Web 2.0 & User-Endorsed Advertising

For sometime now, I've been interested in the growth of social media and "Web 2.0". As a sociological concept, the emergence of websites like MySpace, Facebook, and Youtube is absolutely fascinating. How are these communities formed? How are they moderated? Does internet based interaction affect actual interaction? Do frequent users of social networking sites lose their ability to network in real life? There's literally endless ways to approach the subject.

It's certainly a lot to wrap your head around. As a (hopefully) grad school bound student of media studies, these questions probably interest me more than most. So, for the sake of this blog I'll narrow the focus some. How is the explosion of social media being approached in the advertising industry?

I've written in the past about advertisers being both excited and fearful for the emergence of Web 2.0. It's sort of a double edged sword. For decades, the advertiser was the one who directed the conversation to the consumer. In communication studies, we call this a "linear model of communication". This provided the marketing professional with an opportunity to exert a certain level of control over the consumer. The problem with this, however, is that it is difficult to ascertain the effectiveness of the message.

With the internet, it is easier for marketers to engage in a "transactional model of communication". This is where the two parties engaged in communication (advertiser and consumer) are simultaneously sending, receiving, and interpreting messages. With blogs, messageboards, forums, and any number of other things, the consumer is able to instantly give feedback regarding the marketing message and, if they are so inclined, act as a courier by passing the message on to their friends.

So, while marketers are giving up some of their power over the consumer, they are also forging a closer relationship with him or her. This closeness allows for marketers to get their messages placed inside of web communities by the users themselves. For a better explanation of this process, check out this article from the San Jose Mercury News. It's an interview with Ben Pashman, co-founder of Gigya. He talks about the ways that advertisers, like himself, are using user-endorsed ads to break new ground in the industry. Needless to say, it's a pretty important read for someone about to get started in the business.