With tweets, status updates, foursquare, myspace-ing (yes, it still exists), checking in, and an upcoming movie, it is safe to say that "social currency" is more than a buzz word, but a way of life.
I personally LOVE the term social currency. What better way to define one's popularity or interest to the world? It just rolls off the tongue...social...currency. Within the world of media/marketing, social currency is a buzz word - one that major brands are after on a daily basis. In fact, advertising agencies and marketers have invested millions of dollars into enhancing their product or brand's SOCIAL CURRENCY. Man, it just sounds cool doesn't it? Social is Fun. Currency is Money. FUN MONEY!?
While the term is relatively new, there is already a trademarked company and a Wikipedia definition:
"a common term that can be understood as the entirety of actual and potential resources which arise from the presence in social networks and communities, may they be digital or offline. It derives from Pierre Bourdieu’s social capital theory and is about increasing one’s sense of community, granting access to information and knowledge, helping to form one’s identity, and providing status and recognition."
Yet, the concept of social currency has been around for centuries. If you read further into the Wikipedia definition (no matter how poorly written it is), the site notes that social currency is "information shared which encourages further social encounters. It can be a factor in establishing fans of sports or television programs...However these types of fans can easily move to a new sport, team, or program in the future if the new one offers more social currency."
Does anyone see a difference between this and the lunch room in middle school? You are popular one week, and not the next. If you offer something to the group, the group will accept you, but if another offering is better, the group moves on. In fact, the band-wagon fans of the world should be 100% familiar with this concept (cough-Vikings-cough-LA teams-cough). Provide something to rally around, and we will remain loyal. It's a simple concept.
This is why marketers, media companies, and ad agencies are tripping over themselves to enhance the social currency of their brand EVERY day. Some companies are doing a great job of delivering value to their social followings (fans/followers/whatever). One example in New York City/New Jersey is The Lite Choice. This company offers all Twitter followers a special coupon code EVERY DAY for a discount/deal at their frozen yogurt shops. Every time I am remotely interested in the thought of FroYo (in fact this post is driving up said interest), I check the TLC deal of the day. As a fan or follower, I can then make it "Social" be re-sharing with my friends. Done. Simple.
On the flip side, some companies are struggling mightily with this concept. I cannot reveal the company name, but I had one person that works for a Fortune 100 company in the media/marketing industry tell me something close to the following:
"Great. I have 500 fans. What does that even mean for my company, my brand? What are we supposed to be doing with those fans? Am I supposed to invest resources towards this fan page?"
I was appalled. If a marketer needs to ask what to do with 500 people that have RAISED THEIR HANDS as fans of a brand/product/service, then someone is clearly missing the boat on social currency. It should be pretty obvious, pretty low-cost re-marketing. In fact, that someone should be demoted or maybe moved to a project that doesn't involve the big, scary internet.
Here we stand. We have a fancy buzz word, a society hell bent on telling people what they ate for breakfast, and a slew of marketers trying to solve the social currency question. I am excited by what social currency means to the world of media/marketers and the benefits it is bringing to consumers - aka frozen yogurt discounts. However, I know for a fact that there are people out there with "social marketing" in their job title. I have met them. Isn't it funny that a concept that originated around the lunch room, something understood by band wagon fans all across America, has spawned a slew of careers and job titles? It's time that social marketing and/or currency is not seen as a separate function with unnecessary job titles. It is marketing.
