Hashtags Are Getting Out Of Hand

Holy cow! I just realized it’s been quite some time since my last post on here. Truth be told, there’s a lot going on. I realize that’s the easiest excuse ever for not getting something done and we use it all too often, but I’ll follow it up with the second most used excuse: seriously, there’s a lot going on.

I have taken notice to something though in my time away: Hashtags are getting out of hand. Does anybody know why hashtags were originally created? It was a communication tool to link anyone around the world to a conversation of like items. Such as #MyDayWasLike or #CookingProblems. Television and Venues were licking their chops at this: it was an opportunity to make your event interactive: You could connect EVERYONE watching The Voice to the same conversation with #TheVoice. Attendees at SXSW could find each other throught #SXSW. It’s been something I’ve been trying to integrate into radio with #request or #OZKTop20.

Unfortunately, hashtags have fallen victim to the masses; Most people don’t use social media to listen, they use it be heard. Good hashtag conversations are few and far between, falling victim to stupid things like #swag and #yolo. People don’t click on those links, they just use them to fill up space in their tweet because it takes less time to explain than a sentence.

It’s almost become an act of spamming. Entire tweets consisting of nothing but hashtags. What does that accomplish? Sure it may gain you an extra follow or two, but is having someone wiling to follow THAT a good quality follow? Plus, it takes away from any of those conversations you linked to, and probably lost you any additional follows you gained or more.

Perhaps the worst part is that this trend has carried over to Facebook. Hashtagging in status updates, most aren’t even linked to the Twitter accounts. Granted, this may change with their new Graph Search (hold off on that verdict) but do these hashtaggers realize IT DOESN’T LINK TO ANYTHING ON FACEBOOK?!?!? This proves my afore-mentioned point that the masses don’t use social media to truly listen to what their followers are saying, they’re merely waiting for their chance to speak.

Maybe this is the way of the future. If social media has taught us anything it’s that it can’t be predicted. Maybe this is the new form of communication. From full sentences, to shortened sentences to this. Maybe this is inevitable. Hashtags will just join the ranks of poking and profile songs as the ‘Unnecessary Applications Of Profiles’. I hope not though.

I don’t want this post to be mistaken for a complaint. I still think there’s value behind the hashtag and desperately wish to see it return to the reason of it’s creation: to link us all together in one really big conversation. End this madness.

#PleaseHelp

How Bout That Email?

Here’s the thing: this isn’t a post about the demise of e-mail, at least that is not my intention.  I still think email serves a purpose in today’s digital culture (and it better, businesses still charge clients a fair but decent amount of money to be a part of theirs), but really…I don’t know why.  I can’t justify it without some completely reasonable retort, I don’t even claim to be a huge advocate for the medium. I guess I just, do. There’s so many signs that point to the contrary, but like television, radio, and even print (for now) it’s still around.  There are pros to this:

One – Email is still the main source of communication in the workplace.  If you’ve ever seen Office Space, you cringe when you hear the term ‘TPS reports’, or ‘didn’t you get the memo?’  Fact is, these phrases are all but gone thanks to email.  It’s now, ‘did you send that Google doc?’ or ‘did you get cc’d in that last email?’.  My office laughed at me when I didn’t know how to work the fax machine, but they don’t think twice about coming to me with a question on Google Calendars.  Especially now that they’ve found how it integrates into their email.  It’s taken some getting used to, but corporate America is all about email.

Two – Email is still the most trusted way of getting something directly to someone as quick as possible.  Sure some use Facebook messaging, others Tweet it. However, email is the .pdf of the conversation.  Pretty much everyone can open a .pdf, and pretty much everyone has an email.  Not everyone’s on Facebook, whether it be for privacy concerns or sticking it to The Man.  Not everyone is on Twitter, whether it’s lack of time in the day, or ‘not caring what someone is eating for breakfast’.  Everyone has email, and more importantly if someone wants to get something to another person fast, they send it via email.

But here’s the rub: for as many pros, there has to be cons.

One – The next generation will always be a step ahead.  The generation before mine had cellular telephones and fax machines, mine has been baptized in email and smart phones with a dose of social media.  The next generation will have their own thing.  There are a crazy few that try to keep up with the trends, but in the end you just don’t get it man.  I’m really not looking forward to that moment.  Fact is, there are colleges no longer passing out email accounts but rather iPads.  There will come a time when children will read about email on their video feed from their Google Glasses (or whatever those Tron looking things are) and think “man, how did people live back then?”

