My previous post touched on how the private beta test of an upcoming social app—and may I say this app is killer; once it launches publicly you’ll want to drop everything else—has kicked up my marketing a notch. BAM! (or is that *POW* ;)
This is a follow up post from the same experience, fleshing out three observations depicting how we tend to communicate in social apps we are testing.
illustration: Denis Zilber
The Universal Law of ‘Right place, Right time’
Because we’re talking about a social media app, users will naturally express themselves the same way they would in other social channels (Twitter, FB, Instagram etc): typically with unbridled abandon. And as we know, proper social media addicts invariably tend to get trapped in a twilight zone of oversharing.
Within a smaller online community, it’s hard NOT to notice when certain users are dead quiet or uber active. It gets trickier when you also start noticing certain posts (or types of users) that just. won’t. stop. posting.
Be careful: the universal law of doing something at the right place, at the right time still applies to everything on this plane of existence. The Five W’s that underpin this implicit law should compel you to be mindful, especially if you er um write for a living.
Short and sweet, like a tweet
This app—which I’m all twisted over. well, cause it’s da bomb. no really—exudes a fun, creative ethos. Highly visual, textually provoking. You don’t need to be an Art or English major to *get* the app (although it certainly adds a colourful dimention), but the app does easily charm you into feeling awesome about yourself, like most provocative social media apps do.
Effective visual messaging is visceral. The juxtaposition of visual and textual stimuli is what makes the most memorable billboards and poster ads. Imagine if you were one of the authors of these ads. “Maybe Do It” with a square icon is probably not gonna garner much attention, right?
Short and sweet, like a tweet: the mantra of our virtually based, persistently ubiquitous modes of communication commands delectable bite-size content with enough zing to make you linger and jones for more. And we (yes the royal we of Earth) are preoccupied with virtual connection and being wired. A lot. Attention fuels the intent of everything.
Your voice is your own. Not anyone else’s.
One of the most exciting things about private beta test is how ‘cozy’ it feels. Since it’s not public, there are only a handful of users involved.
After a short while, you begin to recognize someone’s posting style and theme. You can almost eye-ball it, do a quick visual analysis and determine who the author of a given post may be.
Much like anything else online that is tagged and indexed for effective data processing, one’s user behaviour can, to an extent, be mapped to identify predictive patterns.
Sounds like sci-fake, but you know it’s not.
How you communicate online reveals disctinct qualities about your voice: the very signature of your thought. And your online voice is like an RFID chip.
If you’ve not yet caught on as to the implications of these musings, and/or you’re not already fluent and fluid with navigating the course of your digital footprint, then Houston, we have a problem.
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