Super social media

A couple of weeks ago I re-connected with an old friend I hadn't seen in over 12 years. I don't think we ever sent each other an email, come to think of it, I dont think I ever had her email at all. Well more than a decade and 3 continents later, Facebook comes along. A very modern and generic story unfolds where there phrase "Hey! How have you been, what have you been up to" comes up a lot. We catch up.
Facebook photo albums tell stories of the where and what you look like now. The list of Facebook friends tells the story of who you have kept in touch with. Email makes things a little simpler to write back and forth long stories of everything that has happened since and how complicated our mutual lives have become. Then Youtube comes into play. Have you ever heard this song? Do you know this band? What do you think of this remix or this bands' version of that song? It also allows us to channel-surf each other's cultural references and figure out if the things that make me laugh make you laugh too.
Gmail-Talk plugged on a blackberry and texting come into motion, I can now let you know things that are on my mind before I forget and another 12 years go by. When I get YouTube ADD, I make you an oh-so-90's-concept mixtape on Muxtape.com and tell you a story with 1 hour worth of streaming MP3. And you send me one too. Your music taste is still not that good but it's ok, mine is even lamer. We communicate, we adapt, we use different channels to figure out things about each other and tell our story. How far we have come along with these new communication toys.

This is not about web technologies. This is not about trendy web two-ish buzzwords.
This is two people talking, sharing, and learning. The form of the communication, whether picture, music, video, or mobile text is empty by itself, a bucket for words and emotions to be filled. An icon void of meaning until we give it some.

A human-to-human connection is not technological. Same goes with a connection with a brand. These are not even cosmetic, they are mechanical. No mater how much YouTubing, texting, picture sharing or banner advertising, the core of the conversation must be an emotional one, an intuitive one. It may seem obvious, but the purpose of communication is to share and engage, not how the wiring and the piping fits behind the wall.

Maybe it's a contradictive rehash of the medium is the message. But both message and medium mean nothing without meaning. And meaning is beyond subjective and objective, it's gut feeling. Like brand equity and memories after 12 years of absence, it's nothing you can fake. No matter how much rich media or twittering it does, I will not buy Camel cigarettes or join the NRA.

Build meaning in your product, in your brand and in how you do what you do. Build purpose around your product with genuine quality.

Do what you are. Be honest. Simplify and commit.