E-Marketing Humans

February 27th, 2012 • Uncategorized

We all use social media everyday but what are the effects of these mediums on ourselves? We are marketing ourselves online. We make ourselves readily available through: Facebook, Twitter, Eharmony, Google+, Plenty of Fish, Myspace, Nexopia…..the list goes on.

Dr.Larry Rosen at California State University noted that 48% of people post on Facebook as soon as they wake up. It seems our society is getting more and more narcissistic with a need for fame as people expose their daily lives all over the internet. People are advertising themselves and seeing if people will receive them.

However, the most interesting thing discovered from his study was the creation of “virtual empathy”. This “virtual empathy” is similar to the Random Acts of Kindness marketing strategy that I posted on previously. People perceive empathy as anything that is in-person activity showing relatedness. Rosen found that the virtual empathy received online was a positive influence that helped distressed teens.

I don’t know how valid these findings are though. I mean, wouldn’t someone who received more “virtual empathy” from more friends have a higher self-worth caused by Facebook compared to someone who received no “virtual empathy”. Not to mention, Facebook and numerous other social networking sites are set up so that people feel like they are being compared. Is that really healthy?

Social networking sites provide a means for self advertising. By “buying in” to social media you are accepting the societal norm that everybody must have a profile page to showcase who they are. I read an article a couple months ago about how narcissism is directly linked to personal social media use. For example, the more self photos that someone has, they more likely they are to be narcissistic. They do this so you will perceive them as more attractive and more likely to be friends with or to have as a partner.

I’m beginning to wonder how much people derive their impression of a new person from using social media. If someone were to add me on Facebook, they might make judgements about my “brand” through our mutual friends. Are these friends likeable? Are they people you would judge to be part of your inner circle of friends or someone who you could let in or are they people you would never associate yourself with but have them on Facebook to appease them? Next, they might look through your profile photos. Oh, she has a photo partying at that crazy music festival…out of question. Or, wow he’s in THAT fraternity, I never knew.

The big question is, are we going to have to learn how to modify our “own brand” from a young age or are we going to have to realize that brands are only perceptions which aren’t the truth. I could use E-marketing to sway your opinion of myself through using this blog. I could use E-marketing to make sure I have the right Facebook photos and right Facebook posts. Are we moving to a new generation where half our life is lived online?

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