It's Time: "Pay for Play" Social Media...

A student in my Social Media Technologies class was giving her final class presentation. She pulled up her YouTube video and clicked on the “Like” button a few times and said “I always do that”. We then had a class discussion about the REAL VALUE of a “Like”. We focused on (2) platforms, LinkedIn and Twitter.

When someone clicks “Like”, what are they liking? The way the person who posted the content looks? The headline of the content? The inferred subject matter? Are they supporting a friend or colleague? The company being promoted? Did they “Like” because they were asked to “Like”? Are they being part of the herd and liking because others did? Or, maybe they actually READ, LISTENED TO or WATCHED the posted content. We have absolutely NO IDEA!

Maybe there’s a little feeling of euphoria the liker gets when they “Like”. When someone “Likes” something I write, it makes me feel good even though I have no idea what they actually liked about my post. For me, “Comments” are like gold, they add something tangible to the network… VALUE!  So, in the scheme of “Social” networks the “Like” seems to be of some minimal value to the liker and poster but has absolutely NO VALUE to the NETWORK.

Scroll through your LinkedIn and Twitter feeds and look at what gets “Liked”, “Shared” and “Comments”. Also, look at what “Original” content was generated by the user or just regurgitated by the user from another source. If the original purpose of these “Social” networks was to share ideas, best practices, opinions and spur discussion they have FAILED.

When I look at my social media feeds I see mostly disguised sales pitches, links to articles I could Google if interested, very little original content and almost zero comments. There’s NOTHING SOCIAL ABOUT THESE NETWORKS! UNLESS you’re a politician, entertainment figure or sports star. They get all the “Likes” that mean NOTHING.

“Pay to Play”…How it would work!

·         Platforms are still free to sign-up but a payment device is required. (Credit / Debit / PayPal)

·         When a user “Likes” they are charged $.10

·         When a user “Comments” they are credited $.10

·         When a user generates “Original” content they are credited $2.00

·         Users are limited to 10 “Regurgitated” content posts per month

·         Users are charged $.50 for each “Regurgitated” post over 10

·         Number of “Views” will be added to each post

·         A “Thumbs Down” button will be added with a $.10 charge if used / credited back with a comment.

The “Pay for Play” strategy would still allow the voyeurs to reap the benefits of the network and would put the focus on intra-network communication by promoting “Comments” and “Original” content while penalizing non-value-added network behavior. It would also provide more information about the posts and offer additional feedback mechanisms.

Users would be billed monthly for balances owed. Credits would be carried forward. “Comments” please NO “LIKES”