Social Media Backchannel: Are you an insider?

As I sat engrossed listening to the big-name Keynote Speaker at a recent technology marketing event, I was distracted by the number of people in the audience who appeared to be more interested in typing away at their mobile devices. Some seemed to take breaks to take the occasional picture or video of the goings on. Clearly, they were missing out! It is not every day that you hear Chris Brogan live! It would be like checking your office email at a Coldplay concert, as they start singing “Yellow”

Then it suddenly struck me! It is the social media backchannel chatter; real-time feedback on the quality of the session and the speaker himself! As crazy as it may sound, the backchannel is gaining credibility in some marketing circles as a tool to gauge public sentiment and engagement. If the presenter is brave enough, he or she can opt to see real-time feedback, sort of like a ticker tape, as they continue to present.

Extend this to your own lives. You may be a teacher, an entertainer, or a sales professional. You are often involved in one-to-many types of interactions. Are you sure there are no social media backchannel chats going on while you are teaching, performing, or presenting? How many times have you been in meetings where you texted to your colleague “Get me out of here?” Now, take it to the next level. Imagine, if everyone else, including you, could see that feedback, in real time. I will let you ponder that one…

Staying with the real-time theme, how would you like to shop at a high-tech fashion store where each hanger in the store displays a count of “Likes” from Facebook users? You can pick the one that is most liked or the one that is not so popular. Check this out:

http://mashable.com/2012/05/08/hangers-update-facebook-likes.

Moving on to lighter things, check out this old video of a “flash mob freeze” in Grand Central Station, New York, where over 200 people participated.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwMj3PJDxuo

Life can be fun after all, in real-time!