Why it's imperative for Social media Managers to stay up on Pop Culture

Are you on fleek? Are people still saying on fleek? Are you still trying to make "fetch" happen? Modern communication via social media has taken over pop culture(there's a movie about emoji for crying out loud). To be an effective social media manager or work in PR/Influencer Relations you MUST learn the lingo.

I certainly hope that by now I shouldn't have to explain to you what a "meme" is. They have dominated the internet scene from sites like Reddit and 4Chan and worked their way to mainstream platforms like Facebook and Twitter. One even made it's way to one of the most controversial Presidential elections we've seen in some time(referred to as Pepe the Frog, which I will not post here. Google it if you're unsure). These memes are used as both a humorous way to communicate as well as a means for insult.

Outside of memes and gifs, there is an entire language that exists solely on the internet. If we trace it back, like a good linguist, we would see the start of this with the original T9 texting on pre-iPhone mobile phones(we called them cellular telephones back then). We adapted this from these devices as well as one of the first, and arguably best messaging tools that ever existed, AOL Instant Messenger. We trimmed things like "Laughing Out Loud" to "LOL", we changed "By The Way" to "BTW" (also acceptable in speech as "BTDubs"). We converted words to numbers "To" became "2".

BTW, Hope 2 C U l8r, LOL

A lot of this use was reserved for teens. Mostly those of the millennial generation(we can blame them for this, right?). But as it evolved from simple texts and messaging it became its own language with its own meaning and usage. It's not acceptable to speak like this in public(unless you're in a recreation of the movie Clueless), but online it's almost mandatory.

Now, let's be clear, I don't think ALL online communications should embrace meme culture, but having knowledge of this can be such a great tool in breaking that tough to reach 18-35 demo we all still covet. Being able to relate is so important. Depending on your brand, being able to relate to this lingo can be the best form of engagement. The ever so popular Twitter account of Wendy's proves this time and time again. Here is a great example of them answering random questions using a current fad of referring to dogs as "doggo's".

This may not seem like that big of a discovery, however, this is just another example of staying relevant. Relevancy is standard in social media. It's what makes your account worth looking at and worth following. If you were a telecommunications brand you wouldn't be posting about the advantages of dial-up, you would be advocating fiber, or wireless options. Staying relevant is the core of our business.

Keeping up on pop-culture is also imperative. Knowing who the Kardashians are, even against your will, can be a great asset (I know what I did by using this word). Knowing what it means to be at your Kanye Best can also be key. Learning to respond with gifs is another great way to increase engagement and perception. Unfortunately, LinkedIn articles don't work well with gifs, but check out Giphy, also integrated into Twitter and iMessage. Brands even interact with each other solely using gifs. A recent Twitter interaction between IGN (a mainly gaming and nerd culture news site) and the developers of the game Overwatch, Blizzard (2015 video game of the year on pretty much every list) was done solely using gifs.

Again, I reiterate that this is not fitting to all brands. I wouldn't expect a Fortune 500 company like AT&T to post things like this...well, maybe.

But then again, it could go wrong, as high end computer accessory producer, Razer, learned recently. They tweeted this shortly after the announcement that Apple had removed all their ports and replaced with a single USB-C port. They received A LOT of deserved flak.

Instagram and Facebook have taken a chapter from this book. There are now entire pages dedicated to memes and internet culture. F*Ck Jerry is an example of an Instagram page that just reposts memes from across the web. It's not even original content and this account, now a money making brand, has almost 11 million followers. The power of that is insane. Across that page you will hardly, if ever, see a person, the creator, or anyone that works there (aside from the occasional Instagram Story). The power of memes is incontrovertible. A faceless machine.

I'm sure as you've perused Facebook you have come across these as well. Whether it was a friend, or your kids, someone reposted/RT one at some point. Years from now alien archaeologists will look back at our posts and treat them like the cave drawings of old. But, here in the now, be familiar, be aware, use discretion, and KNOW YOUR MEME.

After thought: How long before someone has a meme on their tombstone?