What can you learn about social media from the sex industry?
The other day I posted an old essay from Grad School pondering if the sex industry uses social media better than corporate America. Today I wanted to cover the lessons that I learned when I looked into these communities a little more.
Clear delineation between business people and customers- (As seen with the clear delineation between provider and hobbyist in these forums.) One of the features that stood out on these sites is that there is a clear separation between providers and customers wherever the two groups interact. This is something you don’t see often enough in forums where people try and mask the roles they play or who they represent. There is something about the frankness of establishing who you are that improves the conversation.
If you are a marketer representing a company wearing it on your sleeve will go much further than trying to pretend you are a “fan” of the brand.
Transparent moderation- (Moderators are often listed right at the top of the forums in these communities.) One thing that I noticed is that the forums on these sites are heavily moderated. In order to protect private information, fight against over advertising, and numerous other rules that are setup in the community the moderators have a quick trigger finger. Normally I would look down upon quick decisions by moderators but these communities flow so much more because people know the rules and if they don’t and break them they are quickly notified. Furthermore if people have questions about why something was done the moderators are listed for everyone to know and contact.
I have participated in forums that are very loosely moderated and there is a constant questioning of the rules, questioning of who is in charge, and a sort of disorder that reigns. By having active and transparent moderation a community whips into shape and the participation is more about conversations not how things are run.
Ratings are good and being able to track the history of the rater is even better- (You can go back and see the history of all the rankings reviewers have provided.) I think most sites that embrace social media and ratings do this now but personally it is one of my favorite features and I wanted to include it. Faceless and anonymous reviews are worthless because I can’t see the track record of the reviewer. I like to know when someone only rates and comments things negatively. I also like to see the track record of other things they have rated to see if we have the same tastes and interests.
Having people attached to their reviews brings the reviews a little legitimacy.
Give people multiple levels to connect on- (Savvy providers have options for people to connect with them.) One of the benefits of social media is that it allows people to establish a relationship with you on the platform that they feel comfortable with. Too often companies will give people one or two options to contact them and that is it. In my experience when a company creates a few more outposts and gives people the ability to connect on a platform they prefer you get more interaction, you provide better customer service, and you build advocates. What is the downside to that?
Note: I have a guest post up at Technosailor today as well. Are we being herded towards data silos?
