Thought I’d jump into the fray here. We’re going to create marcom memes. A meme is something repeated from one mind to another, or from one site (blog) to another. Think longtail. Think WOM - word of mouth.
Let’s discuss new tools that we might incorporate into an online campaign for a client. Creating interest in a topic, or site, may be accomplished using a number of tactics. What I’d like for us to discuss here is the use of digg-style sites and applications. 3spots has assembled a list of “over 300 Digg like applications! (exactly 349 now) without counting the +200 Social Bookmarks! (del.icio.us, RawSugar, Netvouz…)” types of sites.
If you are not familiar with digg, here is their description of what the site accomplishes.
Digg is all about user powered content. Every article on digg is submitted and voted on by the digg community. Share, discover, bookmark, and promote the news that’s important to you!
An older such community is Slashdot. It was founded in 1997 and has become quite legendary. These sites - digg, slashdot, et.al - can literally make a site popular in a click of the mouse - or mice, as in thousands (or millions) of them. To have your site “dugg” or “slashdotted” can bring you wild exposure online. There are numerous true tales of stories being published on these sites and driving so much traffic to the site - the servers crash. People whose sites have been slashdotted or dugg, in this manner, are proud of it. They brag about it.
So, we are talking about a community organized around a topic of interest where discussions ensue and the stories are peer reviewed by the community’s members. Is this really that much different from you writing about someone and linking to them in your blogs or Facebook account? No, it is just done differently.
Looking at the 3spots list, it should be pretty easy to determine how individuals, companies, and organizations are using these sites in order to drive interest about their activities and/or products and services. Visit some of those site. Get ideas.
In the arena of public relations, Constantin Basturea has created a site called NewPR at Crispy News to achieve such a peer reviewed community. I thought it would be interesting to create one for Marcomblog - with a twist. Enter - Pligg. It is opensource software that allows everyone to have their own digg-like site.
I’ve installed a version of Pligg to create Marcom Meme. Let’s experiment with it. This is for my students, the Marcomblog contributors and all our friends visiting Marcomblog.
First, go to Marcom Meme and create an account. Then, this week - for my students, especially - when you go out to find articles to comment on, submit that site’s article to Marcom Meme.
The process is pretty straight forward. You copy the link to the specific article of interest to you. Go to Marcom Meme and (after logging in) choose the “Submit a new story” link in the righthand column. Then submit that link and click “continue” to reach the final screen where you provide the following: story title, tags (simple terms that relate to the story), description (2 or 3 short sentences), summary (just skip that for this first experiment), trackback (look at the post you’re submitting and find the trackback link). Now, click continue and finish the process.
You will begin to see stories showing up in the righthand column’s “queued news” section. Click on those stories and select one or two to vote on. Voting is easy. Click on the star, or the word “vote”, underneath the star. You must be logged in to vote, by the way. We’ll see who submits the most popular story. One tip: search the stories to make sure you’re not submitting something that another person has already posted. Each story will be first come, first served in this exercise.
What are we going to accomplish here? All of us will go in and vote on the articles that are submitted. We’ll see which ones rise to the top. Also, we should all comment on some of the submitted article within Marcom Meme. Just click the “discuss” link below each submission and say why you think that article should, or should not, be voted for in this process. You may also make any other comments about the story. Look the site over. Think of the possibilities. Look at the many other sites referenced above and begin to develop an understanding of how these sites might be used in real-world practice.
Finally, on this post, comment about how this type of site might serve a company or organization in creating interest. Will it help create a sense of community? Where will it work and where is it likely not to work. List companies, organizations or products/services that might benefit from this type of a site. Also, what are the ethical questions that arise from these types of sites? Can they be “played” to the benefit of one person or group’s benefit and, if so, how do you deal with that problem?
So, let’s get going. Head on over to Marcom Meme and get started. Then, come back here and comment on this post with your ideas. Be critical, be creative and - most of all - have fun. We might just learn something along the way.
17 comments
10/16/2006 at 11:01 am
Trackback from Anonymous - Will "digg-style" sites work as a tactic to promote a client's campaign?
