For the last few decades, sociologists and psychologists have been wondering whether computers are going to spell the demise of interpersonal communication. We are all going to retreat into our dark rooms where our computers are located, and avoid things like playing cricket with the neighbors, shopping at the mall, or heading down the haji ali road for a juice at the famous juice centre.
It seems that the people mostly impacted but the rise of social networking would be the clubs who charge a bomb for membership. But this may just be more a result of what they have (rather don’t have) to offer young people, more than just the cheap drinks.
To attract the youth, you need Wireless Internet may be a Wi-fi or Wimax. I wouldn’t go to a club if I don’t have internet connectivity.
Moksh: As a Marketing person who does business online, I need to understand the psyche of the young chap. They are not introverts who sit nonstop on the internet. For them, it is their way of mingling with friends.
Daksh: I could not agree more. This audience has grown up in a system where the computer is an answer to all the problems. Be it information on a particular thing or if you are getting bored, play online games on local network, play online pranks and enjoy everything at just the click of a button.
Moksh: I think parents are also responsible for this attitude of children. They do not want the children to play out. So they prefer them sitting at home and on the computer. Thus getting back on the marketing aspect, these people are very strong influencers for a brand. It is almost like word of mouth publicity e.g. mouthshut.com or consumercomplaints.co.in. This audience sits non stop online and have an opinion on all things. And it carries weight since it is from a similar peer group for the consumers.
Daksh: social networking is going to change the rules of the game for marketers. Rather than just putting up ads on the face of the consumers, interactive based marketing will be the way forward.
Moksh: marketers need to understand that to make consumers loyal to your product/ service, you need to make them a member of your product community (as in case of orkut) online. The consumers should have problems solving avenues online so that you can get as close to understanding him as possible. Their need to be social networking managers to handle the traffic.
Daksh: Finally, it can act like a double edged sword. Good reviews magnify the impact help but bad reviews damage too and they need to be managed effectively.
