Revenges of the social media zombies pdf

"Revenge of theSocial MediaZombies"

Why Social Media is turning theirviewers into Zombies - and what

you can do about it.

By Robert C. Worstell

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Table of ContentsHow Did This Happen?...............................................................1What Actually Works?.................................................................5

Why?.....................................................................................5The Secret to Getting Your Content Discovered.......................9What's Our Choices Here?........................................................11

Your Best Venues:...............................................................12What Do You Concentrate On?..........................................12What Use Is There For Social Media?................................12

Your Online Marketing Solution is Hub and Spoke...............13Your Choices...............................................................................15Bonus...........................................................................................16

Publisher's Note: The opinions of the author do not reflect the positions or policies of Midwest Journal Press. You will have to read carefully, test what you cover, and decide for yourself. Restortng personal choice is reportedly the only known cure for a zombie infection. Your mileage may vary.

(Warning: • Talking about zombies may be controversial.

• Talking about social media as enablers may be

controversial.• Talking about social media enabling zombie outbreaks is

definitely controversial.)

Zombies aren't just fiction. They aren't just on alternate TV channels or B-grade movies. They've invaded your social media channels. And they may be coming for you.

Revenge of the Social Media Zombies - 1

How Did This Happen?

Most social platforms started out feeding a fad which is built on a

social habit, like feeding morphine to cocaine addicts. They also

weren't set up to earn income, but to feed off numerous rounds of

financing until they "figured it out." In both of these scenarios, we

find a common zombie virus that finally matured.

For all the continuing hype about the "vital necessity" of having a

presence on Twitter, Facebook, or (insert your favorite social media

here) - it has turned out to be more of the "conventional wisdom"

speaking. In other words, worthless when you test it for yourself.

Conventional wisdom is commonly defined as "adopted, but

unexamined beliefs that support your per-concieved views." In other

words, it's the old and continuing game of follow the follower. 95% of

the people out there are following someone else, who is turn are

usually following someone else, and so on.

Social media became another time waster, a diversion, an

entertainment, but not profitable to anyone until those platforms

started selling ads.

When the platforms realized they had to fall back to selling ads -

that's they point they started turning their users to zombies. They did

this by restricting choice.

Advertising is what is killing social media. Because you can't run

anything without showing a profit (excepting only the government

and education, which is government-sponsored for the most part.)


Social media simply took the wrong solution to pay for their

overhead, like governments and taxes.

On top of obnoxious ads, they limited organic access from your

followers. When Facebook, Twitter, and now Google+ and Instagram

decided to start restricting content, they just crashed their own party.

If you want to reach all the people who follow you, you now have to

pay for the privilege. The days of any "free ride" are over. Information

may "want to be free," but someone has to pay to get it to you, or

distribute yours to others.

Facebook is now known as a great place to sell stuff, because they've

collected all this personal data on people and can specifically target

individuals based on their viewing habits. Meanwhile, interaction on

Facebook has tanked. It's become mostly lurkers. Perfect for

advertisers, like network TV. Viewers are zombified.

Usually over 50% of followers on Twitter and Facebook are false,

mostly 'bots. For the President and other "big" celebrities, this is as

high as 70%. Why are the bots there? To attempt to get their own

message across. Kinda futile if you think the logic through - it turns

into an echo chamber with very, very few listeners. Zombies with

zombie followers.

One of the funniest parts to this campaign cycle is that the

Mainscream Media is caught up in this zombie feeding frenzy. They

avidly repeat whatever controversial tweets are sent out. Of course,

the laugh is on them, since their overall viewership has been

dwindling for years, excepting only the bloodsport candidate debates.

Pew surveys routinely show that not even a third of potential viewers


even think they are telling the truth. The TV networks rely on

advertising. TV networks are zombie enablers.

More people are buying their own movies and viewing them as a

whole, without interruptions. Because they don't like to get

interrupted by advertisements or anything else. If they have the DVD

or digital version, they can watch it whenever and wherever they like.

