Douglas Rushkoff -- Fighting for #TeamHuman

Philip McKenzieamp160amp160In your book Team Humanamp160you discuss the social nature of human beingsamp160 Is modernday influencer marketing a natural extension of that social nature Douglas Rushkoffamp160amp160People certainly want to influence one anotheramp160 It is part of being aliveamp160 As a species we have learned over time how to make our needs knownamp160 The inflection in your voice is a way to influenceamp160 But if you reverseengineer that tonal range and make the determination that shifts in tone are more likely to cause buyin or acquiesce to demands then the mimicking of human function kicks inamp160 Using that tone in a commercial to sell things becomes neurolinguistic programmingamp160 Then you have crossed a lineamp160 I approve of spontaneous natural social communications but imposing on them feels like manipulationMcKenzieamp160amp160If you39re not paying for a product or service then basically you are the productamp160 We live in an era of people as a brandamp160 How does influencer marketing impact that idea of people as a brand Rushkoffamp160amp160After World War IIamp160there were no more colonies to take over and no more room for territorial expansionamp160 Maintaining economic growth a requirement of our operating system but not necessarily economics itself requires consumptionamp160 Industry no longer served the needs of human beings and started to look at human beings as actors who could contribute to the growth of the marketplaceamp160 Citizens became consumers and consumption the primary role and purpose in the economyamp160 The underlying assumption in marketing is that as long as people are consuming they39re happyamp160 Today even as people have less money to serve as society39s consumers they can at least serve as data repositoriesamp160 If you can39t supply money then you supply dataamp160 The consumer is the acted upon and influencer marketing is the mechanism that drives that actionMcKenzieamp160amp160Consumption is very connected to individual goals versus collective goalsamp160 How do marketers balance those two realities Rushkoff amp160There39s no shortage of individuals and individual freedomamp160 In America people are willing to sacrifice their wellbeing social cohesion stability and sustainability for the false notion of individual freedomamp160 But the truth is there is no individualamp160 There39s no such thingamp160 It39s an utter fictionamp160 It was created in order to promote more consumptionamp160 The more people spend time with one another the less stuff they buyamp160 A deep connection to other humans makes you an enemy of the marketplaceMcKenzieamp160 With so many people willingly feeding the system with data or acting as influencers how do we deal with manipulation Rushkoff amp160We have to spend time with each other that is not digitalamp160 Civic organizations libraries andamp160social institutions that predate consumerism are all viable alternativesamp160 If we reacquaint ourselves without digital crutches I believe we39ll be less afraid of each otheramp160 Turn off the TV and go outside and start talking to people and then people who are inside will want to come out and see what39s going onamp160 That is a type of influence that is sorely neededamp160 It is peertopeer influence and it is an innately human social orderMcKenzieamp160amp160Engagement is important to marketers and we use metrics to measure it but how do we measure the quality of connections beyond likesclicks Rushkoffamp160amp160You cannot evaluate engagement through metrics you can only evaluate metrics through metricsamp160 Human beings are more complexamp160 The ranges of interactions we have are more complexamp160 The only people who are going to put metrics on engagement are people who are leveraging engagement for something elseamp160 They39re not really looking at engagementamp160 They39re looking at customer loyalty or the likelihood of spending money or longevity of interactive contact or something like thatamp160 But that39s not engagementMcKenzieamp160amp160In Team Humanamp160you discuss people who are quotspoilsportsquot they are the ones who don39t opt into the systemamp160 Why are spoilsports so vital Rushkoffamp160amp160Spoilsports call attention to the cracks in the system by not playing the game If you work too hard at not playing the game it could mean you39re almost playing the game againamp160 Punk is a good example of thisamp160 Was punk anticonsumer fashion or was it just a different consumer fashion To be a spoilsport you have to refuse to acknowledge the rules of the game at allamp160 They don39t stay on the field and instead are looking for liminal spaces between one thing and anotheramp160 The liminal space is where there is valueMcKenzieamp160 How do you use your personal influence in service of Team HumanRushkoffamp160amp160Since the Team Humanamp160release I have been doing events nationally and internationallyamp160 As one person physically I don39t scale like the book doesamp160 Convening live events where people gather togetheramp160and experience solidarity is one of the very best things I can doamp160 I am conscious of not making TeamHuman into another quotthingquot to joinamp160 I don39t want to burden the world with yet another organizationamp160 I want to be egoless with TeamHuman so like pollen it spreads on its ownamp160 I want people to have the confidence they can reclaim this reality for themselves as our society is collaborative not competitiveClick the social buttons above or below to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writersamp160

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Douglas Rushkoff -- Fighting for #TeamHuman

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Philip McKenzie

"About That with Carl Mayer": Involved Media Connected Audience Fall 2024 Report (Episode 5) - By Carl Mayer

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Douglas Rushkoff -- Fighting for #TeamHuman

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Philip McKenzie

"About That with Carl Mayer": Involved Media Connected Audience Fall 2024 Report (Episode 5) - By Carl Mayer

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