DOWNLOAD THE SHOW (playing time 14:41)
This one has been bugging me for a while — why is it that most brands get lambasted if they don’t “join the conversation,” but a select few are given a free pass to ignore it?
Mentioned in this episode:
- Seth Godin
- Apple Computers
- Joseph Jaffe’s “Join The Conversation”
- Charlene Li & Josh Bernoff “Groundswell”
- Michael Arrington on his Twitter/Comcast experience
Episode #10 - Do Seth Godin and Apple (and Their Fans) Screw Up the Conversation?: Play Now | Play in Popup | DownloadPopularity: 44% [?]
Add to iTunes
RSS/XML Feed
Related Articles
10 users responded in this post
Hey Jay,
Excellent podcast. I am not really as deep into the marketing aspects of things, so I was not familiar with Seth Godin until quite recently, when I happened upon his Twitter page. My first reaction was: how is it that he follows no one! I wonder what sort of value he is losing because of this - it seems strange to use a communicative media simple from broadcasting (with over 4000 followers it seems more like broadcasting than anything else).
Anyhow, I really enjoyed your observations. Great job!
Good stuff Jay,
I think you raised some very interesting questions.
I like Seth Godin as well. Very smart and insightful guy. But, until now I never noticed the no commments and no follows on Twitter. That is very curious coming from a man in his position.
I am going to pass this around. Maybe we can generate a little buzz and “possibly” get a response from one of the parties discussed.
Hi Jay,
Great episode, and I agreed with your sentiments about Apple. They seem to be the great exception when it comes to what makes a company cool.
It’s easy to mistake Apple’s coolness for the openness and conversation that’s happening elsewhere, but it’s really because of good design, and almost dictatorial control - kind of the opposite of openness.
As a recent article in Fortune pointed out, Apple would be in big trouble if Steve Jobs wasn’t there. (Can’t find it online, but it was the cover story towards the end of March)
I disagree with you about Seth Godin, because I heard Mitch Joel interview him recently on Six Pixels of Separation, where he explained why he doesn’t do comments …
It’s because having comments on his site would cause him to self-censor, and eventually shut up altogether. He was pretty open and honest about it. I can cut him that slack because he’s an individual, without a large staff doing his marketing for him. Yes, he’s also a formidable brand and influencer, but hey, he’s still human.
The interview is at:
http://tinyurl.com/6yvsxe
Cheers!
I’ve pondered how Apple can get away without using any social media tools (aside from the forums on its site but that I guess is actually web 1.0) and I think a huge part of the answer is they already have a tonne of fully engaged and happy customers doing it for them. Count the number of Apple blogs, Apple podcasts, even the iPhone commercials people make themselves on YouTube!
With all that and taking into consideration how tight lipped Apple is, what would they blog about?
As for Seth Godin, maybe you don’t necessarily need to follow every single social media rule. After all, not every social media tool is a good fit for every company. It’s the same for rules.
Folks, thanks for the comments, some great discussion so far!
Simon, I did hear that interview with Seth on Mitch’s show, thanks for posting the link for others to check out as well as it is a good interview. I do understand Seth’s reasoning. Here’s my question — would we let someone who isn’t Seth Godin get away with this?
Daniele, you rightly point out that not every tool is for every company, but I’m not sure about every rule not being right. Let me ask you (and everyone) this — is there ANY client to whom you would imagine saying “you should have a blog, and ordinarily blogs have comments but for yours you should turn them off” or “use Twitter, but don’t follow anyone”?
Do you think even Seth _himself_ would recommend that to his clients?
I’ve got two points in Seth’s defense.
1. That isn’t Seth on Twitter. It’s a fan that set up an auto update every time he posts.
2. Seth is very different from other bloggers in that if he allowed comments, the volume of conversation he would be “expected” to monitor and respond to would go through the roof. If he opened this channel I think it would be unmanageable for him alone.
I will also give him two points for his religious dedication to responding to email. Every time I’ve written him, I’ve received some sort of reply. Maybe he wouldn’t be able to keep up with responding to both emails and comments.
Good question, Jay! I didn’t think about that. However, from the perspective of my day job (a bank) there are a tonne of legal hurdles to go through. That’s why I’m a huge fan of not every tool is a perfect fit. Or at least every formula (CEO blogging for example). Tailored social media campaigns, channels, etc. is the way to go for some companies and industries.
I’m not sure if I’m making sense as I’m typing from the top of my head. I’ll spend some time thinking about this and blog about it.
Daniele, indeed there are legal and other hurdles with some organizations that trump best practice considerations. I run into those in my client work as well.
Freshpeel, good info about Seth not really being Seth on Twitter. I’m not 100% sure I agree with Seth being unique in terms of dealing with lots of comments, the Scobles of the world seem to manage okay.
[...] Jay Moonah mentioned Apple on his (excellent) Media Driving podcast the other day, wondering why brands like Apple and Seth Godin don’t get attacked for not “joining the conversation.” [...]
Leave A Reply
Please Note: Comment moderation maybe active so there is no need to resubmit your comments