Online, we see more zombie efforts with the futile efforts of Forbes

and others to try to force viewers to turn off their adblockers. The

remaining non-zombie readers simply turn off Forbes instead. The

zombies all do what they're told. They've given up their choice.

Natively, people resist becoming zombies. People want choice in their

lives. And they turn away from anything that doesn't give them

choice. People natively want to choose to live non-interrupted lives,

much like the "old days" when you could buy a printed book and sit

down to read it in a comfortable chair. You then placed a bookmark

when it was time to come to dinner or go to bed. Then picked it up

right there when you had time to read it again.

People thought social media was a way they could choose to interact

with other people and share data. Curently, there's less than 10%

chance you'll be able to keep up with these people and their lives.

Because Facebook says so. Because Instagram, Google+, and Twitter

say so. They say you must view ads in order to get a fraction of the

content you used to get. They want a zombie userbase.

I originally liked LinkedIn over all the other social media because

they would take content I produced. And I was running under the

mantra that the Great God Google would send you traffic for great


content (false.) But then I found that LinkedIn is limiting who will

see your content. Of course, you could buy ads (the same ones you

scroll hurridly past.) LinkedIn is a zombie enabler.

Now Bebee is replacing them. We'll see how long that lasts.

The last straw is that because these are platforms owned by someone

else, those owners can change the rules at any time. So if you "build

your platform" on sand, expect the foundations to shift at any

moment. Unless they have a paid model, they'll have to start selling

ads, which then gives them zombie customers, and they become

zombie enablers.


What Actually Works?

• Blogs.

• Podcasts.

• Membership sites.

• Books.

• Movies.

Why?

Choice. You can choose what episode or post you want to listen to or

read. People who can choose don't become zombies. Yes, podcasts

have sponsors (ads) but usually the host themselves is reading these,

and they are understandable. Blogs can have affiliate links to

products, while the banner ads have mostly gone.

Or you simply buy a complete version of what you are interested in

and then consume it at your own pace. You buy or sign up for a

membership so that you can get exactly the content you want without

a lot of other distractions, from people you trust to do just that. You

buy their products to keep them bringing that trusted content to you.

Content is the "new" advertising medium, just as it was when

Benjamin Franklin was printing.

Blogs and podcasts are new ways to get that content out, replacing

the printing press. eBooks and online videos are the same (although

YouTube is doing their best to make sure these are interrupted with

ads as much as possible.)

You either pay up front, or you put up with the ads from people who

are supporting that show. It's just that people are leaving those media


which interrupt them too many times. It doesn't matter how free it is.

People don't want to become zombies. Crappy content with lots of

interruptions won't get the following that good content with few

interruptions does - ask PBS and their sponsors. (Don't tell me

they're "ad free" when I have to hear the tagline of some

"Foundation" every 20-30 minutes. Less crass, but still ads.)

Even SEO is threatened by this now. Google is starting to accept paid

entries for certain keywords. Which means my browser adblockers

will have to jump through even more hoops to get rid of them.

Your answer to all this is developing and publishing great content,

finding and building your audience, and then refining what you

produce by what that audience is asking for.

I have a confession to make at this point. Outside of LinkedIn, I quit

all the major social media platforms years ago. I like cats, I just

dislike constantly seeing cat pictures. I could only "plus" so many

gorgeous scenery photos on Google+. And once I got rid of all the

Influencers on LinkedIn, I found my feed more friendly, but being

filled with pictures of inspirational quotes about farmers and

ranchers.

So, I've quit all of them. And by the end of today, I'll have all their

apps gone, too.

What's my approach to these? This is the confession part: I syndicate

my content to all of them I can through IFTTT. But I never visit, I

never "interact." I just post.


My analytics have been running for years telling me what gets shared

and what sends me traffic. Tumblr sends me more traffic than

anything else. Why? I send them great content that resonates. Do I

visit Tumblr? Only to check how my post showed up there. Cold? I

give them content they can spread around to their peeps. It's a win

for both of us.