10/16/2006 at 12:04 pm
Dallas Perry
This digg sounds cool…I bet in the next month my professor will have us using diggs.
10/16/2006 at 1:54 pm
Rachel S
Jeez Robert, this was the longest post ever! But the idea sounds really cool. I remember when Josh Hallett came and talked to the class and said that if a company does not give people a place to blog or a place to comment on the products it provides, people will make their own place to discuss products. It would be better to know where people are talking about your company, rather than be googling your company and find what people are saying. This also reminds me of Rick Murray’s visit. He said that Walmart is trying to comment and fix a problem within 45 minutes of a complaint that is being written on the internet. Having a site that is dug would be beneficial to almost every company. It would be great to see what your clients or customers really said about you. I would advise the company to use a site like this to make adjustments based on the customers wants and needs. Rather than using the site like a watchdog to “take down” people who said negative things about you. This would not work for a company whose product is very diverse, because the site is built on special interest. It would work for something that is niche. For example, I recently had an interview with UDA Technologies. The company makes software for construction companies. It would be great to see what all these people were saying about their product.
10/16/2006 at 2:21 pm
Wade C.
It’s nice seeing a post that we students can get involved in and excited about.
I think digg-style is something we need to be actively pursuing. It seems as though it is a much needed communtiy in which users of specific products and services can get together and discuss things they are most interested in.
This is definately the next best thing. Now that the common man has become the most trusted opinion source over doctors and professors, the impact it is making in the blogosphere is stunning.
I can’t wait to see what kind of impact this makes on businesses in the future.
10/16/2006 at 10:31 pm
MaryKneeland
Thanks Robert for creating this for us. It seems like a useful tool for marketers. Being able to gage customers reactions so easily should become a vital resource. Tracking customers opinions about things should also make it easy for companies to find adverse comments being written about them. There is no excuse for a company to not address these issues, because with this it is so easy.
10/17/2006 at 3:35 pm
Patrick
Digg this! So the difference is how this social media is done differently? Why do people with computer-based knowledge come up with these different variations of this and that? Does ‘digg’ make our lives easier or is it something that only some people will like in their ‘community?’ Social media is exploding with items such as ‘digg’, ‘meme’, and ‘wikis.’ I think that eventually the big social media fad will implode upon itself because there is too much out there already. Maybe I’m just being pessimistic, but hey, it’s my opinion. Why can’t we keep things simple instead of creating something knew and difficult for us computer-illiterate?
10/18/2006 at 1:44 am
Hayley
Robert!! I am impressed by your post!!..although it was very lengthy..haha. Before trying it out today in class, I would not have been so sure about trying out this Marcom Meme. However, it must be said that it is actually an outstanding idea and a smart communication method for companies to use. Thanks Robert for teaching us all about social media, even though sometimes we don’t like it! The voting aspect of the Marcom Meme is what attracts and appeals mostly to the audience. It not only gives people a sense of important and that their opinions matter, but it also adds to their sense of power and that they are in control. With this type voting system, many people who not normally would participate in this activity would! Also, it appears to be easy to users. Who doesn’t like something on the computer that is easy? If we are looking at this in terms of a campaign for a client the digg-style site would definitely be an asset. The company could list different options, alternatives or advice for their company/campaign and have all employees and the target audience vote on them. This will definitely become wider known in the social media world (it may already be, but it just has for me) and it will play a major role in various websites and company’s campaign tools or research. Thanks Robert!
10/22/2006 at 1:01 pm
Rachel D.
I think using marcom meme could be very beneficial to companies. Instead of having to google, yahoo, or search their company, they could use marcom meme to see any comments or complaints that were made about them. “Dugg” is an interesting term to use for when a website is crashed. Even though the website has crashed, I guess I would brag about it too because so many people have visited my website. I like the idea of having different articles peer reviewed. Last week, I posted my comments on the 15th so I didn’t know we were supposed to submit an article to marcom meme, but it is an interesting concept to see what stories are the most viewed. This concept definitely makes all problems easier for companies to address because the company is directly told what type of complaints they are facing. Thanks Robert for creating marcom meme for us!
