Virality can kill you: The case of Boaty McBoatFace
If there’s one lesson that Boaty McBoatFace has taught us, it’s that you can’t trust the internet. And, that when things like this happen it becomes front-page news.
Harnessing the collective goodwill of a sea of anonymous users to the benefit of your brand is hugely risky, and is almost always going to end up stranded on the rocks - especially if it involves some sort of poll or a Twitter hashtag.
Remember iSnack 2.0 from 2009? Of course you do. Who could forget the greatest lesson in social media ever to be leashed upon the Australian marketing industry?
Fast-forward seven years and Boaty McBoatFace sounds hauntingly similar, so why does this keep happening?
The Tow Center for Digital Journalism – a part of US-based Columbia University – has released a new paper that ties in with this new media environment. Talking to Richard Aedy on The Media Report, Tow’s Craig Silverman discussed the report, Lies, Damn Lies and Viral Content.
One of the main ideas put forward is the problematic rise of fake news sites (not satirical, but fake). The aim of these is to set out to create barely believable stories in a trustworthy setting in order to generate ad revenue. The idea is to initially lure eyeballs through social media. Hopefully, in particularly well-executed cases, the items will be picked up by actual and unsuspecting news outlets who report them as fact to spread the word even further.
Yellow Taxis suffered the ire of customers in what was intended to be a positive campaign.
This is problematic for marketing companies looking to leverage the fast and furious world of digital media to stimulate interest in a particular brand. For a historical example, revisit Witchery’s 2009 campaign featuring a woman searching for the man who lost his jacket:
This worked because people’s first reaction was to be intrigued, not suspicious. But those were more naiive times. In 2016 this is a much more difficult proposition.
So prolific is the practice of creating intentionally fake stories - for whatever purpose - and their eventual reporting that readers become increasingly cynical of where they click. The story needs to ring true.
Subsequently, the diminished trustworthiness of mainstream news outlets means when a genuine campaign has the potential to go viral, the audience is already to cynical to click the link.
So, forget about ‘going viral’ as your primary aim. Instead, look at what story you want to tell about your product. It will ensure you keep control of your brand, maintain the trust of your audience, and go a long way to ensure you don’t end up with a Boaty McBoatFace.