Social media lingo got your tongue in a twist? Half Starbucks speak and half techie talk, it’s definitely a romance language. But not one that always make sense. Even to those who speak the most fluently. Keeping up with social media speak can be a full time job. It’s an evolving language. There’s not even a sound for a # hashtag (perhaps we should adopt tongue clicks for this and smooch sounds for upbeat emoticons)
Certain words have been extra well used in the Social mediasphere of late. My ears prick up when this happens. I try and catch how they are being said, used, and/or misused. My three current favorites are:
authentic
organic
transparent
The first two, I’m hearing a lot from PR firms and marketing departments. The third from skittish (perhaps rightfully so) bloggers and legal departments They are often used in a sequence together like this:
“Hi there Momfluential! We’re looking for an authentic post, something organic? Totally transparent?”
Confused? Let me tranlate:
“We want you to rave about how much you love our junk. But don’t hit them head on. Just sort of slip it into your story. On the side. You have to sound like you mean it, and also could you please find a way to tell people that you got it for “free” without sounding like an infomercial? So we don’t all get sued?”
It’s a tall order for most bloggers to fill. Which is why we need lingo. Lingo insulates us from saying the silly thing we really mean. We want you to pull a rabbit out of your butt here! No wonder so many bloggers are being criticized as inauthentic, and their posts scrutinized for secret sponsors. No wonder we’re pulling out our hair and labeling each other as Blog Whores. We’re all missing the point here. The point being relevance.
Authentic, organic and transparent alone, though well intentioned, are an unpalatable soup without the essential ingredient of relevance.
Relevant is not something that can be forced. Without it your reputation as a blogger or a manufacturer will quickly become tarnished and your authenticity questioned. An irrelevant product slipped into a personal anecdote is about as organic as a twinkie at a farmer’s market. No one is fooled.
Brands and bloggers looking for success in Social Media need to start with the main ingredient. How is their product relevant to the consumer they are trying to reach. How does it make their lives more meaningful, more manageable, more memorable? This is not something that can be dictated with a one size fits all slogan. Social media is all about trust, and finding your niche.
Authentic organic posts with a side of transparency? The modern equivalent of a decaf no foam venti sugar free vanilla mocha soy latte. All lingo, no buzz.
No, I don’t hate Ning. Or strip malls even. I’ve even been known to pop over to ours and get my nails done, pick up the dry cleaning and buy last minute party supplies at the party chain store.
But I don’t really hang out there with my friends.
When Ning first showed up on the scene, it was a lot like when our community finally got a grocery store, Hairmasters, Starbucks and gas station. Elated. We finally had somewhere to go! Shyly we ventured out to get coffee hoping to to make friends and make this town our own.
But before the paint had even dried we started to notice something. Our little So Cal town? Looked a hell of a lot like the one our cousins in Northern Va. call home. Down to the same couch and artwork at Starbucks. The Hairmasters Salon was identical to the one two towns over. It was the old “there’s no there there” problem. Strip malls strip communities of their individuality.
I am now experiencing the online version on this phenomenon with the mushroomlike growth of Ning communities. One after another they are popping up. With irritating similarity. There are times when I forget which site I am actually on. Different sites, same themes and structure, and often the same people. We’re like me and my desperate neighbors. Clearly we want to hang out. But once we realize our digs have no charm, no uniqueness, we move on. I’ve even made up a name for my frustration with this. I call it Annoyning.
At the same time I see why this is happening. It’s just so *easy* to get your community up and running with the Ning platform. It’s too tempting. Gone are the days when you had to hire someone to build a costly custom community that took months to get up and running. You can get your community up in under an hour with Ning. It’s instant gratification. And for some sites, it’s enough. They can build a thriving community on the Ning platform. Some small niche groups are making happy hermit-crab like moves from forums/boards to Ning as well. But for others? Is all this Ning-ing too much of a good thing?
I’ll be interested to see what happens to Ning communities in the coming year. I predict that the ease of building communities will lead to a plethora of them and a backlash that is not at all dissimilar to the backlash against strip malls.
It’s tricky biz. We can’t all be Old Town Pasadena. But where would you rather hang out? Pasadena or somewhere between the Generic Dry Cleaners, Karate Place and KFC?
Moms are not only taking over the internet, they are taking over the dictionary. Lately I’ve been seeing so many mommified words being bandied about that I thought I’d start keeping an informal dictionary. Got a new one for me? Leave a comment and I will add it!
Momarazzi - the legion of moms taking pictures at every school event
Momtourage - you and your backup
Mompreneur - mommy with a biz
Momfluential - Hey! That’s Me!
Momnesia - I forget what this one was
Mamanista - fashionable mama
Momedy - mom comedy
Momentum - when a bunch of moms get going…
Momnicient - moms who know it all
Momumentary - a film about moms
Momversation - converstation between moms
Momcierge - mom who makes dinner reservations
Sanctimommy - mommmy with a stick up her butt who never gives her kids junk food
Mommified - being utterly wrapped up in mom culture
Mominee - the poor sucker who was nominated to collect $ for the class party
Mominate/tion - the process by which the poor sucker was elected
Momsense - something only a mother would understand
Momtastical - things a mom makes or says
Momakin - a woman who wears a bathing suit within a month of birthing
Momtini - martini with a pacifier in it, drunk during a playdate
Momkini - bikini with a kinder cut, tankini
Momnificent - her royal momness
Mamalicious - haute mommy, yummy mummy
Mamaste - yoga mommy
Momnipotent - because mom said so
Mompetition - my kid’s in the 99% ile. And yours?
Momocrat ™ - Demo moms
Momjeans - the 80’s called and wants their high rise back
Momisode - your own mommy reality show
Mamarama - too many moms at mommy and me
Mamapalooza - too many moms at drunco bunco
Yesterday I attended Startup Princess Academy, where I had the great honor of presenting a talk about pitching to bloggers and site owners. I was blown away by all the information shared by the other speakers. Maria Andros spoke about the power of video marketing, Serena Erlich shared the latest and greatest social media tools, Geneva Wasserman and Kristin Kliese talked about the importance of branding, Alexis Neely offerred up her inspirational story of her own business experience and Barbie Davalos and Karie Reynolds of Grand Ave Baby gave some invaluable tips on how to make the most of your PR campaign - what to do after you get press.
I’m always in a daze for a few days after a conference like this. My brain needs time to process all the info overload. I’m so energized and excited to put all the tactical, practical tips I’ve learned into practice. It really was a wonderful conference, there was so much nuts and bolts and how to info. I’m so glad!
I wanted to share my own powerpoint presentation here, for those who wanted to review it. We were going pretty fast! Please don’t hesitate to leave a comment or ask a question!