10/22/2006 at 6:57 pm
Danielle
Hey Robert,
As we discussed in class I think this could be beneficial to some marketers. They could get feedback about new products or ideas that would allow them to see a potential reaction before they went through with it, which would be financially beneficial. I look forward to seeing what comes of it, but for right now I “digg” it.
10/23/2006 at 10:01 am
Kristin H
After exploring the Marcom Meme and fully understanding what the communication tool has to offer, I think that it is something which can be used in many instances.
I began to think about the popular on-line video site, YouTube, and its video ranking system. The site allows the users to rank the videos they watch. The video with the highest ranking will become displayed as the most viewed/highest ranked video. When I go to the site, I tend to watch the videos that the rest of America has ranked highly or has watched the most.
The YouTube example showcases what a ranking system has to offer. The digg-style allows for everyday people to share their opinions with others, in a simple ranking format.
People can rank products, movies, videogames, recipes, and the list goes on. The digg-style allows people to highlight what’s important and noteworthy.
For example, imagine a digg-style site that was set up to rank the restaurants in town. People can use the ranking system to promote a new restaurant, complain about poor service at a restaurant, or even mention the best steak they have ever eaten. These stories would then be compiled and the highest ranked stories would be highlighted on the site.
The possibilities are truly endless with a digg-style site and they can become beneficial to several people.
10/23/2006 at 2:54 pm
Adam Keeshan
This could become very useful for many different reasons. I think that this could be a good thing for companies to use to let their employees let them know how they feel about certain things. The company could see how any changes they make could affect their employees attitudes which could affect sales. This also can be used in schools, clubs, etc. Marketing firms can also use sites like these to see how consumers think. It’s a useful tool and great for experiments and will give people the oppurtunity to look around and see how other people are thinking before they do something.
10/24/2006 at 11:00 pm
Rachel M
What a great tool Robert! It is a wonderful way for marketers to see what people are searching for. I will be great for PR practitioners to monitor what people are saying about their clients. It will also help to see if people are interested in a product. You have done it yet again Robert; keeping us on top of things that will potentially help us in the job market.
10/26/2006 at 11:50 am
Virginia
Ohhh Robert,
How exciting. I really like this idea. Companies should really look into this meme as a tool to create interest in their products. I enjoyed poking around the site and voting on stories, which there are some interesting ones in there by the way. Can’t wait to continue to work with this and learn more and more about the site.
10/30/2006 at 11:19 am
Elizabeth Wood Rodgers
The digg style thing sounds so cool. We have come in contact with some very cool and fun tools in this class and this could be another one! We all know how excited I can get about little things, and this could be fun for us to explore with. Thanks for letting us know about it Robert! See you in class.
10/30/2006 at 3:43 pm
Sarah
The whole idea behind http://www.loveliestvillage.org is to get the untold stories of Auburn University out there. This Marcom Meme may be another way to do this on a bigger scale. But there are so many other benefits to this meme. It allows the people visiting the site to decide what news they are interested in. They can choose what’s important to them, vote on it, and then share it with other people who visit the site. This type of site will also be a great tool for marketers and pr practitioners. If you’re trying to introduce a new product or service, you can write about it on a site like this. If the people looking at the site are interested, they can vote on the story. When other people come to the site, and look at the high number of votes the story has, they will be more likely to read it. By reaching so many people, the company or product will gain popularity and recognition. This site will create a chain reaction, spreading important news to people all over. This type of site will probably be a valuable tool for lots of organizations in the very near future.
10/30/2006 at 5:58 pm
Christi
The marcom meme barely even skims the surface of what is possible with these digg-style sites. It’s all about getting the most important information to the people who want it most. These tools have huge applications for companies. Companies that don’t have time to search through multiple news sites and blogs can bookmark a meme site and find out what their publics find most important.
11/10/2006 at 1:18 pm
Stephanie
Wow, thats a lot of information to swallow. I just went over to Marcom meme and voted on a story. It will take some getting used to but I can definetly see the value that this type of social media can have. I think once people start to become more familiar with social media and all that it entails, they will really like things like these that allow normal people to interact and show what they like and don’t like.