What will self-hosting mean for WOM?

Self-hosting social media platforms are bound to grow. When blog self-hosting through the likes of Wordpress and Blogger has far outstripped the uptake of blogs offered on centralised, branded sites, isn’t it time that the same model was applied to microblogging, lifestreaming, media sharing sites and social networks?

Over at ReadWriteWeb, Marshall Kirkpatrick has given a good overview of the dissatisfaction with our current hosted platforms which is leading users to hunger for a less centralised, more distributed social web. Initiatives such as the DiSo Project, which aims ‘to facilitate the creation of open, non-proprietary and interoperable building blocks for the decentralized social web’, are still in their infancy, but brands need to be aware of this trend towards increased individual ownership of conversational spaces online. Why?

Well, mainly because it emphasises just how important it is for brands to inspire peer to peer WOM, rather than rely on consumers interacting with their brand voice on social platforms. Sure, a good brand Twitter feed, Facebook group or YouTube channel can be welcomed by the community if it gives some value back - but it’s a very different thing having a brand join the conversation on a hosted platform (where they’ve often shelled out for the privilege) to having them barge into your own self-hosted site and try to grab your attention there.

Brands will find it difficult to ethically participate in the independent web unless they abandon their emphasis on ‘their’ venues, ‘their’ content and ‘their’ message and start to consider the best ‘brand voice’ as an amalgam of all those consumer voices out there. Inspiring and empowering brand advocacy on people’s own terms and in their own venues not only creates a dialogue between brand and consumer where the power is shared and value continually exchanged, but it results in the sort of emotionally engaged WOM that is truly influential. Whenever it comes, the rise in multi-platform self-hosting will raise the bar for marketers. We welcome it.

Brought into the world on Friday, August 21st, 2009 and filed under Uncategorized.