Social this and that

I met a chartered accountant the other day who works at PWC and naturally we started talking about what we do for money. In fact, we only spoke about what I do for money because we both knew that I pretty much already knew what he did. CAs coordinate and sign off audits, right?

He was quite intrigued by this 'niche' in media agency and publicity. 'So, what do you do, sit on Facebook all day?' he asked, but not in a sarcastic or condescending way. One thing I've noticed about accountants and engineers is that they expect straight answers to seemingly simple questions. I paused for a while before answering, knowing that this would become a standard response to anyone who might want to quizz me in future as regards my vocation.

So, in true fence-sitting tradition of a humanities graduate and indeed media practitioner I replied yes and no, days are long and if you spend them sitting on Facebook you might as well be working as a sub-editor at any given newspaper or magazine in the world. He didn't get it and neither did I because everyone knows that sub-editors split their work time three ways: one third on online dating channels, one third smoking and the rest bitching about how writers these days simply can't write.

I realised then that this can't be my standard response firstly because it lacks definition and secondly it exudes a certain verbosity that sure as hell won't go down in most professional circles. And if we're talking about circles and such, what I've embroiled myself in over the past few months is just that- an attempt to break into social circles that I think may be interested in the products Total Exposure has to offer on behalf of its clients. Yes, Mr CA, the plot thickens.

What's more is that after I successfully infiltrate these virtual social circles, I must influence their members to talk about what I've told them even when I'm not there. After I explained this to him he noticed the challenge and conceded that albeit an interesting field of work it is something that can be done with relative ease provided messages are communicated by likeable, or sociable, people. I grinned and said yes, even though electronic communication is widely perceived as impersonal, mechanical or otherwise anti-social, there is that nuance of personality that exists in the social media space.

People flock to 'blog gurus' not only because they possess the technical know-how of Web 2.0, IT and programming but also because they willingly share this knowledge in an approachable manner while developing likeable characters for themselves, the geeky skinny guy with a quirky sense of humour comes to mind as an example of this character (think a Windhoek Light-drinking Zach Braff in Scrubs except he works in a cubicle at some office park in Sandton, wears Old Khaki, plays social hockey and often has friends over to his Fourways townhouse for a serious session of Guitar Hero).

I guess that's one of the objectives of This is Total Exposure: To develop an approachable online character for the agency and somehow build a good online reputation. I don't quite know if it's working out yet, it might be too early to tell but in the mean time I'm taking lessons in likeability, approachability and general cordiality. Will keep you posted as to how it's going.

Your friend,
Ahmed Patel