeals to girls.
Minecraft is one of several sandbox games that allow you to build in a virtual world. You literally mine for resources and grow food to support yourself. You can work your way up using resources and craftingto build better houses, tools, and weapons.
The game allows you to get quite sophisticated. For example, there is a stone called Redstone that carries electrical charges. Using it in combination with other stones and tools, you can build complex circuitry, allowing you to create railways, automated doors, whatever you can imagine. Doing so requires learning the ins and outs of Minecraft circuits, though: how to create XOR and XNOR logic gates, pistons, repeaters, etc.
If it sounds difficult, it is (I haven’t figured it out, yet). But young Minecraft players—your kids—have been motivated to spend their spare time reading and learning, in order to build some extraordinary and beautiful creations. As with much of life, in Minecraft you have specific rules and a limited set of resources. The goal is to develop the best products you can with what you have, through hard work and creativity.
So, Minecraft players learn how to research and gather the information they need, how to educate themselves, and they apply their creativity to come up with entirely new entities. Compare that with watching TV. There’s more, though.
BHSMinecraft and other Minecraft Servers
To play the multiplayer version of the game, you have to join one of the many Minecraft servers available. These servers are generally built and run for free by players. For example, I play on BHSMinecraft, a server built and maintained by my son’s 17 year old friend. His moniker is HealthyUncle.
Like many server owners, Uncle has spent considerable time and money on his server. He had to acquire and maintain the hardware, learn the technology for hosting a Minecraft server, keep up-to-date with the product releases, find and install mods (add-ons), regularly ensure the mods are compatible with the latest Minecraft release, maintain the server, and provide support to all the players on it. Hmmm, don’t system administrators get paid good salaries to do this kind of work?
In the case of a large, well-run server like BHSMinecraft, management skills are also required. HealthyUncle “employs” various players and friends. He promotes them to moderators or admins on the server. For example, my son is an admin. He gets special privileges in the game (essentially his payment), but is also responsible when he is on the server for keeping griefers at bay (griefers are players who purposely destroy and harass). Moderators make sure players understand and obey the server rules, and help players when needed.
Beyond that, my 16 year old son and HealthyUncle are actively trying to promote BHSMinecraft to get more players. They use Twitter and Facebook, promote on various forums, and are working on marketing plans for their server. They also are working on ways to get more players to “donate” to the server.
These teens are literally getting experience administering a server, building a business, managing others, and marketing. As I told HealthyUncle, this is definitely worthy of going on the college resume and the work resume.
Players learn valuable skills, too
You don’t have to be a server admin to learn valuable work skills, though. There is an entire ecosystem around Minecraft, built and maintained by young people. There are extensive Wiki’s that capture the collective wisdom of players, edited and maintained by the young enthusiasts. Kids create and post videos on YouTube explaining how to build different types of entities or providing tutorials for new players. There are forums for discussing the game and exchanging information. All of this largely created, maintained, and used by your children simply because of their passion for the game. These kids are actively exercising their writing skills and adding to their community by producing and sharing content.
Another important part of the ecosystem that’s developed are mods (modifications). These are add-ons built by third-parties which can be installed and enhance the game. The third-parties? Your kids. Kids are inspired to learn the tools and technology to build the mods they want or think others will want. (My own kids are teaching themselves Blender to build mods for a similar game, Blockland.) Hmmmm, don’t people called Programmers get paid to write code like this?
Kids get exposure to people all over the world, too. I was tickled the other day when I was searching for information about how to accomplish something in the game, and found a video done by a middle-schooler with a Scottish accent. Game players use IRC (real-time chat) during the game, routinely communicating with and making friends with other players from other countries. Similar to the relationships we build through social media, these kids make friends with children from other countries, arranging to meet them again online. What a fantastic experience for kids who will be working in a global marketplace!
They don’t just “play” with the kids they meet online, though. Your kids are collaborating and working together to build something. With various combinations of IRC (chat), Skype, and in-person meetings, kids will work together to design and build houses, interactive art, tools, weapons, etc. My own sons and daughter will often play together in the study, each on their own computer, but working together to build or explore. They’ll turn to talk with one another frequently, discussing who will do what part, suggesting ideas, debating the best approach, and coordinating the work. Likewise, when my kids’ friends come over, they may each take a computer and then work together on some Minecraft task. Keep in mind that these tasks often span weeks or days—not the immediate gratification we’ve been told that games foster.
Online, kids meet up and use IRC or Skype to talk during the game and coordinate. They pool resources, negotiate designs, assign roles to one another. Working together, they mine and build. They also compete, of course, to see who can build the best house or, on servers that allow battles, to defeat one another. Minecraft, like many of these games, can be played as a fighting game. Kids can create weapons and forts or castles. They can kill one another (though, death is only a temporary setback in these games). Even then, though, the kids are collaborating as teams to build their defenses and weapons, coordinate their battle plans, and execute them.
Negotiation, collaboration, communication, self-education, sharing knowledge, team-work, critical-thinking, creativity—aren’t these core skills that we, as employees and business owners, use every single day? Aren’t they some of the hardest skills to teach, but some of the most important for a successful career?
Believe it or not, your kids are learning these skills every time they play Minecraft and online games like it. So, the next time you find yourself fretting about the time your kids are spending online, consider what they are actually spending their time doing. You might not fret as much.
Neicole Crepeau a blogger at Coherent Social Media and the creator of CurateXpress, a content curation tool. She works at Coherent Interactive on social media, website design, mobile apps, & marketing. Connect with Neicole on Twitter at @neicolec
3 Developments that are Sabotaging the Social Media Movement
Dec 6th
By Stanford Smith, Contributing {grow} Columnist
I’m worried about the social media movement.
