Archives for September 2011

"The skill of writing is to create a context in which other people can think"
—Eric Schlossberg

 

Part of me is really fascinated with quantum physics. I can't get enough of it. I probably bring it up in briefings way more than I should. Our DVR at home is a confusing mix between Real Housewives of so-and-so and various shows featuring Michio Kaku waxing on about parellel universes and quantum suicide. If we owned a TiVo, we'd have caused the recommendation engine to melt down into a puddle of radioactive technological schitzophrenia by now.  

But another part of me doesn't understand how thought experiments are actually useful for anything other than making commitment-phobes anxious. 

People seem to be up in arms about the latest changes to Facebook that they'll be fine with in a week or two, but people who work with brands seem to be a little big flustered by the perceived devaluation of brands within the new setup. 

And it's fair to worry about it, but I think overall it's going to be for the best. The way the Like functionality was set up before was just enabling lazy social marketing. Just post something inane that people will "Like" and then that will show up in their newsfeeds and their friends newsfeeds. Insta-viral, just add nonsense.  

For instance, Pringles posted this to 15 million people on August 16th:

"Dude! Where's your Pringles?"

Genious. 6,664 people liked it and they had 1500 people comment on it. Why would they bother trying to be interesting when people were engaging with something like that? (not taking into account the horrific ratio of page likes to engagement)

But now things have changed: 

• The top of people's newsfeeds will now feature posts that Facebook determines to be the most relevant for the user, prioritizing friendship over brand relationships. 
• When a user "likes" something within Facebook, like a brand wall post, that content will no longer post to the user's wall, meaning greatly decreased impressions for brands. 
• Users will be able to post apps directly to their profile pages, which means that interesting/useful/entertaining brands will be at an advantage. 

I think this good for everyone involved. It means that users won't be subjected to as much banal brand spam posts, and it means that the brands who care about doing things for people are going to win on Facebook.