Needs and Online Life
Online life is an interesting one. The needs of those who spend their time online are even more interesting. We seek connection. The success and the power of the various social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace are evidence of this powerful need to interact.
We have a deeply in-grained need to socialize and interact. Humans are a very group-oriented creature, built to be social on many different levels.
The internet both draws us farther apart and hides our lives as much as it exposes us to everything and anything that companies, communities, and/or individuals throw at us. But, unless it is securely hidden behind firewalls and encrypted passwords, anything that is posted to the public can be accessed eventually, even years later. (See: The Way Back Machine)
Voiced opinions, hobbies, and affiliations are more easily dug up online then it is offline. Google anyone’s name or handle and you may be surprised what you find. The more unique the name or handle, the more likely you’ll find out information about someone they may not want know to, say, a potential employer or employee!
We feel we have a unique freedom in general when it comes to the internet, but unless we self-censor in some way it could be detrimental to our professional side. But more on that in another article.
The internet serves our needs as social creatures. It indeed serves it well.
Fame and Need
Some people crave fame, others abhor it but recieve it anyway for various reasons. The net feeds the needs of those who seek fame as well as those who seek the famous. Being in the limelight is hard for anyone, even those used to it as one life it scrutinized as if under a massive social microscope. It doubles in intensity when one is online.
Fame and popularity can be more of a bane then it is in the real world. At least in the real world people who stalk your house can be instantly arrested for trespassing. Where as online stalkers can grab a different email address, then sign up in your forums from a different location. They can do this over and over and over again.
Those who are famous have an immense power over many others, be it offline or on it doesn’t matter. People will look up to, try to emulate, or have a special respect for those who are famous (or infamous even in some cases). Those who are well known, are known because of something they are, something they’ve accomplished, something they’d said or done, or they may be famous because of events in their lives that move us emotionally, mentally, or socially. But online the reaction/response can be tripled or more.
Examples
I have seen what this can do in the art world among fantasy illustrators. An Artist who has issue with another can inadvertently start a “war” between the fans. Even a small issue made public can cause all sorts of problems that weren’t originally expected. This is based on a sad fact that some users are “Trolls”, these “battles” between the fans can get ugly because of them.
For instance, if one has enough skill as a hacker, the offending artist’s website could go down (this is an extreme example). Otherwise blogs are filled with detritus, dirty laundry, and more. People craft websites of hate and disparaging remarks, or may start “groups” united against this other artist.
I’ve seen it get more moronic then that.
But why?
The difference in this and the real world is that the online world is, again, far more accessible. Where as such groups are sure to exist in the real world, online it’s very easy to find them with but a mere search query!
The Power behind Need
Need can drive some people to organize. It is how many countries rose up in rebellion from the status quo of their ruling country and became an independent countries of their own. Needs, whether perceived, believed, or real, drive us.
Some newer legislation for air-travelers rights in the US were started by ONE person commenting in other blogs and on news sites. A woman made a difference for her and other airline passengers because of her need for satisfaction over a set of poor choices that put herself and other passengers in a very bad situation!
There was an issue that involved passengers not disembarking from their plane even though they were at their destination. There were a set of events that caused a super-long delay, as they sat on the tarmac and waited for hours longer then they had either food, water, or toilet accessibility. This is not a common occurrence to be sure, and it wasn’t something the airline had anyway of realizing might happen. But happen it did, but the reparations paid by the airlines were little to none.
Her plane was the second within a span of years to have this trouble.
So she searched online and found news reports, blogs, and the like. Leaving comments she began networking. She asked people to contact her, and eventually set up a website about it. Within months, rather then years, she was able to get enough signatures and voices to force NY legislators to do something about the problems some airlines were having. Google “Air passengers rights”. You’ll be surprised.
This woman had a need. Offered information free of charge as well as offered the ability to get something done.
Spoken of by Others
Trent Reznor is an amazing artist of the music industry (in my personal opinion). I recently discovered that he has done what so few other companies did, and that was to immerse himself into the online “world” directly. In order to learn how to market himself, NIN, the works of his band, and more, he decided to get to know what the social networks and interactive communities online were like, personally.
He discovered the power of the social networks because he directly interacted with them in such a way as to be a part of the massive, world-reaching online community. There was an aspect that he figured out, and it’s a bane that I wish more companies would wise up towards.
Spam.
It’s been around for years in the both the offline and the online environment. However, most companies don’t seem to understand that the old forms of advertising cannot be “tweaked” to fit online. They are ignored mostly by the online population, because they don’t offer anything in return.
