MackCollier.com

by

What Kanye West’s Parler Acquisition Signals About What’s Coming With Web 3.0

So let’s look at three stories and see if we can spot a trend:

What’s the trend? I think this is the start of people who have built successful brands either acquiring or creating new social media platforms. The Dorsey Bluesky Social news is breaking and to be honest, it’s a bit different from the Parler and Truth Social news, but I think it offers a nice bridge to what this could mean for Web 3.0.

Will any of these efforts be successful?  I have my doubts.  I tried Parler for a few months in 2021, and I just didn’t like it.  It was far too focused on politics, and too much politics is….too much politics.  I’ve been checking out Truth Social for a few months and while it is growing rapidly, content-wise it seems to be headed down the same path Parler did.  Kayne’s brand will spark new interest in Parler just like Trump’s brand is pushing a lot of people to Truth Social.

The Bluesky Social news is slightly different.  Dorsey clearly doesn’t have the personal brand that Ye or Trump have, but Bluesky is promising to be a decentralized platform that’s more Web 3.0 native in functionality and structure. Plus, if it positions itself as being ‘the web3 version of Twitter’, that will attract a lot of people. On the other hand, those of us who didn’t completely trust Dorsey while he was running Twitter probably won’t completely trust him running the potential web3 version of Twitter.

Still, I believe influencers creating platforms to connect with fans and around topics they want to focus on is something we will see more of in web3. I think it will be a transition, I could see Web 2.0 influencers who already have a built audience being first.  Maybe someone like a Mr. Beast could have his own platform devoted to videos.  Then over time, as the crop of web3 influencers emerge, they would have similar offerings associated with their brands.  For example, I could see a @Coopahtroopa having a web3 platform devoted to web3 music.

Should Web3 Money Flow to Influencers or Topics?

This is where the rubber will meet the road in web3.  I believe there is enormous potential for web3 to create decentralized communities that are organized around a niche focus.  This could be an influencer creating a web3 platform for their fans so they can connect with them around topics the influencer enjoys. I think this is where a lot of money will flow once this ball gets rolling.

But I think the TRUE value for all of us will be in decentralized web3 communities that are driven and curated by the community itself. These communities would form around an idea, a topic, a vision.  Something that like-minded people are passionate about, and can find value in connect with other people that share the same excitement.  It could something as simple as a platform for Cleveland Browns fans to connect. Or it could be ham radio enthusiasts, or people dealing with chronic health issues who need a community for information and support.

These type of communities will be different from Web 2.0 counterparts, because the participants will have more ways to contribute and create value. For instance, a person who spends 4 hours a day on a platform connecting with people who are dealing with the same chronic illness has created value for the community. That value could be compensated in the form of tokens or something similar, which that person could either use as a form of personal income, or they could pool back into the community. Tokens could be pooled back into the community to crowd-fund initiatives that benefit the entire community. Maybe the community chips in and purchases a day of time with a medical expert to speak to the community and give customized advice to participants.  The possibilities are endless.

Growing Slow Sometimes Beats Growing Fast

I talked a couple of weeks ago about how a community cannot go mainstream. The underlying message in that post was that as a community grows, it will eventually reach a point where the overall experience of the community begins to degrade. The community managers and the community itself needs to be aware of when this point is reached, and dial it back. If growth continues past that point, the community experience will continue to degrade and eventually the community could shatter.

When you add in the desire by a community to monetize its efforts, that can push for growth that may not be sustainable. It’s totally a balancing act and it will require smart managers who are rooted in their communities and have a deep understanding and appreciation of what the group is and wants to be.

The concept of what an online community is or could be will grow and evolve over the next few years as web3 technologies begin to take hold. I think you will see online communities that look different from Web 2.0 counterparts. I think you will see different structures, and you will see more integration with the offline world.  The connections and value created online won’t be locked there, they will float and merge with the offline world.

It will be exciting to watch, I’m looking forward to seeing what happens.

by

Monday’s Marketing Minute: Kayne Buys Parler, Marketers Move to Metaverse, Edit Button Isn’t Helping Twitter

Happy Monday, y’all! We are smack dab in the middle of Fall now and I love it!  Here’s three business/marketing/web 3 stories I enjoyed to get your week started off right!

 

Kayne is buying Parler. Parler is the social media app that rose to prominence in 2021 as backlash fueled over conservative voices on Twitter being banned.  Many of these users moved to Parler, but the site never seemed to get its footing. Well now Kayne has decided to buy the site and give it the Ye treatment. We’ll see how that works out, I will have more on this story in Wednesday’s post.

 

Marketers are ready to give the Metaverse a go. Check out the article as there are a lot of juicy nuggets about how marketers view the social media and digital landscape heading into 2023.

