Indeed, social media is funny ol’ thing, seemingly everyone on it but seemingly not actually having that much fun, not really knowing why and not really interested in being that social with any one they actually know with the empathise seemingly always on the next stranger friended in search of something which they are not quite sure which is in a pot at the end of social media rainbow. This could of course put some people off—those not using it as a jumbo free dating site at least (Latest Picks 7th Feb. 2016)—as without something to be made of it, it may begin to be seen to be rather pointless and a status checking time sink, with seemingly only the fact that not being on is equivalent to not being a real person, the virtual and reality identity getting switched somewhere along that rainbow there, keeping most on whatever until the next whatever comes along for them to join to replace it.
The web itself though has gone through a similar dilemma, with blogging and sites necessitating the constant opportunity for potential profit being seen as essential for getting any to blog, create or collect content of any kind and, being keen to follow each other’s trends it seems the mighty F’book may be aiming to stall an eventual decline to its monolithic presence that which may seem unlikely but is actually probably inevitable as the next best thing eventually gains weight:
Want to get PAID for using Facebook? Site could soon let users leave a tip for posts (dailymail.co.uk).
“A survey circling around the social network hints at options for ‘earning money using your personal presence’ on the site. The list includes a tip jar, branded content and revenue sharing, but sources say these options could only be for verified users if implemented. The survey was seen by verified user Casey Newton from The Verge, who says it is not clear whether Facebook is considering these options.”
A “not clear” reminiscent of licking and raising finger to the wind to see if the same kite F’book itself generates its income within will fly or should be branded as not really being what its all about while repeating the word “social” as if gathering groups of people together was of any interest outside of market where things can be sold.
Seemingly though it seems to suggest being targeted at “verified users”—i.e. those that are already famous enough for endorsement to fly—while suggesting a “tip jar” seemingly more aimed at those not who currently post interesting tips, skits or plumbing advice with ads on GoogleTube:
“The ‘tip jar’ suggests fans could tip you money, ‘branded content’ would earn you a profit if you post a brand you have a sponsorship arrangement with and ‘revenue sharing’ could give you a cut of the revenue generated by ads in your post.”
No doubt incentive to buy out a few more popular ad blockers: Adblock got sold, and nobody knows who the mystery buyer is (Latest Picks 14th Oct. 2015).
“As exciting as this idea is, Facebook isn’t the first social site to pay users for their content. YouTube opened this option up to users in 2007 and launched programs to help the creators who started some of the sites most popular channels.”
Which has been the popular virtual Eldorado for many ever since, who try selling an assortment of e-cigarettes and “how I got rich” instruction books with cloud storage and image hosting ad revenue to boot while pestering those that friendedly offer technical assistance on hearing they had a site with call of “I need SEO” instead. And the price of such does indeed seem to be levelled at the “social”:
“A source close to the social media giant said earlier this month that users are less inclined to reveal intimate details about their lives as their friends list grows. Reports suggest the social network’s 1.6 billion users are instead choosing to use the site to share news and links from other websites. The sharing of personal stories dropped 21 per cent year-on-year across the platform, The Information reported, with Facebook saying levels of sharing still remain strong. It is thought this ‘context collapse’ is happening because people realize their personal anecdotes and updates may not be relevant to all their followers, collected over the years from different parts of their life.”
While most of those “friends” yell “tits, or it didn’t happen” for pictorial support of those “personal anecdotes and updates” most could not give a monkies about as long as there’s some hooters in your album to support it.
But, then again, those “news and links from other websites” referrals which may or may not be F’book equiv. of monetised Ad sense and indeed the very sort of endorsemenisation the finger is in the air to test wind blowing for may be the basis on which common interest is centered and indeed more preferable and interesting that what I had for tea, whether its raining, whether I graduated from Hogwarts, Gryffindor or Hufflepuff and “what Shakespeare character I am” (Latest Picks 19th Apr. 2016). I’d perhaps level that “context collapse” at a lack of any actual common interests being identified with strangers making up the majority of that friends list meaning that “getting something out of it” makes social media a circular marketing opportunity targeted ad for marketing opportunity.
Recent/related stories
- Twitter turns 10 years old (Latest Picks 21st March 2016)
- Facebook went down for about 10 minutes, panic ensued (Latest Picks 25th September 2015)
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