During my recent presentation at the Wallace Foundation grantees conference, I got to work with Nina Simon of Museum 2.0, an adviser and consultant to museums hoping to make their work and their spaces more socially connected. During the session, she underscored a rather striking point: For most of the middle to senior managers among us, Google is the common start page to our engagement with the web; for younger users, the start page is Facebook.
In other words, we tend to approach the web through a content search, while younger users (and increasingly older users) engage net content through the lens of their social networks. Recent Nielsen research suggests that social networks are surpassing e-mail in popularity. Now search and discovery is moving that way, as well. Says Nina:
Whereas the Web of the 2000s was dominated by search, we are entering a
time when more and more people are using social media as their gateway
to the Web…. The worldwide
market reach of social networks and other “member community sites” (as
Nielsen research deems
them) is growing rapidly, and it seems likely that Facebook and other
social networking sites will continue to attract older, more mainstream
audiences. This means that more and more people are “entering” the Web via social context.
Now that most arts organizations have established their web sites as “Google food” to ensure that folks who are looking for them will find them, we now have to consider more seriously the social path to discovering our organizations and our work. That suggests a very different way of engaging our organizations on-line.
TO: Orchestra and Choir Members
FROM: Mr. Davies, Anytown HS Music Dept.
RE: Spring Concert
As you know, the annual Spring Concert will take place this Thursday at 10:00 AM in the Auditorium. Principal Bennet will make the announcement over the PA system. There’s a big write-up in the Telegraph. This is an all-school assembly.
TO: Band, Orchestra and Choir Members
FROM: Mr. Davies, Anytown HS Music Dept.
RE: Spring Concert
As you know, the annual Spring Concert will take place this Thursday at 3:00 PM in the Gymnatorium. Principal Bennet said he’d make the announcement over the PA system, time allowing. There’s an announcement in the Telegraph. We’ll need volunteers to help us put up posters.
TO: Band, Orchestra and Choir Members
FROM: Mr. Davies, Anytown HS Music Dept.
RE: Spring Concert
As you know, the annual Spring Concert will take place this Friday at 3:00 PM in Lecture Hall 2. The announcement has been posted on the Activities Intranet. There’s a listing in the Telegraph. Please make sure to email everyone who may be interested.
TO: Orchestra and Choir Members
FROM: Mr. Davies, Anytown HS Music Dept.
RE: Spring Concert
As you know, the annual Spring Concert will take place this Friday at 3:00 PM in the Rehearsal Hall. If you know anyone who belongs to one of the more popular cliques, this might be a good time to text them and ask if they’d be willing to spread the word.
As user generated content continuously becomes more influential, our business model and the persuasive nature of the consumer experience is also on the rise. The functionality of social media is broadening its range, resulting in more and more people signing on and connecting rather than emailing. One must consider, however, where we are headed.
What will keep users faithful to one type of media over another? Check out how, eZanga. com, a search engine that specializes in pay-per-click advertising, has revamped social networking with their recently launched site, http://www.HopOnThis. com. Integrated rewards possibly the next best thing in the social media sphere?
This article resonated with me:
http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2009/03/can-facebook-kill-google.html
Excerpt:
“As I’ve said more than once over the past couple weeks, we have to remember that social and search simply aren’t the same thing. They may have some big overlap: sometimes, yes, it’s better to rely on actual humans whose judgment you trust when you’re searching for something. But by and large, social and search serve two different purposes. I don’t expect Google to tell me what my 200 closest friends are doing right now, and I don’t expect Facebook to find me the time of sunset for March 13, 2010 in Chicago.”
Trevor O’Donnell’s piece is genious! What I love about it too, or maybe most, is the change of Concert Venue over the decades. Maybe how concert information goes out makes less of an impact than the affect of where the concert is held. Auditorium, Gymnasium, Lecture Hall 2, Rehearsal Hall. Does the progression (regression) indicate that each generation values the concert less and less, that the concert becomes less formal over the years (not a bad thing?), that money for school auditoria(?)and thus arts programs disappearing as Sports take presidence over Arts training?
But back to “the media is the message”, haven’t anthropologists discovered that body grooming between the great apes was a way of sharing information which evolved directly into human gossip, the best way of getting the word out in a group. Wouldn’t this be the point where social networking and information networking mingle? What about “Buzz” advertising? Isn’t that a form of “Facebook” marketing without the computer?