Two – Social Networks are a competitive bunch.  It’s like a real version of the Michael Jordan v. Mia Hamm Gatorade spot with the tune “Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better”, except it’s not sports it’s our digital culture and literally billions of dollars.  It’s an app eat app world out there, and only the richest with the most accounts tend to survive.  Case in point: Facebook’s $1 billion acquisition of Instagram.  Great app (something Facebook doesn’t know much about) so instead of sitting by letting Instagram build a photo sharing empire, they buy it for a sweet price and continue to let it do what it does.  They did it to an up and coming force in the social world, don’t think they can’t do it to email.  There’s constantly rumors of when users can integrate email into their Facebook and just receive everything right in one spot.  It’s just around the corner.

Pros meet cons.  Each of you is valid, but arguments weren’t made to be tied.  10 years ago it was unheard of to say “yeah I got your email, Skype me real quick so we can go over the main points” or “I was about finished with your memo but my battery died”.  It’s amazing how far we’ve come.  Technology is introduced to help better our lives, and with that previously existing tools must die.  I don’t know when, but email will at some point meet it’s fate.  However, I truly think now is not that time.  It’s like religion: I don’t have solid, indisputable facts that email is here and strong, I just believe it is.  I still believe it has a purpose to serve.  I do know this: Go without Facebook for a week and you miss out on a bunch of useless status’, and barrage of time-wasting photos and maybe an invitation to that thing your neighbors are having but they told you about it in person anyway so you knew.  Go without email for a week and you could miss out on a major business opportunity or life changing decision.  For now, that’s power that can’t be bought.

Google+ Brand Pages, Missing Just A Few Things

It’s been a good month for social media.  In an industry that constantly changes, where this blog post will be outdated in two months, nothing changed.  Which is weird to say because so much change has taken place in the formats and applications on some of the major sites.  Facebook announced it was going to up its policy on user privacy, all the while with a secret agenda. Not to mention, the highly anticipated Facebook Timelines is set to unveil…soon.  All these changes have many in the social world wondering if Facebook will ever get dethroned, Google comes in and reminds us all that they’re still here.

Google + unveiled Brand Pages this last week. Something they had struggled to keep under wraps with an aggressive world of businesses out there trying to stay on the cutting edge of everything social.  I feel though that this launch may have been a bit premature, which is weird for Google, they normally wouldn’t do that (COUGH Google Buzz!). I do admit though there are several things I like about these pages, they are simple and equal; something Facebook Pages WERE until they found out how to make money off of them. That said, here’s a few things I’d like to see in Google Brands 2.0

1)    Multiple Admins: Right now only one person can commandeer the Brand Page. That’s either a huge commitment to put on one person for the long haul (although it’s some awesome job security) or a huge responsibility on an intern, seeing as how social media for some reason tends to be a task many businesses throw at interns.  In order to successfully run a Brand, you need multiple minds working on it. This should translate over the Brand Pages that Google offers.

2)    The Chance To Add Profiles On Brand’s Own Accord:  In an ideal world, Google has set this up perfectly: brands can follow other brands freely, but brands can only follow profiles after the profile follows them. Problem is we do NOT live in a perfect world and several businesses have already set up profiles for their respective shops and refuse to give up what they’ve built. I understand this is for the benefit of the public, but to limit that process of how brands connect is to limit the business in general.

3)    Analytics: Facebook Pages have a great analytics system, tracking everything from user base to the frequency of that user base.  The irony here comes from the fact that it’s Google inspired.  Google has one of the greatest analytics systems in the cyber-world, yet they can’t apply that to their social baby?

4)    Apps:  They’re everywhere. Steve Jobs made apps a necessity for every new device. So much so that companies can live and die by it. To avoid an applications option makes sense only in that it truly levels the playing field for all businesses in having to use what’s given to you.  This would be a great concept that could have huge success…were it not for Facebook and its thriving app business. No apps, no big business. That doesn’t sound like Google.

Google + has it’s flaws, from pages to profiles, but what social site doesn’t? That’s why it’s always changing, evolving and initially receives major criticism. That is until users become accustomed to them and another round of changes comes forth, then they complain about how why it wasn’t like the concepts before.  Google Brands are no different, this layout will not be he same a couple months from now, even weeks. Because the social competition is so high Google can’t afford to keep it the same. Or maybe it can. One thing we’ve seen Google become highly efficient at is getting back up after the 2-count and delivering a knockout. Like this last week, with Facebook unveiling and planning to unveil) all of it’s changes, Google comes in and throws a curve. It’s just Google being Google.