Remember How Awesome Social Media Was? It's Back!

#clearthelist is bringing back some of those old memories!

In 2008, I joined Twitter. I was rapidly learning about Influencer marketing as part of my job at Walmart building The Walmart Elevenmoms, one of the first commercial? ‘people as media’ platforms. Twitter was so simple, collaborative and supportive in those days. I was working with many amazing money-saving content creators (called bloggers at that time) who all helped and supported each other in their work. They collaborated on campaigns, created content together and generally worked together to build each other up. It was a beautiful thing.

Recently I’ve been transported back to that magical time thanks to Jay Thornton connecting me to a couple of #clearthelist posts. For several years, teachers have been posting their classroom supplies wish lists on various social media platforms to help them fill out their needs for the school year… what an easy way to leverage the power of relationships and networks. The power of personal relationships is amplified. It reminded me of how one of the Elevenmoms members, Katja Presnal had introduced me to Ted Rubin to amplify our collective influencer efforts from Walmart and e.l.f. Cosmetics.?

My first dive into Twitter was late 2007, chatting between corporate colleagues and coworkers, outside the company firewall as the new service wasn’t blocked or monitored. Thanks @jack. We quickly realized that this was way bigger than an off-the-grid chat room and started testing real business ideas within the network. We even managed to move freight across the country at one point, all by way of a tweet. Again, thanks @jack. You’re onto something here.?

Fast forward through new companies, millions of tweets, a few thousand followers, and more than one “Fail Whale” and here we are at #ClearTheList.?

Thank you so much for your support! It takes a village to run our classrooms and all this amazing kindness is just what we need! #clearthelist #AdoptATeacher https://amzn.to/3joJ3w7 -

Mrs. M

@edspecsweet

Necessity, the Mother of Innovation

The #clearthelist teachers are using Twitter to its best effect and garnering support every day. We have jumped in, and it’s not only a reminder of the good that can come out of social media, especially Twitter, but it has inspired us to find and create more opportunities like this… AND to regularly use our Twitter syndication to support #clearthelist and the teachers who have been reaching out, after seeing our Tweets, for our support.?

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Katja Presnal’s take (one of the Original Walmart Elevenmoms)…

“Refresh. Refresh.?

Ooh, someone tweeted!?

Refresh.?

Ooh, someone just joined Twitter!

It’s hard to imagine that there was a time when we sat by our computers refreshing the feed to see if anyone had tweeted, or if a new person had joined Twitter.?

I was one of the first online retailers on Twitter (with my store called Skimbaco). It was a big day when Tony Hsieh started tweeting as @zappos, because then I realized that my hunch for building online communities for marketing purposes on Twitter and blogs was probably right. A couple of months later, I started tweeting with John Andrews, and soon I was in Bentonville, Arkansas, talking about how Walmart could connect better with moms online.?

Twitter felt like a secret club, it enriched our lives and helped us to do our jobs better. It was not creating content to the void. We didn’t think of algorithms yet, we didn’t have comment loops, and nobody was buying followers. It was about bringing people together.?

A few years later in late 2010 I joined Instagram and got the same rush of connecting with new people. By that time Twitter was already “ruined” by the very marketing messages we so much wanted to have on the platform.?

The same happened with other platforms, more recently with Clubhouse and TikTok. Content creators built the communities - and then marketers came and ruin them.?

Truthfully, I don’t think marketing ruins social media platforms, but “bad” marketing does.?

Even today, when social media platforms are not utilized for two-way conversations, the results fall flat. It has never been about the tools, it’s always been about people.?

Marketers who actually care about people, and have the patience to grow and nurture online communities are the ones who are still today killing it on social media. The others - they say it didn’t work for them, must be the platform’s fault.

Collectively, I think we have the power and the responsibility to think how we want to shape what’s next and demand more of what’s actually beneficial to us not just as consumers, but as people.?

~ Katja Presnal, business and marketing strategist, owner of Insider Society community for entrepreneurs, CMO of Tumplate and the author of Big Rich Money: How To Turn Your Business Intentions Into A Profitable Company.?