The Real Case for Social Networking.

Rick Stanton, Creative Director / Managing Partner, Stanton & Everybody Advertising + Design

As morons tweet about their breakfast, my email fills up with links to must-see QuickTimes and I continue to wonder if LinkedIn has a point, I think I now understand the real importance of the social networking technology.
While the lunatics that front the Iranian government would like the rest of the world to swallow the Ahmadinejad landslide victory story, the social unrest and protest is being carried to the world through tweets and blogs.
And in China, a young waitress who was nearly raped by a Communist Party leader stabbed the guy to death. Instead of being arrested and probably disappearing for the rest of her life, the public outcry led to her case being dismissed as self-defense.
Note: it’s important to remember the waiter or waitress is the last person to touch your food before you eat it.
Not that everything is so dire and serious that we can only justify using social networking when they are dire and serious, it should cause one to think.
Like all effective messages they have to establish an emotional bridge to understanding.
Like great ads, or any other outreach, the message needs to matter.
It needs to make us laugh, cry, get angry, and always pause to think.
So next time you find yourself sending someone a tweet about the tuna melt you’re eating, don’t. Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.
The two articles I’ve included have changed my thinking about social networking.
Including my attempts at this blogging business.

Worth the read:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2009348024_iran17.html

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2009347002_stab17.html