The statement about people approaching the internet through content search and younger people approach it through social networking, is very accurate. While older people are no longer as interested in social networking, the younger crowd is consumed by it; seeing just how many people they can meet and interact with. They either do this to, one, just meet new people, or two , to network to reach out and further their career(or future career). It makes sense that people who have already established a personal and professional life no longer need such “tools” as facebook.
Facebook is a powerful tool, but as it’s popularity grows, it loses the uniqueness that made it so appealing to a younger generation. It seems like now in order to be socially acceptable in college or high school, one simply must have a Facebook account, lest they be out of the loop.
Yet even with all of it’s popularity, there is still growing concern among a few users that Facebook is too commercial, that it is losing its indie roots. The ‘great migration’ from Myspace to Facebook was an example of those feelings, as was the death of Xanga (may it rest in peace). Who knows how Facebook, or any other social networking site, will affect the arts in years to come.
I agree with Tory on this one, I remember about 5 years ago when I first signed up for myspace and it was this sort of underground indie networking tool. As facebook became more popular myspace fans began to jump ship and the site lost any sense of uniqueness it once had, choosing to imitate its competitor. As more and more buzz about facebook being a “marketing tool” spreads I fear that it will face a similar fate and be lost to the commercial world to which it has begun to cater. I do not feel any organization, for profit or non profit should take much stock in the connective capabilities of facebook, its popularity is fleeting as it turns more into a passing fad with each day.
Why not? Why not focus on Facebook while it’s big. Yeah, looking down the road is important but I think that you should stop and realize that facebook has been big for the past 3 years. It’s a networking tool to keep in contact with family, old high school friends, or those people you never had the guts to say anything to when you were young but now that you’re older you add them as a friend.
I think that organizations should go to where the people are. Facebook advertising is equivalent to putting a posting on a billboard on the busiest highway. Honestly I don’t think that facebook is going to fade away for a long time.
I think that Facebook is a great way for donors and patrons to find information about an arts organization. Before, when the internet was dominated by search, people had to look for (hence, “search”) for information that they needed. This could mean spending hours (or minutes) navigating the website to find information they want.
However, with this new concept of social networking, once a patron or donor or fan becomes affiliated with an organization (attending an event, becoming a fan of, joining a group, joining a cause, etc.), rather than seeking out information, the organization can send them information. I think this is revolutionary in that patrons will be even more connected than they ever have before. For example, in a theatre company with multiple plays in one season, a customer would have to go search through the website to find the calendar. However, with Facebook, the organization could send out a message or event saying what the calendar of events is. So, rather than having to search for information, it can simply be presented to a customer.
The young people that are currently looking to facebook are going to move on soon just as they did with myspace. With google organizations are able to make sure that their event/site/or whatever can be found by anyone who’s looking for it. On facebook and the like however it’s more to do with networking which is, let’s face it, who you know rather than who might potentially be interested. To all of the middle and senior managers who are becoming infatuated with facebook I would say don’t spend too much time with it, invest the time in other areas.
I think Charlotte makes a good point that Facebook allows organizations to make direct contact with their patrons instead of having patrons search for it. This makes life easier on the patrons (and cuts down on paper mail), but adds one more thing to do for the organization. I think Facebook is a very effective marketing tool. I often find new events or groups just because I’m checking my profile, not necessarily because I’m seeking them out. However, I also agree with Leta in that I don’t think an organization should spend all its time on Facebook and no time on more traditional marketing methods.
yes…things do seem to change just as soon as you get the one idea you were working with right. But in this case it may not be that hard to catch up…facebook, myspace, and twitter are cases where it is easy to set something up and then have it catch on fire in a matter of days, if not shorter. It is a must though, especially nowadays to have your organization on facebook since that is where the majority of the population does their networking now
Facebook is a tool that more and more adults are using. It is not only focused on students anymore. Facebook is a great way to gain awareness about your organization. Although I think its important to be one step ahead. Facebook will be on its way out in the next few years as things like Twitter and other micro-blogging websites gain popularity. As art managers, or any managers, we need to be looking at what’s next as far as technology goes. It changes fast. We need to look at where young people and other generations are using it and try to stay ahead.