Ever wonder why reality TV is so popular? Shows like Jersey Shore, The Real World, and Survivor are popular because people are curious as to what other people are doing, saying, thinking, feeling, and tasting. It’s human nature to be curious. The idea that you may be doing something that I’m not doing is enticing and I want to learn how to do it. So I’m willing to spend my time observing you to learn what you’re doing differently.
Gary V had a great quote from SXSWi this year (2010):
“We have ridiculously awesome BS detectors.”
And he’s right. Why? It’s because humans relate to other humans very easily. It’s like walking by someone and giving a courtesy nod (ok, that’s a southern thing, but work with me). If I walk past 10 people, I’m sure I’ll get at least 7-8 nods, in which I’ll nod back.
Using things like your logo on Twitter and other Social Media platforms take away from “human” aspect of the medium. It would be like me wearing a sandwich board. I’ll still get 4-5 nods, and I’ll get 2-3 people who actually go out of their way to avoid me. What? You’ve never gone out of your way to avoid someone trying to sell you something? I know I have. I’m pretty sure you have as well, even if you don’t realize it.
I remember the other day that I was at a local Starbucks and there was a new barista who didn’t know me. She kept trying to push me to buy something else at every turn. Up-sell with a shot of expresso, we have red velvet cupcakes, take a coffee cake for the road, etc, etc. I was not impressed and politely turned her down every time. However, one of the other baristas, Ian, was working at the same Starbucks one evening when I had to work late. He and I began chatting about a new style of coffee that they had received and somehow we ended up on the subject of particular drink names. The drink that peeked my interest the most happened to be the “Black Eye” (two shots of expresso in a standard cup of coffee). I’ve been drinking them ever since.
Now, initially businesses make the mistake of the first lady and use Twitter as just another avenue for a hard sell. But this violates our rule of being human. Ian, on the other hand, was himself and added value through his coffee trivia and has caused me to, over time, spend more money with Starbucks. By being human, we as humans allow a certain amount of trust, since we generally know what to expect from other humans. For brands that choose not to be human, we don’t know what to expect and thus expect the worst. Look at your last 5 tweets. Did you answer someone’s question? Did you express an interest in something someone said? How were you human? Let me know in the comments.
Photo Credit: khaledak