Although in some ways the initial enthusiasm in social was overblown, we were right to place high expectations on the convergence of media, social networking, and collaboraton.
However, as of late, something seems to be missing.
Thoughtful dialogue has turned to petty conversations about rules and technique.
Thought Leadership has morphed into clever personal grandstanding.
When I think I’m going a bit overboard I can’t help but notice some disturbing signs – starting with …
The Selling Out of Social Media
One sign is the gradual co-opting of social media as a broadcast tactic. Marketing professionals increasingly use social networks as a platform for reaching precise demographics. Facebook ads for soccer moms, LinkedIn for HR professionals, Twitter for novel writers, whatever slice you want, a social network has it.
It seems that the social faithful have gone to sleep and allowed the pendulum to swing too far to the media side of “social media” cutting the heart out of the movement.
Unfortunately, this approach guarantees that Social Media will play second fiddle to PPC, email marketing, and even SEO in the market discussion.
This is not where we want to end up.
Perhaps this is inevitable since it seems that we have precious few innovators in the field.
Where Are The Innovators?
It’s been a while since I had a “wow” moment. It seems that the rule of the day is to “model” (read shamelessly copy) instead of innovating. The evidence surrounds us.
There are numerous Old Spice Q&A spin-offs, CEOs are racing to match Tony Hsieh’s Twitter engagement, every company wants Facebook Fan page razzle-dazzle. However, no one is pushing social engagement into new territory.
To be fair, we are struggling to find where that new territory is but far too many of us are content with being copycats and pundits rather than innovators.
Even though this is troubling, there’s one more sign that threatens to hollow-out the promise of social media …
Conversations or Professional Small Talk?
Do a quick audit of company Facebook pages and Twitter accounts and you’ll see a disturbing trend, I call it the rise of “Professional Small Talk”.
It works like this, instead of having meaningful dialogue, the company loads its tweets and Facebook posts with inane conversation starters. You know what I’m talking about -
- “Do you prefer a hot or “white” Christmas?
- What are you wearing today?
- What is your favorite season?
This small talk is entice a person to comment or share. From there, the so-called engagement is rolled up into fancy metric reports showing hockey-stick engagement growth. Does the audience really feel any closer to the business? Nope. But somebody’s spreadsheet looks a lot better.
While Professional Small Talk looks like engagement, its just panders to small thinking and guts the social movement in the process.
So what’s going on here?
3 Habits That Are Sabotaging The Social Movement
Three bad habits have conspired to rob the social movement of its momentum. I’ll touch on them and we can discuss them at length in the comments. Here we go:
Tool Addiction: Sharper minds among us tried their best to intervene and break us of our tool habit. They were unsuccessful despite their tireless work. The race to focus on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn techniques dumbed down our thinking and forced us to sit at the kiddie strategy table.
ROI Fixation and Vanity Metrics: Almost from the start, “practitioners of the obvious “started beating the ROI Drum. Before marketing professionals even fully recognized the benefit of social business, the ROI priesthood began challenging social’s efficacy.
Instead of calling for patience, harassed social media managers raced to embrace Klout, Follower vs. Following stats, retweets, Likes and other vanity metrics. While the metrics placated executive teams, it forced us to use an inadequate quantitative narrative to describe a powerful qualitative phenomenon.
The Engagement Rut: On the opposite side of ROI Fixation is The Engagement Rut. This happens when simply commenting or tweeting satisfies social media goals. Companies unwittingly embraced this by creating social teams who just needed to “show up” and tweet from a loose script.
Along the way the social program became unhitched from business goals and strategy. Soon, the social person became the passionate and chatty person at the party who didn’t have the faintest clue why she was invited to the party in the first place.
How to Kickstart The Social Movement
I may be biting off more than I can chew here, after all social business is more than just a 700 word topic. However, I believe there are a few key questions that will refocus our attention on what makes social business special and profoundly important to every aspect of business.
How Can Customers Drive Innovation?
Businesses have to invite customers into the design studio. Sustainable innovation will come from satisfying and anticipating customer needs.
Sure, I know Henry Ford’s (and Steve Jobs’) innovation caveat – “If I asked my customers what they wanted they would have said a faster horse and buggy” but we shouldn’t use this to lock customers out of meaningful product development collaboration.
Social provides amazing tools for this collaboration and we should be taking the lead in developing and implementing them. Businesses who use social to view customers as the source as well as the beneficiary of innovation will achieve enduring competitive advantage.
How Do We Restore Real Dialogue?
We urgently need to move away from ‘Professional Small Talk” and start focus on building relationships through meaningful conversation.
Notice that the goal is a relationship not just a mention. Once we get our priorities straight we will be able to align expectations around customer lifetime value, loyalty, and advocacy.
How Is Your Organization (or client) Inspiring Its Customers, Employees and Partners?
Social business draws its power from fantastic products and services. People want to talk about their purchases, social media just gives them an efficient way to do so. However, social tools can’t save uninspired products.
Simply having a Facebook page doesn’t create real excitement around your value proposition. As social strategists we should take the lead on helping businesses infuse their products with the ‘wow’ factor.
Do I believe that the social revolution has stalled?
Yes.
I also believe that we have exactly what we need to get our momentum back.
Am I being too harsh? Has social media lost its relevancy in your organization?
Contributing Columnist Stanford Smith obsesses about how to get passionate people’s blogs noticed and promoted at Pushing Social, except when he’s chasing large mouth bass.
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