Comments on: Some thoughts on Social Shopping and Click Consumerism

By: Scott Gould

Scott Gould — Tue, 11 May 2010 13:04:58 +0000

Hey Guys - saw this post today which said "Social Shopping", so thought I'd add it to the comments: http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1007671

By: Scott Gould

Scott Gould — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 20:50:49 +0000

SyYes – it is a very soft approval, though the power of seeing a familiar name or face is not to be underestimated.I agree as well there is a lot more data here that can be useful – who knows where it'll go.Finally, I'd like to lol your comment

By: Scott Gould

Scott Gould — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 20:48:18 +0000

Hey AlexGood points. Right now the gravity of the like button isn't at this weight yet, but you know it's only a matter of time before you see it happening as you've described.Keep following the discussion so that we can mull it over!Cheers,Scott

By: sytaylor

sytaylor — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 16:08:10 +0000

The big problem with like is that it is such a soft approval from me the consumer. It's good that it's everywhere, but it doesn't tell you the business, or you to advertiser much about me. I often like things I'd never dream of buying, endorsing or care about. “Like” is the new “lol” response. It's a stock response that doesn't mean anything. What's more within facebook, how do I see what my friends like? As best I can tell, I can't.The idea rocks but the implementation has some way to go. Give me the data on my friends, that you're also selling to advertisers (facebook), and then I have something useful from this ubiquity. Otherwise, I'm responding to everything on the internet with “lol”.

By: Alex Green

Alex Green — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 14:25:31 +0000

This definitely makes a lot of sense, and here we see the danger as well as the benefits of friendship!In friendship, we drop our guard, we know that we are accepted by our friends, and we are therefore more open with them.Acceptance leads to influence. Knowing our friends accept us and vice versa leads to us being influenced by their thoughts and actions (and vice versa again).So immediately, when we see our friends like or have accessed / bought something, we are influenced to think that maybe that will be a good idea for us to do it too.Most of the time, this is harmless and possibly even beneficial. It definitely benefits the companies selling products and using social media as one of their marketing platforms, but it also has the potential to trip us up!1. A friend gets their social media account hacked / security compromised. – This could lead to us thinking they are liking or purchasing or navigating all sorts of things but really is is someone else who may be using the friend's account to either push certain products / opinions or for other nefarious practices. (Maybe unlikely but certainly possible)2. A 'friend' (someone we know but is more acquaintance than true friend) likes / navigates some stuff that we are maybe only subconsciously influenced by which leads us down a path we were not originally intending or were previously trying to avoid. (Much more likely)Again, I think it boils down to understanding the chosen media (in whatever form it is), understanding the power the chosen media has, and therefore being able to harness it instead of it overpowering us and overwhelming us and shaping us without our knowledge!(edit:)Therefore, having these kind of discussions and getting it all out in the open is really valuable and important. Thanks Scott for sharing and starting the discussion.