Need Some Psychic Income Anyone? You are just a few clicks away!

Have you ever seen a compelling contest on Facebook and found yourself voting minutes later? Did you travel down a rabbit hole and end up learning more about the products that surrounded that contest? The other day I was on Facebook and I noticed a multiple friends posting a picture of a young woman that I recognized from high school. The woman in the picture was hooked up to a chemo pole and wearing a shirt that said “rock that chemo.”  Next to the photo was a link to vote for her for a real Maine wedding--Erica and Juan are the 7th video down the page. 

        

One of my family members recently went through chemotherapy and the experience immediately made me want to help the young woman out and vote for her. The desire to connect, fits with Li & Bernoff’s description of “ the search for psychic income.” As they describe, “psychic rewards come in several varieties, including good feelings from altruism” 

(Li & Bernoff, 2011, 160). 

And now, I am sharing with you, my classmates, and perhaps you will vote too?   For someone you have most likely not met, but learned about from a classmate (me) who learned from a friend of a friend on social media.  Unleash the power of groundswell!

The Real Maine Weddings' contest appeals to both the human desire for competition and for psychic points. Isn't it fun to vote, spread the word, and to try to help the couple of your choice win? Doesn't it feel good to think that you can easily, with just a few clicks, play a small part in helping to create an opportunity that two people will cherish for the rest of their lives?

The Real Maine Weddings site, demonstrates many of Li  & Bernoff’s recommendations, such as their advice that, “to be most effective, these videos must allow people to interact. They should direct people to a social network, a blog, or a community where they can form further relationships with each other or with the company" (Li & Bernoff, 2011, 103).   Chapter 6 pointed out there are many ways to talk to the groundswell but narrowed it down to four of the most common and effective strategies:

• Post a viral video

• Engage in social networks and user-generated content sites

• Join the blogospher

• Create a community

Real Maine Weddings has used all of the above to listen to the groundswell. They ask users to create videos on why they love coastal Maine, which are then shared by and with others to win the competition. This naturally creates exposure for Maine tourism and the companies in the area.

In reading blog examples, like the one above, you will notice that they highlight eight or so Maine vendors (sometimes more!) They are tapping into user-generated content---getting real people to share why they love Maine and Maine companies, rather than having the companies shout at you about why you should love them. The wedding stories create an emotional connection---when people read the stories they may transfer and associate the positive feelings to the businesses involved in the wedding. 

All of the above contributes to fostering a community. The founders of Real Maine Weddings further create community by encouraging their readers to email them (see below): 

The Real Maine website is transparent about the mutual benefits of the contest, as their website describes:

Are any of your curious about what the rest of the competition for the Real Maine Weddings looks like? I was, so I checked out the video that had the most votes, which as of now is  the couple 11th down on the page (Joshua and Alexis). 

One thing I noticed on their video, which I thought was interesting, is that the woman noted that her fiancé proposed with a Day’s ring. This struck me as a little funny and inauthentic, because would you ever talk about your ring like that? Then I looked back on the website and noticed (unsurprisingly) that Day's jewelry is a sponsor of Real Maine Weddings.

Speaking of the Truman Show last class, it kind of reminded me of this:

Anyone seen that movie?

Although I found the Day's jewelry comment a little odd at first, it does fit the concept that, “people are far more willing to trust each other than a company" [...] “And amazingly, people are willing to spend lots of time helping each other, if you just get out of the way” (Li & Bernoff, 2011, 158).  This is evident with the many people who have helped to share the videos of people they may or may not know personally.

Who do you think will win the Real Maine Weddings' contest? (Besides the groundswell that is)!