More than 50 years ago the great American broadcaster Edward R Murrow declared that television (not religion) was becoming the opium of the people. He despaired at the passivity of viewers and the poor quality of programming.
A lot of mainstream media attention today focuses on what it sees as the banality of social media chatter, about LOLZ and OMG and videos of cats, and how the internet demeans us as a species. But I Reckon it’s a bit more complicated than that.
Don’t get me wrong, I love a good cat video, and this is an outstanding cat video (or at least, a video about cat videos).
But instead of caring how many followers I have, my social media experiences are now about self-expression and wanting other people to recognise that. Why on earth would anyone write a blog except for attention, approval and recognition? I love it when someone I respect retweets me. Only a few days ago the excellent film critic Nigel Floyd replied to a witty comment I’d made on one of his posts (at least I thought it was witty, and it must have at least piqued his interest!).
We all want to be liked, and social media now provides with ample means to get the ‘positive strokes’ we might need. See how funny I can be tweeting on #cheesefilms or while watching #BBCQT. See how clever I am in my blog posts and film reviews. Look! I’m following really hip/cool/clever people and I can share/plagiarise their thoughts. Look at my beautiful pictures on Instagram, cast your eyes in wonder over my lovely Pinterest boards…
(I’m not on Pinterest, but the rest of those are true)
Look, filtered and everything!
Getting affirmation from the twitterati or from friends and colleagues is great fun, and it becomes almost addictive. I’m disappointed if I post something on this blog only to find barely anyone reads it (IDIOTS! They don’t know what they’re missing!). Contrary to appearances these things don’t write themselves. But I come back again for more, because the dopamine effect I get when it does ‘work’ is a fantastic feeling. And
I’ve written about that ‘high’ some more on my company’s very excellent marketing blog here.
Of course, social attention-seeking can backfire on the vain…
A few weeks ago I was notified that I was being followed by @rolandjoffe, the famous film director of some outstanding Oscar-winning films, especially The Mission and The Killing Fields. This came as quite a surprise, and I kind of fell for it. I followed his account without checking much, only to receive a Direct Message hours later…
Hmmmm…
On further inspection it seems that Mr Joffe rarely, if ever, tweets. I was followed (almost certainly) not by him, but by production staff, or studio marketing interns seeking out people who tweet about films a lot. It was nothing personal, purely a marketing strategy. I could and probably should have guessed that in advance. But then that’s the power of the dopamine…
It’s funny what different people look for from social media. For some – like you and I – ‘positive strokes’ and interacting with other like-minded or interesting souls is satisfaction enough. For others it is about gathering followers or notoriety or commercial gain. Each to their own.
I had the loveliest experience just last week when another blogger took the time out to write me an email to tell me they were a fan of my blog, even taking the time to reference several posts that indicated they had taken the time to explore. It was a personal touch and a private one – not one I felt compelled to shout publicly about, but it put a sprung in my step for the rest of the day.
Ultimately, no matter what our personal motivations, social media is exactly that – social – despite all the anti-social behaviour which often pollutes it. I love the serendipity of it all, that it can bring us into the orbits of people we would otherwise never have discovered.
Interesting theory – but – I followed Roland Joffe on Twitter – because I had gone to see “There Be Dragons” at the movie theatre and liked it a lot. And and I was pleasantly surprised when he followed me back. Subsequently – I never received a direct message from him – or his production staff, or studio marketing interns – or anyone on his behalf. No direct message – and no other kind of message. He merely followed me back – and I loved that he did! Maybe in your case he took the time to see who was following him and noted your blog – and meant what he said in his direct message to you. And hoped you might like his movie. Hey – it’s possible – I’m sure he is human too.
Hi Lee – thanks for reading and commenting (more positive strokes!!). I just feel that as he’s so clearly not active on Twitter (only 5 tweets in 5 months and they all seem to be a specific conversation with specific people) that it’s probably NOT him as a person. I’m sure I was identified through my tweeting about films. It didn’t feel personal. It almost feels like he/his team are LISTENING to what’s being said, which is a really good start to any social media ‘strategy’. I do think he/they are interested in listening to any buzz about his film (hence he followed you), but it’s not ‘real’ dialogue (yet). That said, he does follow you and me, so we do have a chance to make a comment that counts!