How to Game Social NetworksPosted by Brian Connolly PR Agency to Offer Clients Proprietary Methodology
Hey... pssst... are you familiar with card counting? That’s the practice of tracking the ratio of high cards to low cards; that’s all. Well, we've got a sophisticated system. Here's the deal: if you could better judge your advantage or disadvantage at any given time, obviously, you could place better bets and shift the odds from the house to you. Trust me; it's easy money. "But that’s cheating!," you say. Don't be so negative. Let's PR it and refer to it as “intelligent game play.” Sure, if you get caught, you’ll get booted from the casino. However, keep in mind, there are other casinos on the Strip. Or, how 'bout this? Turns out, we can get you a similar deal with social networks. But this is even better. It’s totally unregulated; Ya can't get caught; And ya can’t get kicked out! This last week Ketchum PR, one of the world’s largest ambiguous marketing agencies, announced an exclusive partnership with one of the country's top social networks scientists, associate professor at University of Virginia's McIntire School, Rob Cross. According to Ketchum: "The partnership gives Ketchum and its clients a highly precise methodology for mapping networks of influencers." Specifically, Ketchum intends to use Cross' advanced system to "Precisely identify and energize the connections and influence of individuals within social networks crucial to successful brand and reputation building." TRANSLATION: Target individuals and give them an incentive to get loads of people to do stuff or buy shit on your behalf. The proprietary methodology will be used by a host of business units at Ketchum that are already targeting and leveraging connections within networks. Ketchum plans to immediately deploy the system with their HR services unit, Stromberg Consulting, as well as their new word-of-mouth boutique, the Zócalo Group. COMMENTARY YIKES! They're not going to use their proprietary scientific methodology to take advantage of a casino. It's specifically geared to game the general public! Sure, one could argue that from an intra-organizational perspective, you left your rights to "choice" at the door. However, external is a different story. By law, we don't allow credit card companies to sell data and map buying habits... and for good reason. Bottom line: "Sophistication" is all about advantage. Do you know just how little a social scientist needs to know about you to precisely predict your every move? How comfortable is any blogger or social network participant at being precisely traced and mapped... and then otherwise influenced, used, manipulated and variously taken advantage of? Well, maybe Joe Jaffe. But what does that tell ya? Bookmark This
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