We like to share great interviews when we run across them, and O’Reilly Radar provided us one the other day.
The Q&A with Facebook global brand experience manager Paul Adams is relatively short and entirely worth a read. Adams is a bright dude with a better grasp on social media that most of us will accumulate in our lifetime, so when he tells us that we need to think more globally with our social behavior, I’m inclined to listen.
Design And Technology
He wastes no time in rejecting the idea of talking about social media design. What’s needed, he argues, is for companies to step back and examine the social behaviors and motivations of those who use services like Twitter and Facebook, and not purely focus on their use of those platforms. Why do people use Twitter? To socialize, to learn more about the things that interest them and to get lightning quick updates on the news of the day.
One interesting thing that Adams points out is that technology need not evolve for the sake of evolving. In fact, it may be counterproductive to do so:
Why try something new, even if it looks a little better, when what you currently use works fine? This is why basic technologies such as SMS remain popular with people, and advanced technologies like Google Wave didn’t catch on. SMS works, so why try something else?
Adams hits on a fundamental tenet of human nature here. People do not like to change, even if that change will benefit them. Don’t push new technology on your customers because you think they’ll like it. They might, but they’re certainly going to be resistant if they feel shepherded toward it.
Privacy And Reputation
One thing that Internet users must be more aware of is that what they do on the ‘Net endures. If you make a jolly old ass of yourself at a party and nobody’s around to take pictures, people will have a good laugh and a handful of people may remember that particular event fondly. Do the same on the Internet and anyone can access it for as long as the Web shall last.
That’s why privacy and reputation need to be on your mind, Adams says. Reputation is trickier to manage, because it’s likely that everyone you come in contact with online or otherwise has a slightly different perception of you and your brand. The best way to manage your reputation, then, is to try to interact with customers and users in an even-keeled sort of way.
Weigh in on Adams and the interview in the comments.
Photo credit to miamiamia at http://www.sxc.hu/photo/976655
Subscribe via RSS
Follow on Twitter
Connect on LinkedIn
Connect on Facebook
Loading ...