Hey Check This Out!

07Jan07

We all have those friends who love to show other people stuff they think is cool. Whether it’s a funny video or a cool ad, they love spreading the word via email or in person. In today’s media landscape these people are a marketer’s dream and the reason ”viral” advertising works. However I have come to the conclusion that they only embody this now and once we figure out new ways of tracking web activity they will no longer be son coveted.

I always have people showing me new things online and most of the time they are uninteresting to me. When our friends and family recommend something new to us we usually pay attention because we feel that they know our likes and dislikes. However somehow it never is as good as when we find it ourselves.

When we are online we can find others with similar tastes. The immense size of the web means that we can connect with any one of the million users online and gives us a better pool to draw from than our immediate connections. Online, we can find people with near identical tastes and it is these people who we really form a trust with. The difference between this and real world recommendations is that in reality others give suggestions based on their perceived knowledge of us, whereas online we are filtering the recommendations ourselves. In effect we are finding our own referrers and this is far more effective. Because, in the end,

who knows you, better than you?

Filed under: Advertising, Conversations, Life, Media   |  Leave a Comment