Social bookmarking/the problem with marketing
Social bookmarking has caught my attention again. I've had one account or another for years and years, but in the last year or so I've really latched onto it.
In part, I think it has at least a little to do with my iPhone. Before this, I've (generally speaking) had two computers in use at any one time. One for work and one at home. And the work bookmarks went on the work laptop, and the personal bookmarks went on my home computer.
When I started emailing myself links to my work email address from my home computer rather than hauling out my work laptop, though: that's when I knew I was in trouble.
And then the iPhone came along. And believe it or not, it's my main mobile device. When I stopped in on the Learning Design Summer Camp, all I brought was my iPhone. No laptop. And I did fine interacting with the Live Question Tool, and backchanneling via Twitter, and all that.
But to really get the most out of whenever I was websurfing on my iPhone, I needed to be able to access my bookmarks. And putting them "in the cloud" on a social network (so to speak) has done that.
Someone a few weeks ago told me that you can tell a lot about someone by looking at what they bookmark. I'd give that more credence than judging by their shoes--though I don't know a lot about shoes past what's comfortable and looks decent.
My top tags in delicious (name change from the original del.icio.us, so named because a friend of the founder compared finding good links to eating cherries) on my professional account are as follows: socialmedia, reachingstudents, marketing, web2.0, admissions, socialnetworking, usability, content, culture, webdesign.
That's telling. Though I rather dislike that marketing shows up there: I've always resisted that label.
I'm the one usually telling my boss or my equal on the print side (who's a marketer) that we shouldn't do that when he suggests a scheme that smells suspiciously of spamming. We didn't even have an unsubscribe on the marketing email going out of our office until I got there, and our security policies were (emphasis there on the past tense) not very strong on a few points.
Is it that I'm more ethical than my marketing colleague? Possible. I do know that I'm closer to the age of the students we're trying to talk with, and way more tech-savvy than he is. And social media-minded, for that matter.
It's more that I, like many of a similar age and younger, have been totally suspicious of marketing for as long as I've been aware of it. "All Marketers are Liars" is more than a book title to me.
In this vein, social bookmarking has become really valuable to me. I'll more often trust--or at least follow--a link passed to me by a friend or colleague than one being advertised.
So in short, those are the two big draws for me. Social bookmarking is:
In part, I think it has at least a little to do with my iPhone. Before this, I've (generally speaking) had two computers in use at any one time. One for work and one at home. And the work bookmarks went on the work laptop, and the personal bookmarks went on my home computer.
When I started emailing myself links to my work email address from my home computer rather than hauling out my work laptop, though: that's when I knew I was in trouble.
And then the iPhone came along. And believe it or not, it's my main mobile device. When I stopped in on the Learning Design Summer Camp, all I brought was my iPhone. No laptop. And I did fine interacting with the Live Question Tool, and backchanneling via Twitter, and all that.
But to really get the most out of whenever I was websurfing on my iPhone, I needed to be able to access my bookmarks. And putting them "in the cloud" on a social network (so to speak) has done that.
Someone a few weeks ago told me that you can tell a lot about someone by looking at what they bookmark. I'd give that more credence than judging by their shoes--though I don't know a lot about shoes past what's comfortable and looks decent.
My top tags in delicious (name change from the original del.icio.us, so named because a friend of the founder compared finding good links to eating cherries) on my professional account are as follows: socialmedia, reachingstudents, marketing, web2.0, admissions, socialnetworking, usability, content, culture, webdesign.
That's telling. Though I rather dislike that marketing shows up there: I've always resisted that label.
I'm the one usually telling my boss or my equal on the print side (who's a marketer) that we shouldn't do that when he suggests a scheme that smells suspiciously of spamming. We didn't even have an unsubscribe on the marketing email going out of our office until I got there, and our security policies were (emphasis there on the past tense) not very strong on a few points.
Is it that I'm more ethical than my marketing colleague? Possible. I do know that I'm closer to the age of the students we're trying to talk with, and way more tech-savvy than he is. And social media-minded, for that matter.
It's more that I, like many of a similar age and younger, have been totally suspicious of marketing for as long as I've been aware of it. "All Marketers are Liars" is more than a book title to me.
In this vein, social bookmarking has become really valuable to me. I'll more often trust--or at least follow--a link passed to me by a friend or colleague than one being advertised.
So in short, those are the two big draws for me. Social bookmarking is:
- in the cloud
- with my community
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Upfront I've got to tell you that this is going to be a long comment and very little of it has to do with your post in general. Sorry. I can't help it, though.
I feel like I should be somewhat offended (working in marketing and all), but I do agree with you (and I'm not offended in the least, believe me). I would like to defend my fellow marketers, though.
Most marketers I know work for a product or company they truly believe in and want others to believe in as well. I like what Seth said in his WP excerpt for the book. Marketers are storytellers. Their *job* is to get you to [fill in blank here]. People exaggerate all the time to make stories sound more exciting. It's human nature. Marketers are just getting paid for it.
Obviously there *are* marketers who lie - who don't truly believe in what they are promoting, or, simply flat out lie. But, you'll find the same deceit in any job, at any company.
With all that being said, I think we are shifting the marketing and sales mindset. With the Internet and now social media, marketers aren't able to *storytell* as much as they used to. Because of reviews, blogs, even Kelly Blue book, Joe Consumer now has inside knowledge of the product. That's never happened before on such a huge scale.
That's why old school marketers won't touch blogs. People might actually say what they think! Blasted!! :)
The shift is happening, though, as marketers realize that openness (positive *and* negative) adds credibility to their product/company/etc and is a great thing.
There is a shift in mindset that still must happen with marketers. The shift from storytelling to story-collaboration. It's already happening, slowly, but surely.
I totally understand. I do. Especially since I'm sort of/pseudo in marketing myself--I just don't want to admit to it.
But until the marketing and sales mindset gets well and truly shifted, I don't think I or the rest of the folks my age and younger are going to change our minds.
I mean, PR/Marketing folks recognize they're not trusted. And what do they do to address such a PR disaster? Some of them stick their heads in the sand. Others, like you and the other progressive folks, try to catch up with the times and meet people where they are.
So hopefully (within 5 - 10 years, if we're lucky), that change may make a difference, as we watch those with their heads in the sand get left in the dust. :)