My podcasts bring me traffic because people want stuff to listen to

that they like. And I sponsor myself, for now.

Google doesn't send traffic to my site because the haven't figured it

out. I'm not trying to "follow the follower" by going after a particular

keyword that is highly searched for. Instead, I'm working to find my

particular audience and give them what they want. Eventually, I'll

have enought content to see what Google "thinks" my site is all about.

That just takes time.

My site gets Google traffic, just very little from Google. Think about it

- if you are trying to please Google to get traffic, who is choosing what

you should write more about? Do you smell a zombie nearby? Is it

you?

Real interaction means emails. It doesn't mean friending, plussing,

liking, or hashtags. It means that I care about my readers and

listeners deeply. I respect them. I just care. I choose carefully, and I

want them to be able to do their own choosing.

And I know that they care for what I do and give them. When

someone emails me out of the blue with a question, I'll take an hour

or whatever is needed to give them an answer which will help them

improve their life.


That relationship can't be bought, can't be paid for, can't be

monetized.

That is what life is really all about.

I publish books that people want to read. Because they have great

content in them and people have relationships with their authors, if

only one of trust. They know that author gives them good data or

good entertainment in every book. When I republish public domain

texts, it's those books which have fallen into the mostly-forgotten

pile, and only need to be dusted off with a nice-looking cover and

description so new generations of readers can appreciate them.

Followers seldom if ever make good leaders. Following other

followers is a recipe for disaster. It's long been described as the blind

leading the blind from one ditch to the other.

Leaders create excellent content that their listeners, readers, and

viewers want. If those "thought leaders" accept sponsors, it's their

responsibility to ensure the ads fit that audience.


The Secret to Getting Your Content Discovered

Studies of successful bloggers, podcasters, and successful authors

showed they all did one thing. And that one thing is the same

principle successful advertisers use:

Ask to get in front of other people's audience and give then additional

choices that they'll appreciate.

You can understand how advertising went off the rails by that exact

definition. They don't give good choices, or they force themselves in

front of audiences who don't want to hear from them. Again, the ad-

space seller didn't give a hoot about their audience. So the advertiser

then began forcing their choice on that audience. Again, here is where

they make their viewers and readers into zombies.

In usual circumstances, this means the audience leaves. In the early

days, where there were only three national TV channels for

entertainment, and movies had to be watched in theatres, this mostly

left reading as the only alternative. And reading flourished. (Radio

was similarly limited to small geographic areas, and was similarly

prostituted to advertisers.)

Now there are thousands of channels 24/7/365. You have unlimited

choice. And so you see why people are leaving traditional media (and

traditional publishers) in a continuing exodus. Channels like Netflix

proved that concept by their profits.


Social Media was touted for years as yet another variety of

entertainment through interaction. Now we find that the early

adopters have left and the remaining audience is just "lurking" there -

meaning, they are just a passive audience waiting to be told what to

do. Interaction declines to just those who are pushing their agenda,

or in other words, marketing. Zombies talking to zombies.

This is what I've found in all the social media. Interaction alone

doesn't build relationships. Groups which are deluged with marketers

don't allow an audience to grow. Even Facebook's touted private

groups are probably more problematic than they're worth, as it is

exceedingly difficult to get quality content there. (Ever been swamped

by "attaboys" and such?)

Amazon has this exact problem with their reviews. Never mind that

by nature only 1 percent of all readers anywhere normally leave

reviews. Never mind that the bulk of reviews are one or two terse

sentences. Never mind that Amazon had to have its own staff review

the books in the early days. Never mind that, like other social media,

Amazon is in a constant battle to eliminate fake reviews.

You can't force choice, and you can't force social interaction.


What's Our Choices Here?

As I said, I only syndicate my stuff. Early on, it was just not worth my

time to "interact" when I needed to be creating more content.

Content would give me more materials to sell - the more I published,

the more I could offer to people. The point was either to build

audience or give that audience something to exchange with me (as in

money.)

