Social Media Butterfly

Using Social Media as a Means for Revenge

Posted by Nathania Johnson

This week, I have been very tempted to use the internet and social media to enact revenge on someone who has wronged me. I’ve had the opportunity to do some very serious damage. I’m not trying to toot my horn and say “Look how I’m taking the high road.” Instead, I want to give caution to those of you finding yourselves in the same boat as me.

First I want to be clear. Some people have used social media quite effectively to get companies to listen when customer service has failed them. That’s not what I’m talking about. In those instances, social media empowered them for justice.

Revenge deceptively appeals to us as justice. But in actuality, revenge keeps us involved in the situation that wronged us - by our own choosing. The thing about revenge is that it almost always comes back to hurt the originally innocent person. And it almost always requires methods that make you sink as low as the person who has wronged you.

I watched the movie Crash for the first time this past weekend. There are many themes that run through the movie, and one of them is revenge. Sometimes revenge was taken on the wrong person. But one of the most powerful ideas was that the better alternative to revenge is GRACE.

I will let you in on a secret that Crash did not relay about grace - It takes a LONG time and it doesn’t change people the way you hope. I remember when I tried to have grace with an ex-boyfriend who wronged me pretty badly. I thought grace would change him. It didn’t. I became so obsessed with my victim-hood that I kept myself in a perpetual state of being hurt by the guy. What a waste of my life!

Grace requires patience and the right expectations of what it will get you. It also requires focus on moving forward from the situation. The longer you dwell on it and participate in activities that are a response to it, the longer you are hurt by it. Instead…

Take all that pent up energy and spend it on someone you like. Instead of spending a lot of time and energy smearing someone you don’t like, spend the effort on people you do. Stumble their pages, give them a Digg, and comment on their blog. Help grow the efforts of things you do like instead of the things and people you don’t.

Create a world that is better than the moment you have just experienced. Social media is often quick and impulsive, but it is also permanent. Sure, you can take a blog post, but you can’t erase the memory of those who read it.

We all have the decision on how we’re going to train our impulses and what things we’re going to make permanent in this world. Join with me in the attempt to make GRACE and not revenge a more permanent pillar in our world.

Do Yourself a Favor - Don’t Copy Jimmy Kimmel and Sarah Silverman

Posted by Nathania Johnson

Sarah Silverman and Jimmy Kimmel’s “spat” about who they’re, um, “dating” is hilarious. But don’t be one of the hundreds of people who copy them and throw it up on YouTube hoping for instant fame and fortune.

Go ahead, play practical jokes on your significant other at the expense of your relationship. (I’m guessing your girlfriend doesn’t have quite the dark sense of humor as comedian Sarah Silverman).

You can even put it up on YouTube to share with your friends and use up Google’s server space instead of your own.

But please, for the love of chickens, do NOT expect to be famous. Don’t pout when you only 10 people watch your video. Don’t wonder why Joel McHale didn’t include your clip on The Soup this Friday night.

Now, this advice seems to be in direct contradiction of something I truly believe in when it comes to the internet and technology. And that is: Don’t be the first one. Be the MySpace not the Friendster. Be the iPod, not whatever mp3 player came before it.

But upon close inspection - MySpace is not a copy of Friendster. iPod was not a copy of earlier mp3 players.

Be inspired. Be innovative. But do not be a clone!

The White Hat and Black Hat of Social Media

Posted by Nathania Johnson

If you’re familiar with Search Engine Optimization, then you’ve likely heard the terms “white hat” and “black hat.” The white hat folks are purists who would never sell a text link or cloak text. The black hat folks throw caution to the wind and spam the heck out of the internet. That’s extremes, and of course there’s always the “grey area,” but you get what I mean.

As Social Media becomes more popular, we’re starting to see “white hat” and “black hat” techniques as well. I was talking with Marketing Don Al Scillitani yesterday about power users on Digg who get offers in the neighborhood of $5,000 to submit or vote up posts on the popular social bookmarking site. That’s very black hat if you ask me.

Then there are the stories of PR firms and companies paying people to pretend to be brand evangelists and blog favorably about brands and products. Again, very spammy, very black hat.

White Hat Social Media, like white hat SEO, is a slow process. But it has the best and most “sticky” results. Digg spikes very rarely have long lasting effects, while an organic Stumble has low bounce rates and the ability to target audiences well.

There’s a reason why “Patience is a virtue” is a proverb that has stuck around. Don’t let the immediacy and speed of modern society fueled by innovative technology trick you into tactics that will eventually backfire.