Writing in the wake of Facebook’s recent reversal of its Terms of Service update, Adweek’s Mike Shields quoted Reuben on how these kinds of negative reactions in online communities can be avoided.
Reuben urged platform operators to avoid presenting users with policy changes as faits accompli - people generally don’t like being caught by surprise in such matters.
Quick thing - in the course of an interview with Wine Enthusiast this morning (more to come on that front), our in-house oenophile Chris talked about the Twitter Taste Live phenomenon.
Are you participating? Do you think there are similar social experiences that are particularly suitable or unsuitable for bringing to Twitter in this way?
Late last year we collaborated with Stanford’s Byron Reeves to answer that exact question with respect to home energy consumption. Our hypothesis was that it would be possible to use the same forces that drive consumption, namely competition and perceived social status, to curtail consumption. We just needed to change the game and alter the incentives. The result is shown in the short video below.
A front page story in today’s New York Times features a similar story that proves this really works. Read “Utilities Turn Their Customers Green, With Envy” to find out how the Sacramento Municipal Utility District is doing the same.
In our business, it’s this type of result that inspires me and gives me faith that we’ll be able to use our know-how to do much more than just sell people more stuff. In theory, we should be able to use social software and games to create a movement around almost anything that people care about, and help guide behavior towards healthy outcomes.
What do you think?
We talk a lot about building online movements around here, so this piece on the Times of London’s tech blog caught my eye. Facebook protest movements have been easily parodied as “passive” - but we’re all aware of the role that social networks played in the election of Barack Obama.
The Times’ Murat Ahmed, once an intern at Westminster himself, seems prepared to give some credence to online protests, at least to their ability to make UK Home Secretary Jacqui Smith (or her poor interns) miserable with a deluge of email. A Facebook group - comprised of those unhappy with proposed new legislation on expanding internet surveillance - is urging its members to cc: Smith on every piece of email they send. The cleverly passive-aggressive subtext: “you want to see our emails? Ok then, here they are!”
I just read this and agree with much of what James wrote about: We may have just entered the era of “total brand identity & control”… which comes at an interesting time when brand’s are more and more being asked to let go of their identity into Web 2.0. Thoughts?
Reuben explored this question in his most recent AdAge guest blog post…and given the complexity of the issue, it’s just a start.
