In Culture of Connectivity, José van Djick asks a pertinent question:
What are the implications of a platformed sociality that is conditioned by a corporate sector, wherein partnerships and competition define the coded ground layer upon which a myriad of apps is built?
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The book was published in 2013 which is eons ago in social media years but she is spot-on with her line of inquiry.
One of the implications is the normalization of cross-platform marketing, which is essentially an attempt to further trap consumers in an ecosystem geared towards influencing their attention and
ultimately their pockets. As van Djick notes, the invisible hand in cross-platform marketing is code and algorithms.
Cross-platform marketing attempts to solve problems created by fragmentation in media delivery. Nikola Brown pointed out in Skyword, “once upon a time there was just one media source: newspapers…” When one wanted to escape content, you put the newspaper down and
walked away. Brown continues, “then came radio, followed by TV,” and we all know how captivating TV can be. It is much harder to turn it off and escape content being marshaled by creative corporate entities.
There have been many movements against commercials on TV or against sitting in front of the TV for extended periods of time in general. Yet, there is an off button. Well, Brown goes on, “before we knew it the multi-platform content of the internet emerged, fragmenting digital channels into thousands of pieces and allowing complex two way
communication” (Brown, 2017).
Is there an off button to this type of connectivity?
A perfect example? Television shows like Humans that attempt to reach you at every level of your imagination. The show debuted in 2017, and I must admit that I watched every episode and loved it.
IMDB Description of Humans — In a parallel present where the latest must-have gadget for any busy family is a ‘Synth’ – a highly-developed robotic servant that’s so similar to a real human – is transforming the way we live.
Marketing for the science fiction show was innovative, far reaching, and reality-bending.
- Newspaper and print advertisement
- Video recall advertisements
- Website
- Social media channels for the fictional company that was at the center of the series
- Facebook chat bot acting as a technical support Synth to help answer questions
- Faux e-bay site staged to buy synths
- Synthetic Human Collection Service trucks that were deployed in several cities
That is an intense and multilayered marketing campaign. I am sure that Humans was trending on multiple platforms during the show’s height.
Cross-platform marketing enables fully reimagined techno-peer pressure that is a “hybrid social and technological force” (van Djick, 2013, 156) connecting people with things, algorithms, ideas, and each other. In the context of capitalism and with the absence of regulation, the driving forces behind this phenomena are almost exclusively money. In the marketing sphere this is beyond valuable. Cross-platform marketing helps you reach your potential customer on various platforms. It also facilitates accessibility by offering consumers multiple channels and ways to consume said content and making it easier to pass that content along to like-minded individuals.
“When people see what others like, they want it more — another consequence of peer pressure — and knowing what people want is the basis of constructing needs, as most marketers learn their first week on the job”.
José van djick, Culture of connectivity, 157
José van Djick states very clearly the core value in cross-platform marketing: By placing content on multiple platforms, you are giving people more opportunities to engage with you which will make you trend, improving your rank, in turn providing greater visibility for your product or idea which is what marketing is about.
Sources
Nicola Brown’s 2017 Article in Skyword entitled, “Why Multi-Platform Content is Key for Marketing”
- https://www.skyword.com/contentstandard/multi-platform-content-key-marketing-younger-generations
- Author Bio: Nicola is an international award-winning writer, editor and communication specialist based in Toronto. She has stamped her career passport all over the communication industry in publishing, digital media, travel and advertising. She specializes in print and digital editorial and content marketing, and writes about travel, food, health, lifestyle, psychology and personal finance for publications ranging from the Toronto Star and WestJet Magazine to Tangerine Bank and Fidelity Investments. Nicola is owner and principal of communication consultancy Think Forward Communication, and Editor-in-Chief at AnewTraveller.com. Nicola revels in the visceral, experiential side of travel, and will passionately argue for its psychological paybacks, especially after a few glasses of wine.
José van Djick’s 2013 book, The Culture of Connectivity: A Critical History of Social Media, printed by the Oxford Press.
- Wiki Bio: Johanna Francisca Theodora Maria “José” van Dijck is a new media author and a distinguished university professor in media and digital society at Utrecht University since 2017. From 2001 to 2016 she was a professor of Comparative Media Studies where she was the former chair of the Department of Media Studies and former dean of the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Amsterdam. She is the author of ten (co-)authored and (co-)edited books including Mediated Memory in the Digital Age; The Culture of Connectivity.; and The Platform Society. Public Values in a Connective World. Her work has been translated into many languages and distributed to a worldwide audience. Since 2010, van Dijck has been a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2015 she was elected by Academy members as the president of the organisation and became the first woman to hold the position.
WildeNotes
Cross-platform marketing is a valuable resource for corporations, mom-and-pop businesses, and entrepreneurs. But, it can be challenging for people struggling with mental illness. If your condition already makes you question reality, having a show like Humans reaching out on so many platforms and in so many ways can easily induce psychosis. Put simply, psychosis is a loss of touch with external reality. Are our marketing plans encouraging people to lose touch with what is real?
I think that in the disinformed environment that has supported anti-vaxxing and the rise of demagoguery, it is fair to question how multi-platform marketing can destabilize individual mental health, as well as group/societal wellbeing. It is all fun, games, and sales until people get hurt.
Humans marketing by itself is harmless. The show was really good. But how are people in power using these same principles to influence or persuade the public? Further, can marketing be ethical? And, how?
Whitnei the Writer 