The documentary discusses how there has been a recent shift in communication to consumers with the rise of social media platforms. The power of ‘like’ (like button on Facebook, or retweets) is giving companies a better understanding of their consumers and what they like, being able to cross-promote or get celebrities to promote their products. It is also allowing companies to let consumers do their marketing for them as kids retweet or like Facebook posts to win competitions, sharing their interests with their friends. One person shares something which then two of their friends share, and the momentum multiplies with each click.

It is described as ‘reeling in the fish’; you can’t pull them in too quickly, or be too slack on the line, you need to maintain a constant tug to reel in the consumers and get them to market for you. Kids aren’t necessarily aware of the power of the ‘like’ button and how companies are manipulating them to market their products to their friends. It’s about having an openness, and not giving the impression that you have something to hide or gain – it is beneficial for the consumer and they want to share, like and retweet for their benefit not yours. These new type of consumers don’t need to be chased down with marketing campaigns – they tell the world what they like and what they think is cool to enhance their online social media profile.

The social currency of ‘likes’ means that kids who have more likes on their Facebook profile picture, YouTube video, or Twitter and Instagram posts feel more popular and they feel ’empowered’. It’s about selling yourself and your online image; you can’t stand on the sidelines of social media in this day and age you need to participate in order to be heard. When brands jump on social causes, they attract a whole new audience as they are ‘famous by association’; for example Oreo took on Gay Pride week by creating a rainbow coloured biscuit and the fans or supporters of Gay Pride then associate themselves with Oreo because they support the same cause.

Companies study the analytics of their social media endeavors by tracking data of their fans and seeing what other brands, celebrities, films, etc they and their friends like, using that to create cross-promotion campaigns. YouTubers have also realised that in order to help themselves and gain more subscribers, they need to help each other out, regularly including YouTubers who have less followers in their videos to share their audience with theirs. It is becoming big business to understand how to create social media campaigns and many companies run them on behalf of celebrities, making big money off doing so.

The question of ‘is he famous?’ when talking about YouTubers or other young social media kids is interesting as the question used to be ‘is he an actor/singer’? These days its all about how many followers, likes, shares and retweets a person can generate and not necessarily about their talent. The desire to be famous is difficult to fulfill however as there are so many people online now competing for the attention of audiences.

To bring this to our social media event; the main points I would take is having a constant engagement with the audience (‘reeling in the fish’), trying to get our consumers to become our marketers, and creating an openness and sense of trust throughout our campaign. The main question I have is how do we get consumers to be our marketers?

How does this documentary alter your understanding of the way you use social media?

The documentary points out that every time we as social media users like, share or retweet something, we are working as marketers for the companies/products we like. Most people think that sharing something you like with your friends on social media is just that, but there is actually more to it. You are promoting it to your friends on behalf of the company and if your friends like it as well they will do the same.

What connections can you make with the role of a Social Media Producer?

There are whole teams of people working on behalf of ‘talent’ and making sure that they are always visible online, tracking how their fans are responding and what other things these fans like in the hopes of cross-promotion. These social media producers set up social media networks for talent to generate as much online attention as possible. The role of social media producer is to find a way to turn consumers into marketers.

What ideas does this documentary raise in regards to the event your group is planning and the task of achieving participatory engagement?

The documentary brings up the idea of creating competitions online or rewards for people to like, retweet or share so that they in turn can become marketers on our behalf. It also makes the point of being open with consumers so that they have a sense of trust and feel involved in the event.