Google Plus TLDR

I've tried to endure the transition period, deal with the messy association of pages vs. accounts and the interaction of youtube comments and how frustratingly difficult it is to manage all these amazing options that make up the Google account but I still haven't got it right. 

I'm not a professional social media guru. I don't really have the time to sit down and organise every little privacy setting for every follicle of my social media being. The result is a bit of a mishmash of giving too much away, and, things that I want to share hiding in open browser windows, only to be discovered as I shut down for the night. 

Too many dykes, not enough fingers. 

So Google is learning more about me than I really want them to know (get out of my brain!) and so are all those other SM monitoring firms that I have no distinct knowledge of. Algorithms are building the perfect list of things for me to read, based on this leaked information. Links are made and interwebz neurons are fired in the marketed goal of getting me what I supposedly really want.

For someone whom likes to be surprised, I fail to see how that can work. 

I don't hold any great secrets, nor am I overtly protective about my identity, but I do have a massive dislike for homogeny and pop. Since all these companies are tracking my interweb movements, page views, click throughs and whatever, and, companies are paying big dollars for analysis of this information, I can only imagine that the companies that can afford such intelligence are going to have a fair amount of coin. 

Usually, those with said dolleros are peddlers of aforementioned homogeny and pop. Thus, they work out how to target me more effectively. Unfortunately for them, those dollars they spend trying to entice me, are dollars wasted because:

1) I know that clicking on a certain link is measured and contributes to my SEO (or whatever) profile, so I'll deliberately avoid links that I may only have a passing interest in, so as not to create a habit which will see more of the same related ads/products appear.

2) There is ALOT of stuff on the internet. I try to herd said stuff into appropriate corrals via tweetdeck columns and circles on G+ (facebook is just endless shit that I bare just so I can see if my family are still alive) I have so much shit on G+ it's like one massive tweetdeck column with way too much for me to keep up with. It's already TLDR. What chance do suggested pages and "what's pops today" posts have?

Zero and buckleys. It's not ADHD, I'm just too busy to not skip their ads.

If they could really read my mind, they wouldn't spend another cent.

Not another list of Types of Twitter Users!

My older brother got an undercut way before it was acceptably cool and even wore a bandana around the leg of his jeans Guns'n'roses style. It was all way too "right now" for me. I'm not an early adapter. In fact only in the last few months did I buy my first pair of slightly too tight pants. When it comes to social media though, once aware of it's existence, I've been part of it wherever possible, including joining #Motorama, #Bimmerchat before it was #Germancarchat, and, #GMCHAT on twitter whilst in the middle of the Papua New Guinea jungle (though I'm not as frequent as I once was).

One of my first Instagram pics is of my third child less than an hour after his birth, and, baby pictures of all my rugrats, much like plenty of others, are plastered all over Facebook and possibly Photobucket and MySpace but I've haven't looked for so long.

More recently, I've been using twitter to retweet a new video channel (PLUG!) which has it's own FB page (PLUG!), Twitter account (PLUG!) and G+ page (don't worry about that one. I don't know how/have time to use it. :D). My videos are slowly getting better but as with blogging, you've just got to stick with it and still share them in all their glory no matter the level. I also use the twitter account socially to talk about industry.

My olde Beltedradial  account is my default account and can range from social politicking antagonist, to weird music RTer and general smart assery. I also have other accounts too which I use for different purposes and that is for a very specific reason: I don't get drunk at work (even though when I'm in my home office I probably could) and I don't dance at funerals. 

Equally, some of my friends just don't give a shit about cars or the industry, so I did the same partitioning of my instagram accounts, one holding just food, things that scare Alex and what my 2 year old does to my furniture (PLUG), and the other, cars of all shapes and assortments (PLUG). Both benefit from pictures of my awesome wagon though (LUCKY!)

In other words, It's still somewhat necessary to behave in accordance with your surroundings. That doesn't mean you can't be naughty, but be thoughtful about whom exactly WANTS to see your nipple.

Most importantly though, is that all of these avenues, all these different accounts provide ME with entertainment, education, instruction, inspiration, horror, frustration and encouragement. All these things, though experienced at arms length (if your arm was as long as a sinewave), make up part of my view and participation in society.  

So what of these types of SM users I promised? Social Media has this amazing power to connect people not just of like minds, but also those with diverse opinions and provide them with a conduit to share all but the touch, taste and smell.

