This TED Talk addresses the effects that social media has on advertising and media companies. Johanna Barkley explains how old (traditional) forms of media are becoming quickly outdated, particularly by social media. Demographics, such as gender, age, and income, aren’t seen as particularly useful anymore and getting increasingly harder to monitor. Advertising and media companies are more interested in what people’s interests are, what they’re doing, thus focusing on “taste communities” that are found online. Barkley describes social media as an escape from the “ demographic boxes” and “rigid segmentations” that consumers have been put in by these companies.
I found this TED Talk particularly interesting because it’s relevant - to my own life and to the current times we find ourselves in, surrounded by technology and countless social media networks. As a consumer, I wouldn’t want advertising and media to bombard my social media networks, but rather function as a way to engage with my favorite brands if I choose to do so. Social media is about having options – we shouldn’t be forced to engage with brands, hence why we have the freedom to choose who we “Like,” Friend, or Follow. For example, Twitter is an excellent way to demonstrate one’s interests. By choosing to follow certain brands and/or celebrities, this speaks volumes about one’s consumption behavior. If Twitter users decide to actively interact with these brands whether it is through tweeting at them or simply just tweeting about them, that shows a level of engagement and tells us things about that consumer that age, gender, and income might not be able to tell us. Companies that successfully utilize social media can be more in touch with their consumers, both on a personal and professional level – thus allowing us to build an emotional relationship with our favorite brands.
Another key topic in Barkley’s TED Talk is women. Women “drive the social media revolution” in that they outnumber men at every age level in terms of their usage of social networking technologies and how often they use these sites. She presents the question “If social media dominates old media and women dominated social media, does that mean women are going to take over global media?” Women may not take over per se, but their increasing influence over media will have profound effects on what we see in the future. Advertising and media campaigns will need to be shaped to target and appeal more to the feminine ideals as opposed to masculine ideals. This is not to say that masculine ideals are less important, but it would be more beneficial to appeal to the Classic, Centered, and Alpha Woman because women are dominating the social media sphere. As Millennial Women are becoming increasingly powerful, this is a key demographic to hone in on because as the Prosumer Report describes them, they are “more mobile, more multicultural, and more fluid adopters – and adapters – of new technologies than any other generation that has come before” (1). As a very trendy and in-tune demographic, Millennial women could arguably be the most powerful group of consumers, thus social media is a powerful way to connect with them.
I found this TED Talk particularly interesting because it’s relevant - to my own life and to the current times we find ourselves in, surrounded by technology and countless social media networks. As a consumer, I wouldn’t want advertising and media to bombard my social media networks, but rather function as a way to engage with my favorite brands if I choose to do so. Social media is about having options – we shouldn’t be forced to engage with brands, hence why we have the freedom to choose who we “Like,” Friend, or Follow. For example, Twitter is an excellent way to demonstrate one’s interests. By choosing to follow certain brands and/or celebrities, this speaks volumes about one’s consumption behavior. If Twitter users decide to actively interact with these brands whether it is through tweeting at them or simply just tweeting about them, that shows a level of engagement and tells us things about that consumer that age, gender, and income might not be able to tell us. Companies that successfully utilize social media can be more in touch with their consumers, both on a personal and professional level – thus allowing us to build an emotional relationship with our favorite brands.
Another key topic in Barkley’s TED Talk is women. Women “drive the social media revolution” in that they outnumber men at every age level in terms of their usage of social networking technologies and how often they use these sites. She presents the question “If social media dominates old media and women dominated social media, does that mean women are going to take over global media?” Women may not take over per se, but their increasing influence over media will have profound effects on what we see in the future. Advertising and media campaigns will need to be shaped to target and appeal more to the feminine ideals as opposed to masculine ideals. This is not to say that masculine ideals are less important, but it would be more beneficial to appeal to the Classic, Centered, and Alpha Woman because women are dominating the social media sphere. As Millennial Women are becoming increasingly powerful, this is a key demographic to hone in on because as the Prosumer Report describes them, they are “more mobile, more multicultural, and more fluid adopters – and adapters – of new technologies than any other generation that has come before” (1). As a very trendy and in-tune demographic, Millennial women could arguably be the most powerful group of consumers, thus social media is a powerful way to connect with them.
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