The Marketing Dollar

As is with many aspects of the internet, the commercial and corporate role in the social networking boom is a facet of discussion that should be raised. Although all of the posts previously have made mention of the social ramifications of internet social networking, the presence of large corporations and incredible amounts of marketing dollars may modify our perspective on what has been termed dramatic social change. Rupert Murdoch (pictured) and News Corporation did not simply purchase MySpace for US$580 million (Maier, 2006) because of his philanthropic desire to increase social connectivity. Similarly, social networking partnerships, such as Friendster’s association with picture database Flickr, Google owned video sharing phenomenon YouTube’s user friendly relationship with MySpace, and –on a smaller scale- Australian social network Asiagroove with clubbing event giant Nightggrounds are not mere coincidences. It is undeniable that the way in which we view and participate in social networks has been drastically altered through uniquely internet features such as the ‘Top Friends’ function.

The marketing opportunities for social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook in the current internet era are numerous, and it would be deemed unpractical for corporate business to neglect to make their monetary presence felt. With members in the hundreds of millions and growing substantially with each passing day, the potential audience for advertisements on these sites out perform any other medium in the technological age. Most importantly for these companies, the major demographic of these networks, the ‘16-35’s’ (cnn.com) are considered to be the highest consumers in the population. Internet journalist Andre Calilhanna highlights the increased commercial prospects of internet social networks, when he lists the five most integral aspects of effective marketing as seen on the internet: Viral Marketing, Two-way communication, motivated consumers, cross-over marketing opportunities and free marketing/word of mouth (2005). Through a discussion of the major benefactors of this commercial phenomenon, I will attempt to highlight the conflict of this commercialism and the social changes stated in previous posts.

Perhaps the greatest beneficiary of the emergence of social networking sites has been the ailing music industry. Struggling in a climate of illegal downloads and steady declines in CD sales worldwide, music artists have in many ways ‘teamed with the enemy’ (Calilhanna, 2005) in order to gain a following. The incredible connectivity in internet networks has allowed for artists to spread their music worldwide at a remarkable speed, which has ultimately translated into financial success. Undisputedly one of the queens of this phenomenon, British pop artist Lily Allen (pictured) attributes her almost cult like following to the success of her Myspace profile (www.fasterlouder.com.au). Indie rock group Billionaire Boys Club were also one of the first few artists to enlist the help of MySpace in their endeavour to find fans. In pure marketing terms, the roots behind the success of music artists on MySpace can be plainly seen. Calilhanna states that ‘MySpace offers everything you would want as a fan. New music, links to similar artists with new music (through the top friends function), and constant dialogue about the band’s progress’ (2005).

However this commercial success and viral marketing may have come at a cost to the social positives that have emerged from the social networking phenomenon in the first place. The identity affirming comments function (on Xanga and Facebook they are known as ‘kudos’) are vulnerable targets for malicious and fast spreading ‘spam comments’(pictured). This reduces the individuals desire to display their personal internet identity as it has been bombarded with corporate messages. The individual’s connection to their favourite political identities and musical artists is also not as strong as first perceived through social networking. Many of the artist’s profiles are maintained by PR managers and not by the band members themselves, limiting any form of real relationship within that aspect of the network. American band The Shins were one of many victims of their distance from their profile. Unbeknown to them, a fake profile was created with their name as a method to circulate mobile ring-tone sales –further evidence of spam marketing. The commercial dominance over the social networking fraternity in many ways also hinders smaller business institutions, as advertising is dominated by multinational conglomerates. It is of no surprise then when the MySpace home page advertises the upcoming release of Hollywood feature film ‘Blades of Glory’ and not a winner of the Cannes film festival.