You Have 0 Fans
written by Pam Maloney (@pmaloney)
It’s a big moment when South Park mocks you (. . . is that still true?) The notorious show now in it’s 14th season has taken stabs at virtual gaming buffs, Guitar Hero worshipers and hippies in addition to highlighting the misfortunes and hilarity of a multitude of dead and living celebrities and quasi-celebrities including Tiger Woods, Christ and Fred Savage.
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Most recently, and although it was just a matter of time, I’m personally surprised it took so long, they took on Facebook. In an episode titled “You Have Zero Friends,” Farmville Fanatics finally got theirs. Entertainment Weekly has a nice overview. The episode was laden with Facebook jokes from “Stan, poke your grandma!” to “please please please fertilize my crops!” South Park fans and Facebookers showed their love by friending Kip Drordy, the South Park student with no fans, in what is a fabulous demonstration of what social media “insiders” call engagement, although, I’m not really sure what friending Kip will do for anyone.
I mention this episode, not just because it talks about Facebook, and not because some South Park fans are calling it the greatest episode ever, but because it made me think about Facebook users “fanning” and “dumping” brands and business as fickle-y as the kids on South Park dumping their friends. I’m not generally one to get all philosophical in my blog posts, but it’s still your level of coolness that determines your popularity – even in the online world. So I wonder why more brands and companies don’t spend more time trying to be cool, or at least cool-er. If you notice that your content isn’t engaging your fans or that you are losing fans on a regular basis, it’s time to put a little Fonzie into it. This seems super-obvious, doesn’t it. You’s think. So I’ll refrain from typing a list of businesses that just don’t get it. Instead I’ll suggest this . . if you are a fan of the business version of Kip, let them know – it can’t hurt to ask them to put a little effort into it.