LinkedIn looked promising when they opened up publishing to

anyone. And Google was supposedly making this content available

through their search engine rankings. But the trick to getting wide

exposure on LinkedIn was not in how well you wrote the article. The

trick was that you had to do a similar scene to Amazon, which was to

"engage" with various groups and people so that they would then

"like" your article and share it. However, as I also said above, the

groups were filled with spammy marketers, and the individuals

weren't necessarily the audience I was looking for. So I felt I had to

spend inordinate amounts of time to prostitute myself into

connecting and liking these people just so they'd like my stuff so I

could get it to the audience on LinkedIn who would really appreciate

it.

Nope. Not gonna happen. You'll keep yourself poor that way. And

distracted beyond belief.

That said, this is similar to what I tell people to do (as I've observed

by following 6-figure authors) on Amazon. The difference is that you

build your audience who actually want the materials you are

publishing. Then you simply ask them to give you honest reviews.


This is a perfectly legitimate way to game their system. They actually

encourage it. They have people who write reviews on stuff they are

sent by Amazon (and don't have to send back.)

I've already gone over the solutions to the problem.

Your Best Venues:

• blogs

• podcasts

• books

• videos

• memberships

• add to this: courses

What Do You Concentrate On?

Building audience and finding out from them what you need to be

producing.

What Use Is There For Social Media?

Running ads, to find people who haven't figured this out yet.

Meanwhile, take that great content and syndicate it to all the social

media which will accept it. (Something like a dozen or 17 of them at

this writing.) But don't visit these sites to "interact" or "build a

following." Not worth your valuable time.


Your Online Marketing Solution is Hub andSpoke

Just like a wheel, you want all your links to come back to your main

site. You invest your time into valuable content that is spread to the

winds and brings people back to your site.

0. Have an autoresponder service so you can enable people to

join your audience via email.

1. Have a domain and a webhost that will enable you to

produce content regularly - a blog, by other names. But it

could also be a podcast.

2. Post great content to this regularly, really valuable stuff

that people want to save and share.

3. Include sharaable stuff - like your images always have your

domain name in a lower corner. Take your text and put it into

a PDF and post on Slideshare or somewhere they can

download it from, preferably with its own community.

Include share buttons on your posts.

4. Set up IFTTT with all the social media places possible. Also

include all the free content outlets such as Blogger,

Wordpress.com, Tumblr, Medium, and everywhere else.

IFTTT can take your RSS feed for your blog or podcast and

then syndicated it appropriately to Twitter, Facebook, almost

everywhere. (And it's possible to go to Buffer and reach

Google+. Takes some time, but you really only have to do it


once. Then you publish everything everywhere possible -

multiple eyeballs seeing all your content.

5. Get into regular content production, such as publishing

books and then doing reviews of them on your blog, complete

with buy links. (See my "Classics You Should Know" for a

sample of this - and sign up for that mailing list...)

6. All your content, every piece, has a call to action or lead

magnet that invites people directly back to your site.

As you have your audience, you can start building up to create your

review team that will give you feed back on what you are writing and

publishing and also be able to leave honest reviews on Amazon to

jump start your sales.

The point of this hub and spoke organization is to streamline your

production so that you can spend the majority of your time on

creating valuable, fresh content. Then your stuff is automatically

syndicated to these social media which are all starving for content.

You don't burn time "interacting" in order to "build a following" or

anything else. You want to spend your time-coins interacting with

your email list, building real relationships. That action builds fans,

superfans, and evangelists for your books and your content in

general.


Your Choices

You have one life to live, a continuing moment of consciousness that

rolls out in front of you.

The question you should ask about these social media zombie

platforms is: "Will this give me more peace, or make my life simpler?"

Or - "Will I have to give up my choice or put up with obnoxious

interruptions from ads to get the data I need?"

Your lifetime is valuable. Your goals are valuable. You have just so

much life-time to invest in achieving your goals.

Choose wisely.

That's my take.

What's yours?


Bonus

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Date post:	23-Jan-2018
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