Adding On To Generation Like

The first post was mostly just for comparison to Merchants of Cool and my personal thoughts on the video. This post is more about what was in the hour long film and major points I want to share.

In the first few minutes of the film, Douglas Rushkoff mentions how back in their film in 2001, corporations were desperately chasing down teens and what was hip, but now teens are directly telling them that they don't need to be chased because they publically put out what they're interested in. He also mentions how in the focus group, the teens were very interactive and seemingly more sophisticated. However, as they talked, they had one vulnerbility: likes.

Many of the teens Frontline interviewed used the word "empowered" or some reference to having control over what they do online. Rushkoff questioned if this was really true. And this goes back to the big question on the cover poster for Generation Like:

"Are kids using Social Media or is Social Media using kids?"




It becomes very clear after watching the full film that the answer is the latter. Social Media is definitely using kids.

How? Simply through what they call interactions and what we call memes, sweepstakes, and contests.

Rushkoff says this exact line: "It may be catching fire, but it was doused in gasoline beforehand." This was said so perfectly, that I can't even explain it in a simpler way.

He is just referring back to how companies are offering fame by association through such obvious and transparent ways that Rushkoff questions if it's really just invisible instead.

I think I already implied what their marketing strategy was, but just in case: Instead of selling the product to consumers directly, marketers want consumers to sell and advertise their product for them. In this way, the interaction seems more open and transparent, but really was planned very carefully.

Other than contests, a big way to get consumers engaged was rewards. Kiip is mentioned in this film, and how the company pretty much gives out points if the app user does something, and every time they reach a certain threshold, they get a free coupon for something. This seems like the user gets free coupons for doing what they normally do, but in reality, the marketers are able to put their name out there more and spread their new sales or stocks.

The president of Kiip specifically mentioned that they use words like rewards and moments, never media or advertisement. He called it, psychological design.

It's pretty clever and true. I think if I were to hear the latter words, it would break this harmony between my benefit of getting free coupons and being used by Kiip and other companies in their marketing strategies.

I want to end this blog by just diving into the analogy used to end the film: The Hunger Games. (It really wasn't random because one of the interviees was a major Hunger Games fan, so there was a lot of mention to the movies already.)

They said that we, the teens, are the teens who fight in the Hunger Games. The arena in which we fight is the vast and unpredictable media and technology. To survive in this harsh environment, we need sponsors (ALERT. DOUBLE MEANING) to help us get through this place. But to get sponsors, we need people to like us. We need to be liked (I HOPE YOU SEE WHERE THIS IS GOING), to survive.