The first type doesn't know what the hell is going on
The second uses twitter like a tickertape news feed
The third is a sharer
The fourth is a good SM managed commercial account which interacts with followers
These are all self explanatory 

The last are badly managed commercial accounts that are purely there for exposure, in some cases just an account that does little more than serve as a landing spot for the Google search "South Nambour Widget Maker on twitter". In slightly worse cases, there are corporate accounts which use a form of forced social interaction that is an affront to the evolution of communication: "Like our page and tell us why you love unicorns"
The worst case is an account where almost every tweet is little more than a post about their last blog entry/whitepaper. Zero interaction.

I do LOVE Social Media and HATE when people try to quantify what is on it (such as by using stupid lists) and telling people how to use it. However, if you're going to use social media, at least be sociable. 

This all came from a DM I received the other day thanking me for the follow. Here's the bot generated baloney and my response:

Thanks for following. When your favorite brands communicate to you, how often is the message highly relevant?

Thx for following. Was that a real question or just bot generated rhetoric? <-That's a real question. ;-)

So any hoo it's been a few days with nary a response even after I sent ANOTHER follow up message. The key takeaway here is, if you aren't participating, you're not being sociable. You're just yelling from your office window. That's not social media and I emplore you, dear reader, to unfollow this unsociable scourge. 

I mean, would you really talk to this person whom ignores you and instead turns up once a day to yell at you: read my book!

It's the only way they'll listen.

Some dude called mikmakgmi and his nipple

Just For Clicks

Way way back in the day, I remember a participant to #blogchat specifically warning against changing your blogging style in the pursuit of more traffic. "There are millions of internet users online. Be true to your values and they will gravitate towards you" 

I often wonder if that particular seer of interwebz stuck to his or her guns. If they did indeed let their motivations guide their content, did they achieve a readership significant enough for their goals?

Once again, another autoshow has produced a quote from an American auto exec, which has been used as justification to speculate on the future of the Australian automotive manufacturing industry. Once again, I'm sure the internerdz have thrown a gasket trying to disprove or confirm the false prophets, but not me.

I had one look at one article which contained everything I needed to know: just the quotes.

There is no real new information, just speculation, as usual seeking the eager pointers and finger tips of Joe and Jane Public.

  This is a hazard which exists when entities decide they are a news site rathe
r than a point of information AND entertainment.

The same scrap of information is regurgitated between competitors creating an environment of false importance.

I hope to change that soon. Please PLEASE tell me if I become one of those  "professionals" in it just for clicks.

In the mean time, stop feeding the professional trolls. ;-)

Risky Biz

Yeah so I changed the title to avoid either Scientological or commercial (same thing really) liability.....

Soon, unless you like the same boring crap as every other automaton, your favourite thing is going to be cancelled. This is not a new development. Anything remotely defined by being different, is living on borrowed time and it is because of that ominous monstrosity called risk.

Used since the dawn of litigation to not only put a value on fun, but also to quantify how much you can have, and, how much it will cost to have more, risk is the financial impact of a failed plan.

That's the business related definition anyway and that's the aspect (the dominant influence at least) currently pointing a loaded calculator at the head of your favourite product.

If you've seen those stories about Gen Y or Z or whatever being more interested in mobile technology than mobility technology, and the associated cacophony from the automotive opinion-o-sphere, then you have also seen a prime example of how obsessed modern business has become with risk.

Now, any automotive product developed with Gen Y in mind is less likely to succeed (unless it's a rectangle with round corners and we know that can't happen without a lengthy patent war). Therefore, making products for these yoofs is a riskier form of product development. Even worse, these young adults (which have barely experienced life mind you so are hardly in a position to determine what it is they actually want) could reduce demand for automobiles in the future, causing total collapse of car culture and the industry as a whole!

It really is best if everyone just invests in mobile technology and spends all their development cash on thinking of new and exciting apps......

Or, of course, you could do what happened waaaaay back in 1995. I was a mere 20 years old and didn't even want a mobile phone. What I wanted was something that scared the shit out of me, and I got it in the form of a 1988 NSR 250 motorcycle (which I ended up crashing.... often). One thing I had no interest in was Japanese sedans or 5 door hatchbacks. Then this happened:

 
I was in the back seat (sideways mind you as rear seat leg room wasn't a strong suit for the Impreza) as a friend of mine took the first WRX in Toowoomba for a test drive. The dealer, sitting in the passenger seat, offers some vague permission "it's only just arrived so feel free to make a little noise".

Two seconds later, I'm airborne over the Herries Street railway crossing.

Now the WRX was not the first vehicle of its kind. In fact another workmate had a Mazda 323 Turbo AWD but that was quite soggy and slow in comparison, and when was the last time you saw one of them or a Ford Laser TX3) on the road? Subaru had a hit on their hands which redefined their reputation beyond dependability (which came from their other segment maker the Brumby/BRAT) to a haven for enthusiasts.

