The 'normal' response to the Social Web
How (mostly) 'normal' people respond to the ideas of the Social Web
Marketing the Social Web is a headache. Only heightened by the clashing of heads as everyone offers an opinion. Picture those dinosaurs that have their skull on the outside. That's us. No wonder it's a headache.
But even if we don't think we're 'marketing' the Social Web, the words we use, the analogies we make, the visuals and demonstrations all build a picture. A picture that normal people are squinting at and holding at arm's length, like that one bloke in the cornershop who's trying really hard to see what he won on a scratchcard.
Whether we're talking about an AirBus (more on this later), a chocolate bar, or whatever the Social Web is, how we talk about it and present it matters.
If you subscribe to this blog, you may now be thinking: "Great, here she goes again." Valid - but, I raise you this: are you still guilty? Because I know I am.
What actually is marketing?
This is tricky, you're not going to like it...
"Marketing is the management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably." - The Chartered Institute of Marketing.
🚨🚨🚨 ..and these are the alarms going off in your head right now.
Let's address the elephant in the room: PROFITABLY.
There's a risk, as there is with all things, that marketing the Social Web successfully could rise one of us up to tech billionaire levels of incompetence. But, let's be honest, that risk is so small I think Kermit the Frog has more likelihood of owning X. And, you know, open networks mean that whoever the lucky person is, she can make her millions whilst the rest of us keep building better.
But we shouldn't be scared of money. We need money to make this work. To host servers, moderate communities, create campaigns to move people from Big Tech. Money, money, money.
Anyway, money aside, profit doesn't have to mean money. It's any value gained. Be that more users, or better interactions, or a sense of belonging.
The rest of the definition is a disgustingly corporate way to say that you're listening to people, learning what they need, then showing them it.
Now, doesn't that sound like what we're all collectively doing when we tell people to try out alternatives to Big Tech? Sure. So, what's the issue? Well...
We're f*cking it up
Fediverse this, Social Web that, no one cares!
Genuinely, no one cares. And, even if you get them to start caring, they do so in the complete opposite direction we've been heading with our messy, undoubtedly decentralised, marketing.
We're arguing over words and drawing very shaky lines around what's what. Language is super important, and we need to know what to call things, but we need to use language that works. Marketing.
To prove this, I asked my asked my friends and family a few questions about the Social Web and Fediverse. I know, what you're thinking, that's not exactly an impartial subject pool... But, unless they just generally do not listen to me (it's possible), even with their head start, it's not good news.
Setting the scene
This is, quite literally, the scene.
I think it's important you know the demographic of my participant pool (see, I can do corporate speak too). The small group of people who I asked to take my survey aren't farmers (or sheep), but they're the kids, neighbours, and friends of, it's important to specify, livestock farmers. Arable farmers are Enemy Number 2 (after Lancastrians but before campervans).
They all have a family 4x4 (in some cases, this is a tractor) to get through floodwater or to pull tourists out of snowdrifts. Instead of alarm clocks, it's sheep bleating or the cows heading across the village for milking. The becomes t', hello is a subtle nod of the head, and anything more advanced than a Wi-Fi router is still reserved for 'posh twats' or Americans. Oh, and it's a Tory safeseat, literally the safest in the country in the 2024 election.
These are people that didn't have internet as we know it until the 2010s. It wasn't fast enough to stream a TV show until 2017. God-forbid online gaming (not including Club Penguin, upon which I had many many hours). Twitter, even in its peak, was something you'd heard of but never used. Facebook Messenger is only just being overthrown by WhatsApp.
It's fair to say, it's not a demographic that is up to date with the latest social tech advancements. In these circles, the anger at Big Tech should still be five years away. But enshittification, morally corrupt owners, and general distrust of social media has sped things up. When I asked, 73% said they thought Big Tech platforms were bad.
But, what about the alternatives? Only 64% said they'd be open to trying them but only 18% had heard of the 'Social Web' (unsurprisingly, the same 18% had heard of the 'Fediverse').
Clearly, this highlights that I do not talk about work enough. I wouldn't be surprised if some of my friends think I work for MI6... But, since I am not a spy, back to a mildly-interesting-if-you're-into-it blog about ✨ marketing the Social Web ✨
Outside of this circle, we're starting from zero.
From a marketing perspective, there's no recognition or identity. So, with that in mind, let's start simple.
What do people think the 'Fediverse' is?
Here's a snippet of responses:
- Not a clue, variances in Iron?
- An online community
- No idea
- Like the MCU
- Police network?
- Unsure
- A multiverse from the Dr Strange in the Multiverse of Madness film
Are you getting the idea?
Tell people to join the Fediverse and they may smile politely and go "Okay, what's that?" But behind their eyes, it's this:
And no, technical explanations do not help. I know they're well meant, but they're doing more harm than good.
When we break it down, you're telling someone to join something which they have no idea what it is or what it could be based on the word you just said, "Fediverse". They're wondering if it's something to do with Marvel or, worse, the police. Then you're going to start spouting about protocols and digital purity and Big Tech is bad and they're thinking that you're calling them bad for using it. You'll say it connects here there and everywhere but those locations are servers with people talking about Java, or people threatening people who use AI, or people posting cat pics. But none of that will come across in this conversation because they've already tuned out. If they're still hanging on, they might ask you how many people use it. You then have the privilege of telling them a ballpark figure based on three different estimations all of which count 'users' in different ways and it will still be too low.
