Some questions are harder to answer.
SMADS
Planning a social media post yesterday, I was trying to decide how best to describe the glorious Neyers Cabernet. Now, I love this wine. Love. And I could easily write pages, let alone paragraphs of rhapsodic prose about it: who the owners are, their histories and philosophies, vineyards, methodology, style…ad infinitum.
I didn’t, of course. I took a nice, clear photo, cropped it, filtered it, and posted it with the briefest of captions, because Instagram requires nice photos and brevity. Even Facebook doesn’t tolerate too much wordiness, although I violate that maxim every Sunday with this blog post. So I described the Neyers as, ‘Bold but graceful. Structured but silky.’ and let it go. Whereupon my old friend Steve commented with all of the information I had wanted to write, and I realized just how much I dislike Social Media Attention Deficit Syndrome.
Both Facebook and Instagram can be superb communication tools. It’s possible to reach a broad audience with your chosen message AND it’s free. But… the crafting of a message that will actually be seen is a problematic and ever-changing formula. Use pretty photos. Try black and white. Take them at an angle. Take selfies. Selfies are passé. Use a Boomerang. Boomerangs are passé. Use a timer. Make a reel. Reels are passé. It’s enough to make you dizzy. But above all: don’t write more than three brief sentences, because if you do, 90% of the audience won’t read it.
That last ‘rule’ hurts my soul, because the world of wine, beer, and spirits- the world that I love and find so endlessly fascinating- cannot be summed up in a photo and caption. So you wouldn’t be able to relate the mineral tang of a wine grown on a volcano in the Azores. The freshness of a great cool-climate Pinot Noir. The brambly spice of an old vine Corbieres. The toffee and sea spray of Campbeltown whiskies. I strongly suspect that many other subjects suffer similarly.
SMADS is real; numerous scholarly studies suggest that excessive and continuous social media usage can negatively affect cognitive abilities, memory retention, and-especially- sustained focus. Rapid delivery of information, combined with the dopamine rush of likes and comments changes our brains. Concentrated, complex thought diminishes. We’re waiting for the ping of the next notification, but missing most of the story because we can’t be bothered to hear it. As concentration continues to diminish, attention may become the next currency. The ability to grab someone’s focus-even for a few seconds-may be what matters most. To succeed, businesses will have to figure out how to do just that.
Back to the Neyers. I responded to Steve’s comment, citing the <3 sentences for 90% rule. Steve’s resonse? ‘Perhaps I’m writing to that 10%’.
Me, too, Steve. Me, too.
PS If you want to experience Old World grace and class filled out with ripe California fruit, you should definitely try the Neyers. Stop by the store; we’ll tell you why.