Virtual adultery, does it count?
There have been a couple of posts recently on the social networking weblog about adult social networking sites and the potential for virtual adultery, questioning whether it constituted being unfaithful. I thought I’d delve into this a little more and give it further consideration.
This first article, virtual adultery, briefly discussed the use of social networking sites such as second life and ever quest for building relationship, some innocent, some not so innocent! It then went on to ask whether these relationships constituted adultery. The author and some quoted users didn’t seem to think it did, so long as it didn’t impacted the “real world”. The second article discussed red light center which is a virtual world created purely for engaging with like minded adults and engaging in “adult activities”. This is one step on from the second life example as this platform was set up primarily to engage in “sexual” (I use this term loosely!) activities in a virtual environment.
I have to say personally I don’t agree that it is all ok so long as there is no impact on real life but thought Id do some slightly more “scientific” investigation to get to the bottom of it.
Dictionary.com defines adultery as “voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and someone other than his or her lawful spouse”. So assuming that one or both of the participating parties is married I guess the next thing to do is quantify “sexual intercourse” which is defined by the same site as “genital contact, esp. the insertion of the penis into the vagina followed by orgasm.” Now I could obviously go on and on with this and begin defining each different points but I don’t think I would get much closer to a conclusion simply because all definitions of this nature are going to refer to one or more human elements, associated with the real world. I would therefore come to the conclusion that it qualifies as adultery if the individuals involved consider their virtual characters an extension of themselves, a bit woolly I know but that’s as close as I can get to a conclusion.
It doesn’t stop there though as there is another factor to consider, betrayal, “to disappoint the hopes or expectations of; be disloyal to”. By engaging in “sexual” activities in a virtual environment whilst in a relationship I would suggest you are betraying your partner, that is assuming they are not aware of what you are doing! The author does make this point in her closing comments from the first article.
“My advice if you want to engage in online relationships is talk to your real life partner about it and see how they feel. Reassure them that’s it’s just a game and a way to have fun, relieve some tension. If they really object then you have two options. Either don’t do it, or be really careful.”
I would echo these sentiments and in my eyes, virtual adultery would constitute betrayal if the partner of one or both parties involved was not aware of what was going on. So if you are looking to make the most of what the virtual world has to offer my advice would be, be honest, be open, or be prepared to sacrifice your real life relationships.
Some of the virtual sex sites across the web include:
Somasex – virtual sex super site
3d-sexgames.com
3dslut.com
Hentai Park
Free media? dont make me laugh
I read in article recently in marketing week entitled “Looking for new ways to make money in the age of free media” which discussed the rise of social media and its increasing strength and importance in shaping a brand and a products success. The article began intelligently enough discussing the rise of user generated channels and their importance in online PR and reputation management. This is all well and good and I completely agree with the importance of monitoring and managing a company or brands online profile to aid in its success. But the closing question posed by the article was “how do they (agencies) get paid?” which I thought was pretty damn obvious.
There are two precious commodities involved in any successful online campaign which are rarely held by a client, expertise and time. The majority of client side marketers (on or offline) would not know where to begin when looking at their online profile and certainly would not now the best way to leverage the channel to their advantage. This is where a good agency steps in with the knowledge and the contacts to deal with things in the appropriate manner. Then there is the time element which is one of the major reasons for any company taking on an agency for any activity. Only the largest companies have a marketing team which can take on board all work in house and produce work of the desired standard, the majority are best served acting as project manager and the owner of the final decision and leaving their roster to get on with the real work, especially when it comes to something as time consuming as online reputation management. When you combine these two factors you have a highly valuable, highly marketable product, and with consultants in many channels charging u to £5,000 per day I am surprised the writer asks such a naive question. After all SEO is technically “free” yet there are countless companies out there charging for their expertise and time in this area, social media and online PR fall under the same category.
Facebored
It is the social networking phenomenon which has taken 2007 by storm but I have started getting a little bored with Facebook of late. Now that the thrill of connecting with old friends has passed and the days of logging in to a potful of notifications is behind me I’m struggling to get excited by it all. All I seem to get these days or invitations to join the latest application doing the rounds and numerous postings of those annoying chain letter style messages (for the last time, nothing bad is going to happen if you don’t pass it on, no-one is going to delete your profile and you aren’t going to come into any money!). There are a few friends who I contact through it which make the process of logging in worth while but aside from that its all a little dull for me now. Maybe I am alone in this feeling? I know for a fact many of my close friends are still wildly addicted to it and if they go a day without logging on they start breaking into cold sweats and having panic attacks. But I just don’t get that feeling of anticipation when logging in anymore. Sure, I still use it, but more out of habit than enjoyment and also the fact I use the internet all day everyday at work so have access all the time. I certainly wouldn’t be too worried if I had to go with access for a period of time though and can’t see Id miss it at all. Maybe this is the start of the great Facebook decline, where the casual user drifts away and only the hardcore remain, leaving thousands of redundant accounts. This is how I see Myspace’s current existence, I haven’t seen their take up figures recently but I would imagine they are in sharp decline, part due to the rise of Facebook but also because they are no longer the flavour of the month and only the hardcore survive. Facebook is a long way from this status as they are still in the stage of sign up growth but they need to keep one eye on the future and think about how to avoid the decline, either that or get out while the going is good. As they say, timing is everything, but I doubt they will ever be valued at more than the current $15 billion so it may be time to cash in.
