Over 60% of the world’s population is active on one or more forms of social media. You’ve got to wonder what that’s about. Why are people so focused on Facebook, so tethered to Twitter?
On one level, this is an easy question to answer. We can talk about the fundamental imperative that drives human beings to communicate with each other. Talking is what people do: communicating with each other allows us to make smarter decisions, enjoy a higher quality of life, and attain goals more efficiently and effectively. The propensity to engage in conversation is one of the defining characteristics of humanity. Social media provides a vehicle where we can talk with more people, at greater distances, at a speed never before imaginable in all of human existence.Given the serious benefits that communication offers, it’s no wonder that social media has become such a phenomenon.
Yet while communication offers serious benefits, not all communication is serious. In fact, some of the most powerful conversations — those that offer real rewards in terms of establishing and strengthening relationships — are pretty funny.
There’s a reason for this. According to Karyn Buxman, author and former president of the American Association for Therapeutic Humor, humor is a social lubricant. People enjoy laughing (for both social and biomechanical reasons) and seek out opportunities where they can enjoy humor. We’re a savvy species, and have long ago figured this out. From the class clown who cuts up to get attention from his peers to the landscape full of funny billboards, humanity has a history of leveraging laughter to fill social and entrepreneurial needs.
This can work really well on social media. Take, for example, this Twitter exchange between Oreo and AMC Movie Theaters.
It began with a simple musing from the Oreo team, about the time honored tradition of sneaking food into the movie theater. AMC responded, and before you know it, thousands of people were watching the two brands swapping comments. It’s important to consider is the humorous, pseudo-combative framing of the exchange. A bantering exchange between two brands presents both in a good light. The Twitter stream with its air of friendly competitiveness and obvious awareness of current pop-culture tropes imbues both Oreo and AMC with a sense of identifiable humanity.
Focusing on the fun is a smart move on social media. People are retweeting the exchange and following along in part because they want to see who can be funnier. Who will win the witty exchange? It is a mini-event, the type of moment that makes social media enjoyable for the end user.
Remember too that social media users can gain some measure of social standing by being the first to discover or share a funny post, video, or exchange with their peers. Every person who forwarded these Tweets was feeding the essential human hunger for gossip.
If we think about gossip as the act of gathering together in intimate groups to enjoy the same stories in common with other, it’s easy to see how social media’s ability to filter audiences into select small groups is so appealing. The person who can, with a few quick clicks, determine who gets to see the funny material and who is left out of the laughs is fulfilling, albeit likely unconsciously, the need to dominate, to be in charge, to decide. There can be deep water under even the most shallow boat.
It’ll be interesting to see where the exchange grows. Perhaps it will grow to an epic size, becoming part of both brand’s legacy. Perhaps a Pro-Oreo group will grow up behind the sneak cookies into the theater idea, while fans of AMC can unite to defend the tradition of stereotypically high priced movie snacks. Perhaps it will all just fade away, destined to be nothing more than a Tweet memory.
No matter what, both brands won by becoming more humanistic and approachable in the eyes of their customers. That’s the secret to relevance on social media.