This is the second in a series of six.
Last week, I spoke about screen-mediated social interactions. Well, there’s one downside to them: Users will always leave a trail. Every click of a hyperlink, every word in an e-mail or blog, every comment on a social networking site—they’re all potentially tracked and collated. One specific personal example I can share is that less than 15 minutes after I changed my Facebook status recently from single to engaged, the wedding dress and engagement ring ads started flaring up on my profile page.
Internet pioneers such as Google and Amazon and, more recently, social sites such as Facebook and MySpace are mapping consumers’ cybertrails in order to generate more effective searches and recommendations, which ultimately results in more value for users—and, in turn, more scope for revenue generation.
In effect, smart Internet corporations are aggregating the influencing power of individuals. The corollary of this is that smart individuals will recognize and leverage the power of their social cachet by charging for access to them. To be more specific: In the next stage, enterprising individuals will use their own power of influence to generate revenue—their personal CPMs.
Unlike paid advertising and product placement, however, this model won’t be as simple as a brand ponying up some cash for visibility. Individual influence rests on complete credibility and transparency, especially in light of recent FTC rulings. An unbiased referral counts for a lot, whereas a paid recommendation is just another case of “hire a liar.” Brands and businesses must be prepared to engage honest criticism as well as enthusiastic acclaim.
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