Transmedia has gone beyond simply infiltrating the social media channels: last year I participated in a transmedia storytelling property called “Crushing it! A Social Media Love Story” which used Twitter, YouTube and a collection of blogs to create a story and engage an audience over the course of one week. Getting audience participation in creating the flow and defining the outcome of the story was an important element in the activity. I would say that if we had a pre-constructed plot line or a fixed, predetermined ending it really wouldn’t be correct to call it “transmedia”. Adaptation, surprise and collaborative genesis to both characters and story threads are now considered integral to a transmedia property. The key to success was how the writing team worked on the project: they “performed” as actors, primarily in real time via Twitter, writing in the voice of their characters. They could respond naturally and convincingly when interacting with people on-line, and then follow up with scripted material played in front of the camera on YouTube which reflected conversation that occurred earlier in the day. What happens when an automated content generator, which we usually call a bot or spammer, is unleashed to engage us via Twitter or Facebook?
In the past month I have noticed a sudden wave of new spammers, bots and other blatantly unrealistic Twitterers following me. For example, take a look at the profile of someone who tried to follow me in the past few weeks (This account has already been closed by Twitter, by the way).
Screen shot of a spammer's Twitter account
What are the giveaway signs? The name and the “glam shot” profile picture are a good place to start—sort of like those photos that go into picture frames that are sold in a store, but you wouldn’t put them up in your home because they aren’t really you. The bio is also rather suspicious.
The tweets are a collection of gibberish or odd listing of websites. In this case, the creation of a fake account is pretty easy to spot. But what about a more carefully planned creation of a false identity, or persona?
A month later, as I check back on the article (which has not been pulled offline), I notice it has received eight comments. I have no idea how many views the article has had, but I would have thought it would have gained more attention. In the meantime, I assume that the best “fake” personas would be created and maintained by creative individuals working in real time, building their characters and weaving their stories as they do in ARG’s, World of Warcraft, Second Life and other places where the completely fabricated persona is the norm, but created through the regular interaction of a real person. Persona Management Software will have to be written to appear to care about the people it is engaging with in conversation, and will have to display concern, interest, and the ability to draw from both knowledge and experience to seem real.
There are at least 4 valuable lessons to learn from these automated content generators that apply to social media, transmedia, and storytelling as it applies to brand management or customer relationship management:
- Interaction in text-based social media is perceived as “real” when the content seems conversational, with a natural give-and-take. One-way or scripted messaging isn’t satisfying. Although you should answer questions or acknowledge requests for contact, social media is asynchronous communication and you can afford to take time to make your words relate and make sense.
- Personality, much like the defining qualities of a brand, is perceived through expositional content or information over time — one tweet, one tag line, or a 2-line bio on a twitter page is, a best, an ice-breaker. The collected information others receive from us gives the audience a larger picture, and establishes credibility. Bots, spam engines and some over-eager marketers never exhibit patience — they routinely “overshare”, and often don’t create a satisfactory “back story” about who is the person behind the message.
- Asking questions does draw people in, but a response that reflects comprehension keeps people engaged. Automated voice response systems have become much better at this, but when it gets too complex they are still triggered to bring in the live person to get full satisfaction. Spammers lose our attention if they cannot answer questions—that’s why they pepper their text-based messages with phone numbers to reach a live respondent to attempt to sell us a story.
- Offering to help before knowing what the message recipient wants or needs is a dead giveaway that you’re probably not real—or rude, at the very least. Telephone solicitation scripts in recent years have moved to the “may I ask you to participate in a survey” model to find out if the subject fits the sales target before making the offer. By signing on for social media interaction through Twitter or Facebook or LinkedIn we may have given away a large chunk of our privacy, but it doesn’t mean we will accept intrusive behavior. Asking someone to visit a link in an introductory message is often considered suspicious.
This might seem like common sense more than secrets to social media or transmedia success, but how to handle consumer interaction is a thorny question for customer relation professionals and marketers who are looking at the growing use of Facebook and Twitter by consumers and potential consumers. Even the casual social media user is not a passive audience member; he/she is substituting Facebook messages, tweets, blog comments and YouTube posts in place of or in addition to phone calls and emails, and the conversation is often both revealing and quite public. Automation, despite winning at ‘Jeopardy!’, isn’t ready to take the place of human interaction. At least, not until spammers really learn how to program the algorithm(s) of natural conversation in satisfying sync with real life.
Spammers and unaware business enterprises attempting to utilize social media appear to be as artificial as the actors in silent movies overtly gesturing and posturing to convey their message. It takes hands-on participation and conscious interaction to make social media or transmedia to work—even if it’s use is to fulfill a role.
Twitter Spambots - Austin Powers would have them as a new nemesis' minions.
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