AR&D Reinventing Local Media

I had another gathering of high school friends last night, and it was fantastic. We now have a group of regulars who meet frequently and enjoy each other. We’ve gone past the early stage of “Hey! What have you been up to?” and are now simply regular ol’ friends. We have rebuilt a long-dormant community and added spouses and friends along the way. Herein lies one of the many wonderful values of social media. If eBay is “The Nation’s Garage Sale,” then Facebook is “The Nation’s Reunion.”

I should probably call it “The International Reunion,” as I hear from friends in England and Belgium, but for the purposes of this brief entry and the desire to coin a phrase, I’ll leave it.

We have reunited through Facebook in a way that’s just not likely (if not impossible) via email. We set up a page for our high school class (and anyone who graduated within a fair amount of years in either direction). A couple of us told friends. They told their friends. Now we update each other regularly and hold spontaneous meetups.

Beer is occasionally involved…

What happens at a regular reunion? You go reluctantly (or avoid it), see who looks fatter, and strike up a few brief conversations. (”Really? I have a Nissan too!”) You show a picture of your kids or pets or both, and that’s pretty much it. You say “let’s get together soon” and then you don’t. Why would you? These are people with whom you stop sharing experiences 5, 10, 15, 20, 25+ years ago.

Our little coterie doesn’t have reunions that are divisible by five. We have a Thursday gathering, a Saturday meetup, a “we can’t do this until August, but everyone send in your dates and I’ll pick one” barbeque. It turns out there’s a reason you were friends in the first place.

You meet and you clarify. Karen says “I thought you hated me in high school.” I tell her I didn’t recall hating her at all, and it’s entirely possible I liked her and couldn’t bring myself to say so. Paul talks about being a teacher now, and what it’s like to be on that side of the desk. Dave, Tony and I share thoughts on the Sox and remember a friend who was killed on 9/11. Kristi tells us of this magical land called “Nantucket.” We compare notes on adulthood: matters serious and funny. It goes on.

There are plenty of strange “friendships” on Facebook. You will be friended by people and think “Do I know this person? Do I want to?” You will hear from old girlfriends and boyfriends and think “You know, there’s a reason we broke up.” You will, at some point, be friended by your parents and rethink your choices in status updates.

But if you’re lucky like me, you’ll also rediscover a community; a Pompeii of friendship waiting to be unearthed and brought back into this world. You’ll stop obsessing over whether Facebook (and Twitter and MySpace etc.) is “news” or “silly” or “for people with too much time on their hands” (my pet peeve insult).

Instead, you’ll reinvent those friendships. You’ll rediscover how funny P.J. is and how Kristin’s remarkable perseverance inspires you. Hopefully, you’ll get Chris to buy you a beer, too.

Where newsrooms fall down in understanding the power of social media comes in the details. We think of Facebook as a way to get “fans” who will then watch us on TV or come to our Website. But it doesn’t work that way. We need to use it to build small communities, one interest at a time; a niche approach to those ideals our towns cherish. You can’t monetize that any more than I can monetize my friends. But you can connect and reconnect in a way that is more meaningful and long-term. You can remind people why they loved local news before things started to go haywire.

My friends and I are long past the “I knew someone who went to Vassar too!” stage. We’re back, like a band that reunites and discovers how much fun it is to jam together.

The music’s damn good, too.

UPDATE: July 13. After reading this, the “Kristi” mentioned above writes:

My only addition would be that there are people you didn’t know in high school and are just meeting now as old friends of old friends. You have a lot in common, can share a lot of the same old stories, but didn’t know each other 20+ years ago. It’s like a new old friendship (or an old new friendship?).

The other thing that’s great about Facebook is … that it’s nice that you have support whenever you need it. All you have to do is mention having a bad day (one of my friends posted “–is fascinated by the mean things people do”) to get a barage of support and anecdotes agreeing with your sentiment and offering help, if needed. Another of my friends was venting about a leak in her bathroom that made things unliveable for a while. Within 10 minutes she had over a dozen offers of plumbing help and places to stay. It really does feel like there’s always someone looking out for you.

“Looking Out for You” is often a news tagline. With Facebook, it’s a reality. Thanks for the extra words. The Web and its works are always in beta. Just as we are.

I’m a sucker. I’m one of those “early adopters” you read about – the people who get the newest gadgets as soon as they come out. I’ve modified my ways in recent years, never buying a 1st generation product. (I learned my lesson from the battery-challenged 1st gen iPod.) I waited for the 2nd gen iPhone (3G) and the 2nd gen Amazon Kindle. Both are terrific products. But I’m still killed by the indifference that companies show to the people who make their product viable. If we don’t create the buzz, the product doesn’t perform as well.

So I purchased the iPhone 3G earlier this year for $399, and the Kindle for more than I care to print. Within a few months, both products dropped in price. Amazon came out with a bigger Kindle that’s less expensive than the smaller one I bought. The iPhone 3G (S) alphabet soup starts at $99 – unless you bought the iPhone 3G this year, in which case they’ll penalize you. You actually have to pay more for the thing than 1st time buyers because you haven’t amortized the cost of your phone, or are trying to change your contract, or whatever.

Wouldn’t it be nice to see a company reward early adopters?

I can’t tell you how many people have seen me using my iPhone and decided on the spot to get one. I bet I’ve helped Apple sell at least five. I am that “volunteer word of mouth marketer” that every company seems so intent on finding. So how are we treated? Like suckers P.T. Barnum would be proud to meet.

So here’s a thought for these companies with high-profile products: REWARD THE EARLY ADOPTERS!

Amazon and Apple want you to have their hardware so you’ll buy their software. The software (books, music, apps) is simply bits and bytes. Give us a token. Send us a credit. Work a deal with the popular labels and publishers for some freebies. You could even make it a hell of a promo: “Anyone who has a 2nd gen iPhone can download the latest song by (insert band name here), as well as $25 worth of whatever they want.

Put it in the marketing budget. Get together with bands and authors who would love the publicity and would forgo their cut. The more people that read the book, the more they’ll recommend it to paying friends.

This concept has precedent. Apple gave 1st gen iPhone customers (the ones who waited in absurd lines to pay $599 for the thing) a $100 credit toward Apple purchases when it dropped the price of the phone by $200 just 10 weeks after the iPhone’s introduction. A token, to be sure. But at least it was something.

These damn things ought to come with warranties: “If we introduce a bigger (or smaller), badder product in the next six months, we’ll refund half your purchase price if you put it toward the new product.”

Right now, I’m telling friends not to buy the iPhone 3G (s) because of the problems with the AT&T network. “It’s a great product,” I tell friends, “unless you want to make a call. Then it sucks.” But how easy would it be to turn that around for me? “For every dropped call, we’ll credit you its cost and add five minutes to your plan.” It’s just software. It could be done.

There are conferences and companies teaching “Word of Mouth” marketing. I can summarize it and save you a bundle: reward your early adopters. Those who pay the most for your product and preach its charms should be lauded, not made to feel foolish.