 

Apparently, the rollout of Twitter’s edit function has not given the surge in Blue signups that many expected. Maybe I’m being petty, but that gives me some satisfaction.  Since its inception, Twitter users have been begging for an edit button.  The constant complaints were all but ignored, and many with coding knowledge have long said adding editing ability would have been an easy fix.  It just never seemed to be a priority for Twitter to give the most requested feature to its users.

So when Twitter finally rolls out editing, it is part of Blue, meaning you have to PAY to get the feature.  Such a dumb move on multiple levels.  First, it honked off the userbase who has been begging for the feature for over a decade, then those users are forced to pay to get it.  The smarter play would have been to roll out editing to ALL users, but with limited functionality.  Then after everyone starts using and loving the feature, later roll it out to Blue users with additional functionality that would actually drive revenue.

 

So that’s it for this week’s edition of Monday’s Marketing Minute.  As I said earlier, I’ll have more thoughts on the Kayne Parler acquisition on Weds,  I think this move signals one of the defining trends we will see in web3, and I think it will be a good thing.  Hope you have a wonderful week, if you are traveling, stay safe and have fun!

by

Monday’s Marketing Minute: Twitter Needs Revenue, Top Social Apps Surprising, Staying On-Brand Means $$$

Happy Monday! Hope everyone is safe, warm and happy as we start the week. The warm part is gonna be tougher as a good portion of the southwest and southeast woke up to ice and snow this morning. It feels like I’ve been cold for weeks, let’s hope winter breaks way to Spring soon!

BTW, thanks to everyone for the great response to the first issue of the newly launched Backstage Pass newsletter! If you missed the first issue, you can view it here, and subscribe here. Next issue hits inboxes this Friday at 8am!

 

If Twitter’s recent moves are any indication, the social media site is anticipating a decline in revenue. Twitter is making moves to unlock additional revenue streams, such as recently buying newsletter service Revue, and now exploring adding charges to some features, as well as maybe adding subscription options for users. This could be setting up a very interesting Q1 earnings report for Twitter. I’m almost wondering if Twitter could be setting up such moves as a hedge against disappointing revenue performance or forecasts for later in the year.

 

For the first time in maybe a decade, there seems to be a real sense of competition developing among social media platforms. Just look at the top social media app downloads and note how Facebook and Instagram were shut out of the Top 3 on all lists, and Twitter didn’t crack the Top 10 on any of them. And breaking just as I’m writing this, it seems Twitter-competitor Parler is coming back online (still not loading for me, although I am seeing many people on Twitter saying it’s back up). And I would suspect Clubhouse will rank pretty highly in the next App Store downloads update.

 

And finally, I love this example of the power of branding that resonates with customers, and that’s on point.

 

Hope y’all have an amazing week! See you back here tomorrow with a new post on the social audio phenomenon, Tuesday night at 7pm on Twitter discussing overcoming our content creation obstacles on #ContentCircus. and Friday morning at 8am the next issue of Backstage Pass drops, helping CEOs and Managers deal with a workforce that’s suddenly remote.

by

Monday’s Marketing Minute: Covid Vaccine Spikes Markets, Parler Taking Off

Happy Monday, y’all! Apologies for not posting since last Tuesday, I got too caught up in the election drama like we all did. Unfortunately, it looks like it may be a few more weeks before we get everything sorted. As I tweeted last week, the best thing we can do is turn OFF the media. It’s wonderful for your mental health!

 

Speaking of health, hugely important news from the pharmaceutical world is breaking this morning, as Pfizer has announced that its covid vaccine candidate has achieved 90% effectiveness in trials. The stock market just opened up well over a thousand points to an all-time high on the news.

 

Kids are spending a lot more time with electronic devices this year. This is another indication of how our behavior is changing as a result of spending more time at home due to covid. As parents, it will be a challenge to monitor the new habits our children are adopting in regards to use of electronic devices, and make sure they don’t overdo it.

 

If you haven’t yet heard of Parler, you probably will soon. Parler is the first competitor to Twitter to actually gain some decent traction with users since…gosh…probably Identi.ca, a decade or so ago. Parler is positioning itself as the ‘free speech’ alternative to Twitter. GAB tried this last year, and it really didn’t work that well for them. But Parler has roped in some big-name influencers in conservative media and that’s helping its popularity.  Personally, I love the conversation there, and the exchanges are basically free of the constant arguing and trolls that have taken over Twitter. I’m not a huge fan of the interface, Twitter’s mobile app is much more intuitive for me. But I will definitely be spending more time on Parler, you can find me there under the name MackCollier, same as my Twitter handle.

 

That’s it for Monday, hope everyone has a wonderful week! Remember to tune the toxic people and information out of your life, and embrace the good people! See you tomorrow!