It's a lot.
But, what if we change the words to Social Web?
What do people think the Social Web is?
Another snippet of responses:
- A concept for interconnecting social media platforms?
- A web which everyone can access
- Internet but for spiders
- World wide social media platforms?
- Social media without big company agendas
- Platforms used to communicate between individuals and communities
- Social media but it's like websites
Okay, it's not perfect. But, just from the term 'Social Web' the connotations are already closer to the money and a whole lot more positive.
Of course, if we start explaining what that means in technical terms we'll be in the same mess as above. But, there's already a base understanding that we can build on.
If we use the vibes I wrote about, 'Social Web' is giving something more like this:
A Solution
Is it too much if I ask that we stop using the term 'Fediverse' outside of the tech sphere?
I know some people will get mad, and I've seen people get mad at me and others for this. But I don't know what to tell you guys, get mad, people still don't know what you're talking about 🤷♀️
Think of it this way (here comes the AirBus analogy the nerds have been waiting for)...
We're British Airways, we want our customers to choose us. We can take them the same place as RyanAir, AirFrance, Jet2. So, why should they choose us?
The Fedi-answer: Because our planes are the latest AirBus model with a brilliant Power Transfer Unit that allows for pressure to be balanced, using a hydraulic pump, even when there's only one engine running. We also have a double flash on the wing tips of our planes which is just so much cooler than Boeing with a single flash. You should fly with us.
The marketing answer: Flying with British Airways is more than just a flight, it's an experience. For the duration of your journey, you'll be part of our valued community. We'll welcome you and make you feel comfortable. The flight time may be the same, but you'll wish it was longer. You should fly with us.
Notice what the second one didn't do? It didn't talk about the tools at all, simply the experience.
Don't get me wrong, there's layers here. AirBus probably give the double wing tip flash line in their sales pitch to British Airways, but British Airways don't give that to their customers. Instead, British Airways identify the needs of 'normal' people, create a solution, and then provide it. That's what we should be doing, not chasing our tails with protocols and federation!
If you know what a protocol is, you've evolved beyond 'normal' to techxpert.
After doing this for a while, pretty successfully, here's what I wouldn't say in a 'pitch' to get someone to consider the Social Web:
- Fediverse
- Protocol
- Decentralised
- Federated
Instead, I've seen success by describing a democratic network of connected platforms with space for everyone to put a flag in their corner.
That being said, if someone asks questions and digs deeper, then the tech words do start bubbling up.
Guilt & shame
Yes, the rumours are true, I am not perfect. I have not eradicated 'Fediverse' from my life.
I still link to the 'Fediverse' in my emails even though the people I'm talking to don't know what that is. I still say it without realising. I love to use it as an adjective, Fedi-Splainers, Fedi-Crowd, etc. Sometimes I even say it whilst internally thinking 'Why the hell am I saying that?'.
It's not something people shouldn't have heard of or know about. But at a first touch, it's way too much.
Poor Stephen is sat at his desk, eating a packet of Prawn Cocktail crisps, and he just wants to post about a dog in a hat in a place where he feels welcome. He doesn't want the Fediverse, he wants that place he feels welcome.
So, let's start building those places on the Fediverse/Social Web/network-of-connected-platforms-that-doesn't-have-ties-to-Marvel-or-the-police.
Let's build Stephen a platform where he can post about that dog in a hat, it can go viral in his local community, the local paper picks it up, they start writing an investigation piece on why dogs look so good in hats, the dog gets a modelling deal, and the world is 10x better. That's what we should be aiming for. Dogs in hats. All seeded by Stephen having a platform where he feels comfortable. A place that's better in every way, even the ways he doesn't need to understand.
Is this realistic?
I'm just a small-fry in this space. Yes, I've spoken about it at events and I know a lot of the 'Big Dogs'. But realistically, no one knows who I am, my following on the Social Web is tiny - even for a niche space like this. I'm just a young woman who doesn't speak tech in a tech mans world. For this to work, we need the 'Big Dogs' to get onboard. If we stay divided in the same public spaces then nothing will change and we'll probably just confuse people even more.
I also understand that language is not universal. From my experience, 'Fediverse' seems to be a lot more understandable in German-speaking communities. They seem to be the group most protective of this terminology. It's really stuck in Brazil too, as well as a couple of other Latin American countries.
But here in England, the word 'federate' is pretty rare. It's not something you'd find yourself using day to day. 'Social' is. 'Web' might be. Both are descriptive and common enough that they come with pre-existing connotations.
It's not going to change overnight. Maybe it should. But maybe it's also okay if in the tech space we call what it is, the Fediverse, and when we speak to journalists and scientists and others about joining it and building there, we call it something more friendly.
I'm no genius, but this has been working. At the Newsmast Foundation we're bringing communities to the Social Web who previously dismissed it or who had never heard of it. We're doing that by giving them 'comfort' on top of the tech. Comfy seats on roomy, well-built, planes!