Matthew Inman, the artist behind webcomic series The Oatmeal, gives us a look at the all-too-familiar nature of using social media as a marketing platform for lackluster content. As the satirical imagery states upfront, this phenomena includes the practice of placing Facebook "Like" buttons in and around content, a technique that both individual bloggers and mainstream media have capitalized on.
In this critique, the artist suggests that in order to get more "likes," one should "put your energy into making things that are likeable," continuing with the sentiment that one would not mimic these marketing behaviors in the real world.
On proposing a list of "simply awesome" content to create and write about, the artist states, "If I saw any of these things on the internet I would click the like button so hard Facebook's servers would poop their pants."
"In short: Less marketing douchebaggery. More tanks."
Link to the feature:
http://theoatmeal.com/comics/facebook_likes
Please, please will you like my comment and think this is the coolest class you took in all your years at UCSD? Please? I mean, the professor *has* promised us cookies... cheers, Sam
ReplyDeleteI must say, that since I don't frequent many online blogs or engage social networking, I have never noticed this behavior. It sounds pretty horrid to me and I definitely agree with the authors point of view, why? Because it makes a good argument and because I actually read the whole thing. As for the article itself, if it can be called an article, it is very readable on account of all of the pictures, funny fonts, comical animations and just plain witty humor. I think I just may "like" this post as my first ever liking!
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ReplyDeleteI also "like" this post, because it shows how social critique of new kinds of Internet behavior might be delivered most effectively through humor. I often think about my colleague Siva Vaidhyanathan's appearing in this Dmitri Martin segment (http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-february-15-2006/trendspotting---social-networking) when thinking about mockery of the new online normal, although there the paradigm is being checked out rather than being hyper-needy. The question might be, how does this relate to digital journalism? Does a journalist like David Folkenflik find success because he uses social media marketing techniques? Or because he doesn't use them and so is more authentic and "like-able"?
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