Now this may sound counter-intuitive so take a deep breath, 2 bravery pills and try not to sprain your heartilage:

You do not mitigate risk by making a product that is the same but ever so slightly different to the competition. You mitigate risk by making a ground breaking product.

 What seems to be happening lately is that companies try something briefly, accept the outcome of a focus group as representative of society as a whole and decide it best to direct development funds to the current growth segment.

When it comes to growth segments in Australia and the North American market, SUVs are the strongest, which in one dimensional world says "low risk", but you know what? There will never be another ground breaking SUV (I can't remember the first or last one) and it seems that they have become as good as they can get. Where, then, is the room to improve, to become the standard bearer. SUVs are now so similar in specification, and function, and economy, and price, that every single one of them has a higher proportion of direct competitors. That makes every single one of them HIGH RISK with LOW RETURN!

Want more risk? Where do your peers go when they want to know about new cars? Since everyone likes to be perceived as a know it all these days, they head on line. And what type of car creates the most content on line? The kind of car that car lovers love.

The Subaru BRZ sold out in Australia in a single day and it didn't even get as much coverage as the Toyota FT 86. The non-turbo twins are run away hits and it's not because they copied anyone else in their segment. (are they even in a segment with anyone else?)

It was high risk from a one dimensional focus group point of view. Who would want a sports car with meagre torque and cramped accommodation and it doesn't even have a turbo!?! Everyone it seems. It was low risk to anyone who knows anything about car culture and the current state of the industry.

Now forget for the moment, development costs and consider the value of the product. What has it done for Toyota and Subaru as brands?

Toyota has recalled MILLIONS of cars over the last 3 years and Subarus last WRX was such an under-steery porpoise that it had to go back to fat camp before being allowed back out into the public.

All is forgiven because someone finally made something to rave about and it's not even very fast.

Get out of the box and build something different. It's too risky not to.

I know there will be a million risk specialists that will pick at this post because you need to specify the risk in order to attribute appropriate mitigation, but I am referring to net product risk which is a term I just made up especially for this disclaimer. 



  

Brand Management

Has anyone noticed the fundamental problem with social media? It is pretty easy to cite examples and even easier to summarise. Some members of society are complete wankers! The general understanding is that social media provides an avenue for society to interact, yet just like reality TV, the society that you see is influenced by the environment in which they reside.

For example, I have been managing my own brand for the last few months, mainly to understand how the social media environment operates. I would like to apologise in advance to those of you from whom I have tried (rather shabbily) to hide the fact that I am @mikmakGMI, @misterquality and @beltedradial.

Most of you knew the two former were one in the same. @misterquality came around to address issues not perptaining to motor vehicles, but yours truly @beltedradial, came about in order to allow me to say "cock" every now and again when it was warranted, with out damaging the brands to which I was attached.

The penny dropped shortly after my watching Bob Lutz on @autoline After hours describing how an absence of brand clarity at Pontiac, resulted in the ultimate demise of the General Motors performance arm (despite its self inflicted atrophy in the preceding decade or two). Essentially they denied what they always should have been: passionate with grunt to spare.

That is not unlike my own [d]evolution upon becoming a moderator on GMInsidenews. I still love GMI. It provides a great service, and the Brand Management of that site has seen it go from strength to strength. More importantly, the GMI crew have discussed what type of environment we want, decided upon it and focussed therein to great success. But it is not me. I will still contribute there (if they'll still have me), but continuing to restrain myself is like sticking your finger in a dyke. Sure it sounds like fun, but eventually there will be more holes than you have fingers.

Then one of my favourite tweeters @millionsofmyles mentioned recently how he was going to start a blog. A personal blog.

Honesty; what a concept! Surprised I never thought of it because I spent too much time reading e-books about what I'm supposed to do. (dickhead!)

Which brings us to me (the other me). I will be giving @mikmakGMI an electronic bullet in the head in the next few weeks and taking over the account of @beltedradial as my primary personal account. It will be my honest personal feelings about everything. I will be posting all manner of analysis, critiquing and general noise about what ever I feel like commenting about (but mostly cars!).

@misterquality shall be maintained as I'm sure many of you don't give a rats ass about AILs arising from your annual mangerial reviews.

So allow me to introduce myself. My name is Michael McWilliams. I am a conceptual analyst and technical communicator, a dad, husband, car nut and aussie.

I've also been around the track a few times making me feel (and look) like a belted radial.

Please feel free to post eulogy suggestions for mikmakGMI (note: must be <140>

MORAL OF THE STORY: be honest or your brand will die a slow and boring death.