MAY 25, 2006

What is so appealing about spilling our guts?

There’s an interesting paradox going on in the world right now. On one hand, we’re privacy fiends. We don’t want anyone monitoring our e-mail or keeping track of the websites we visit. And we sure as heck don’t want anyone accessing our phone records.

And yet, when it really comes down to it, we want our world to be an open book. Prime (over-the-top) example:

This is the true story of seven strangers, picked to live in a house and have their lives taped, and find out what happens when people stop being polite and start getting REAL.

Since that video confessional booth that popped up on Real World New York in 1992, we can’t seem to spill our guts enough. Although reality TV shows may have peaked, there is certainly no shortage of people willing to share and we’ve found other ways to do it. Some companies are trying to help. In her post a few weeks ago, Nellie mentioned JetBlue, a company who is taking advantage of the desire to confess. Levi’s just launched Stay True, which features an online Truth Booth. (Complete with creepy voice that encourages you to “tell truth about the way you see yourself and the world…”) (link thanks to PSFK) Even the American Red Cross put their own spin on the video booth a few years ago. 

All this and we haven’t even touched on blogging or social networking, both of which embraces this sharing more than any other.

Why are we so fascinated with revealing all? I think it all points to our desire for transparency — from each other, from companies, from our government. And, don’t forget our own desire to be transparent. I think that’s why blog and social networking sites aren’t just a phase. They represent a societal shift that has forever changed the way we interact with each other and will continue to shape the way we shop, the way we vote, the way we research – in short, the way we live. Companies that get that, like JetBlue and Levi’s, can use it to their advantage. Buzz Machine brought me my new favorite quote earlier this month:    

We are not a mass, not a monolith, not even a medium. We’re just people talking. You’ll agree with some, disagree with some; like some, hate others. It’s just like life. It’s just people. The sooner you stop treating “the blogosphere” as a medium, the sooner you’ll understand how to interact with it. It’s made of people. Talk with them.

The days of treating customers as an indistinguishable mass are long gone. Talk to us, in one form or another, and give us the chance to respond. We can’t wait to talk back.