Those who are part of the online communities want one thing really, and that is to be engaged and to interact with the things that most interest them. People will buy stuff that either entertains them, engages them, interacts with them, teaches them, or otherwise gives them something in return.
The many blogs, sites, and marketing places I’ve stuck my nose in has offered this bit of advice time and again. In order to get, you have to give. Content is more then just filler fluff or copying someone else’s articles. It’s more then re-tweeting, or re-posting, or re-hashing the same old topics. It’s about real meat and potatoes sort of content, and understanding that in a time of tight money that leads to a tighter grasp on one’s wallet. You can’t expect people to pay for things they don’t need.
“Anyway, we’re in a world where the mainstream social networks want any and all people to boost user numbers for the big selloff and are not concerned with the quality of experience.” ~ Trent Reznor
It’s the quality that counts. It’s what you offer that counts. This is not about numbers, this is about knowing what the consumers need. It is about what they really want. They don’t want fluff, or fizzy-drink ads, or other such stuff.
From AKA Marketing comes an article that is almost 3 years (and counting) old. Everything in there is valid even today. Let me further expand on what I mean.
“… be sure that your content will have specific appeal to your target audience.”
This is the basics of niche marketing. In fact this is what niche marketing’s whole main directive is about. Finding a specific “thing”, be it a product type (fine art), a service (theme creators), an information site (Wikipedia), how-to site (birthday cake recipes), a community (fans of insert-something-here), and the like, narrow it into a very focused ideal, and most of the marketing will be done for you!
“Next you want original content, if someone asked me what I considered good content I’d say that it was content that’s different and unique and not the same as the content on the other website I just came from.”
This is the Power of Need. Even if it is a perceived need, it drives us to want more then what many companies or individuals are actually offering. Those that supply that need, that cater to the real needs we have for information, education, understanding what we are looking at or preparing to buy will draw more people to them.
Examples
#1 Article sellers:
Selling your article to a million article buyers dilutes your articles uniqueness and will eventually hurt those who buy them from you. This in turn has a domino effect. The less they are effective, the more your articles are labeled as “non-sell-able” and the less money you make on them. If you are going to sell articles, pick and choose who you sell to carefully. Some individual sites will offer anywhere between $50 and $200+ dollars for original articles. This keeps their sites full of original content, and keeps money in your pocket. Win – win situation!
#2 Peat and Repeat:
“Peat and Repeat were walking along. Peat fell down and who was left? Repeat. Peat and Repeat were walking along…”
Don’t do it if you can help it. It’s one thing to find an article that you’ve found engaging and want to share that with your personal networks of friends and family. That’s natural, but don’t copy. For one reason it’s plagiarism and thus illegal.
On another side, with how visible the net is in the long run, eventually you’ll get caught and your “authenticity” will suffer for it. Black Listing is a favorite subject in the online world. I know. I’ve watched in in action since 1999. Not pretty!
Another reason, though by far not the last, is that copying someone’s idea reduces the quality of it. It is the same reduction in quality that selling your work to a million article buyers does to a single article. If there are a number of copies online, the search engines aren’t going to know who’s article is best, because they are all the same.
However, discussing it, reviewing the article, and putting your own spin on it is much better for the article itself. Linking to it rather then directly quoting it alone, or offering both quotes and links are by far the better choices. Doing such is the power of “By Word of Mouth” in action!
There is more on this topic and if you Goggle it you’ll find this same information repeated so many times that it becomes almost it’s own mantra. “Content is King”!
GIVE back to the online community, don’t just try to take.
Overview
Need is a much more powerful selling point then companies seem to realize. They try to market stuff as “items you need” and forget that many of their consumers are smarter then that. I don’t NEED a new car when I have public transportation, for example.
Don’t waste the time of site visitors and users. Give them something of interest related to what your site is about if you want to sell them something. Be real, be helpful, be honest, and above all don’t be a troll. *nods sagely*
Don’t repeat content. Passion is the key and if you have passion for something it will show through! Discuss topics rather then cut and pasting them to share. Share links instead of copied text. Pass on the information, sure, but do it thoughtfully.
Share. Share your thoughts in a constructive way and you’ll find more people following you!
Love. Love what it is you write about and share that love and passion with the world. You’ll soon find others that share that passion and who will link you into still others they know. It’s a positive domino effect, done in exponentially ever increasing numbers.
