A Flat World of Paradoxes
By Amita Malhotra on Dec 4, 2007 in PR2.0
Photograph Source: Time Magazine
This post does not qualify under the head of “Public Relations”, “digital media” or “trends in communication”, that the readers of IPRB may be used to. The author however in her attempt to observe the underlying currents of all these heads, in this inaugural post, seeks your indulgence 
I have been mulling over for some time now on the bit in The World is Flat where Friedman talks about the challenges of dual identities that we face today. As a consumer we want the best products at the cheapest rates (the labour conditions and environmental protection then not highest on our priority). However as a citizen we are concerned about how we treat people and our nature.
I feel the same duality everyday when I read newspapers – as a PR professional/Friedman’s consumer I reverently look at the mainstream media as a tool that enables me to connect my client with its audience. However as a common reader/citizen, I am less reverent and more critical of the same media for its status quo approach and endless sting operations.
An article in the Time magazine got me further thinking about the duality perhaps of a different kind that exists in our identities in the virtual space. One look at the “I, me, myself” broadcasting networks (read – blogs, social networks) gives us a window to very interesting paradoxes –
- Freedom to express vs. anxiety to impress
- I am what I am vs. I am what my orkut testimonials, Facebook superwall say I am
- My life is an open book that can be accessed from MySpace vs. it’s an abridged (painfully orchestrated version) of the open book where only the best looking friends qualify as “illustrations”
Many of us feel eager to learn how we can apply the marketing logic in this digital world. How do we get our brands to participate in the daily lives of these customers? Participate not just offline when they are watching TV, shopping in a mall, or eating-out but also online, when they are exchanging notes on how ugly the TV host looked, what they bought from the mall and what is the latest fast-food joint that others can’t afford to miss out on.I am still looking for these answers.What I think I do know is –
- As citizens of these virtual networks we are all aware of the “hot buttons” and motivations basis which each of us thrive in this space. We need to use THIS knowledge as insiders/citizens and not be overwhelmed by the offline marketer/brand representative in us
- We need to keep our eyes open about where are we going with all this? Is there a somewhere a protest lining up against this “free economy of words and thought recession”?
- What is the role that we plan to play in the over all scheme? Will it speedup the resistance against this age of “over-communication” or will it help find a balance?
I would love to know your thoughts.
Popularity: 3% [?]
On Dec 6, 2007, Leotste said:
Is this about living two identities? Frankly, it is going all over my head.
On Dec 7, 2007, Amita Malhotra said:
Hi Leotste,
Thanks for dropping by.Yes, in a way it is about living two identities. It is -
a) being aware that we are not either a citizen or a brand/marketer/corporate.We are both together and that can be tricky
b)figuring out for ourselves, how are we going to balance the two.What choices will help us respect the responsibilities that we have say both as a citizen and a corporate.
The post actually does not address one singe issue, it connects several similar ones. If that makes it less confusing
Cheers
Amita
On Dec 11, 2007, squinted-vision said:
There are no definite answers to your explorations. India is in a state of transition and so are its consumers. On one hand, there is a wayward attempt to come to terms with the mind-boggling splurge of the ‘outsider’ lupine brands devouring the meaty masses and forcing their cultural debris down the throat of a ‘pristine’ and blissfully unaware audience. On the other, there is an India that stands firm, identifying and taking pride in its identity (few and far between but still not as hopeless as it appears to be), an India of soaring spirits that goes by the ‘dictum’ of ‘I am what I am’ (see, its already a dictum and that too from one of your species-meida mongers). So, we stand in the midst of a perennial tug of war between these opposing or ‘paradoxical’ forces. In these trying circumstances, nothing defines us better than this apparent dichotomy. And all the varied dualisms one encounters, are in one form or the other a representation of our unsettled times. So well, getting ones brands to participate in the daily lives of ones customers is to get the ‘customers’ participate in the lives of the brands. Yes, that is the challenge, to bring a brand alive. To make it a living entity that connects at multiple levels of our pathetically fractured existence. A conflict-ridden organism with ‘multiple personality disorder’ but that still holds itself as one single entity. Don’t worry about the TA. It will be homogenized sooner than later. They are at work…remember, “the ‘outsider’ lupine brands”. I have full faith in them and you too can keep the same because there are fewer forces (divine intervention for instance) that ever beat the forces of the market. Good luck!
On Dec 11, 2007, Amita Malhotra said:
Dear Squinted Vision,
Thanks for sharing your views.I particularly like the part of getting the ‘customers’ participate in the lives of the brands.The bit about outside brands taking over, though sounds like a horror cum sc-fi cum 1984 scenario. I do think that to a thesis, there is an anti-thesis,there would be some who will question the status-quo. It may seem an uneven battle but its a tricky one – no regular outsider vs insider, minority vs majority, it is about interests and interests are shifting in a dynamic world
.
On Dec 14, 2007, Aishwarya Rao said:
Hmm…So I get the point about the paradox, although I am not too convinced that this paradox is prominent.
When you say ” Is there a somewhere a protest lining up against this “free economy of words and thought recession”?” what do you mean by it?
I was a little lost on what you wanted to establish by the end of the post…
On Dec 22, 2007, Amita Malhotra said:
Hi Ash,
The bit about “free economy of words…” means we are talking more and more and thinking less and less. By protest I meant, a possibility where we all feel the burden of managing our virtual identities and wish for simpler times where one could just pick the phone and tell one’s friend about planned vacation in London for Christmas instead of letting the status message on Facebook do the talking.
About what I was attempting to establish –
do read the 1st four lines of the post that gives a disclaimer, no such lofty intentions atleast in this one.
Do drop by again.
Cheers
Amita