Facebook remove the is
Its finally happened after a long period of speculation. Facebook have removed the “is” from the status option. I speculated a while ago about what they may replace it with and I have to say I’m disappointed they went for the easy option and just removed it all together. I would have liked to have seen some imagination used into what it could be replaced with they have gone for the safe option and simply removed it.
Kylie enters the social networking arena
It was reported today on the New Media Age website that Kylie Minogue is to launch her own social network KylieKonnect.com alowing her fans to interact with one another.
One KylieKonnect fans will be able to create personal profiles, make new friends and hold conversations with one another. ![]()
They will also be able to download Kylie tracks via 7digital and mobile ringtones of their favourite Kylie tunes. And on upon joining the site Kylie will be their first friend!
The article claimed Kylie is going head-to-head with Facebook and MySpace which is a little creative license from the author but it is an interesting development. I would be intrigued to find out about the additional functionality of the site above and beyond what can be found in message boards on other fan sites and it will be interesting to see how it is adopted by her fan base. It is certainly something which could be picked up on by other artists if it takes off could be the first of an influx of people trying to ride the social media wave. Im not sure I will be rushing off to sign up just yet though!
Engaging the social phenomenon – does it work for everybody
November 2, 2007, 11:14 am
Filed under:
bebo,
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myspace,
social media,
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social marketing,
social mediaSocial media and networking is the new buzz word in online marketing and everyone wants a slice of the action. It could be through blogging, customer discussion or other means businesses are sitting up and taking note of the power of the social internet community. But does it work for everybody?
This is a question I asked myself in the face of a company who were very keen to enter this sector and asking for guidance. The problem is that people take this buzz word, hear the hype around it and decide, “we need to be doing social”, without thinking about what that means to them as a company. I imagine what they think it means relates to myspace, facebook and bebo, but how do you engage these audiences when you are selling something which doesn’t fit, pensions maybe, of life insurance. That’s not to say that some of the audience would not be interested but the vast majority aren’t going to be.
The first question a company should ask itself is, “does my product fit with social media? What am I going to achieve by getting involved?” If the answer to the first question is no, then stop, look for other ways to achieve your goals.
This example relates directly to the common perception of what social media involves, i.e. social networking sites. When looking at the broader scope of social it may be you can find a small element which will work for you, customer discussion boards, integrated blogging, community engagement, they are all forms of social media and all have a use. Social media has a much broader reach than the websites people automatically quote when the phrase is uttered. So look further afield, engage an social media expert and take their advice on board. And at the end of the day, if social media isn’t for you, walk away. Just because something is the flavour of the moment, doesn’t mean its going to taste sweet to everybody.
11 Guidelines to Social Media Success
Some top tips on Social Media from SEW. I think the message from these is pretty clear, if you want to engage the social audience then you need to be sociable. Don’t invade their space unless you plan on contributing to it.
- Know your audience / Pick the right social media site to target – This is first for a reason. You need to know what type of audience uses a given social media site. If you are interested in marketing to seniors it may not make sense to spend too much time on MySpace.
- Discover their needs – Study the site and learn what type of content prospers in their environment. This acts as a second check to tell you that you have targeted the right social media site, and it also tells you something about how to present your content within their environment.
- Learn the lingo and value system – This is just important. According to Rob Key, who spoke on Wednesday, each social media site begins to develop their own unique dialect. If you don’t understand the basic dialect, you will stick out like a sore thumb to the regular users of the site.
- Make friends – In particular, make friends with the influencers on the site. On a site like Digg, these are the top 100 users. The best way to do this is a corollary to the next point – add value to that power user. Comment on their stuff. Reference their stuff from your site, or in comments elsewhere. Suggest related things to them (that is not your own content).
- Add unique value to the community – Become a member. Social media, oddly enough, is social. People who take, and don’t give, are not popular in any social community. Note that adding value does not mean contribute your own stuff. Find other people’s great stuff and contribute that.
- Don’t self promote – There are almost no social media environments that are keen on self promotion. Even if the site terms of service say that self promotion is OK, the community itself tends to frown on it (this is true on Digg and Reddit, for example.
- Make sure the information you provide is accurate – Don’t be lazy about fact checking. Make sure your contributions will stand the examination of hundreds or thousands of people looking at it. You don’t want to be outed for providing lousy info.
- Be transparent – This is another biggee. If you are saying something about a company that you have some association with, be open about it. You definitely do not want to be outed for this either.
- Be patient – The big wins may well take some time to achieve. You are going to need to make up front investments to become a part of the community and figure out how to fit in. The right way to get the content you are trying to promote on the community site varies by social media site, but following the above guidelines will cause the people who come to know you to start following your stuff. You can also learn from them what is appropriate for that particular community.
- Be prepared to let go – Once some of your content is taken into the community, the community will begin to redefine it. This is one of the trickiest parts of social media. However, if you have created something of value, this metamorphosis is extremely powerful. Those who participate in these actions will begin to take ownership for what they have created – and they will drive the success of your content / brand for you.
- Don’t spam – The above points should already make this clear, but social media communities tend to be very fast in acting on spam. Just don’t go there.
