Tongue Twisting Social Media: On Digital Slang

We dem hazum data dis now. Confused? You just don’t happen to speak/write in that particular Caribbean island slang I guess. Then lets toss in not just Hatian creole but the online text version of Haitian creole. Or how about the variation of Pashto used by Afghans online? Then there’s the text version of Ebonics and the Jersey Shore variations. In ethnic and cultural group research online, language understanding is perhaps the largest hurdle. Whether for ethnic marketing or reaching civil society for their views and opinions on policy. Perhaps you’re a non-profit looking to engage online populations?

Unfortunately Google Translate doesn’t cover slang, patois and regional dialect variations. In fact no translation tool can handle these issues. Another challenge we’ve noted in online language use is that it is always evolving. No one uses the Queen’s English in blog posts – okay, maybe English majors and literary types. They are a tiny market though.

If you’re looking to reach ethnic groups online, for marketing or public policy issues, understanding online language use is critical. In our research in Africa, we’ve found that the use of English or French is always mingled with tribal elements. When different ethnic groups meet in online forums where they may be discussing political issues or products, they will identify themselves via their ethnic group or tribe/clan. This helps us from a researcher perspective, but can make for an interesting time putting this into usable information.

Example of Caribbean slang used online:

Sparky = money

:bouncy::bouncy: = stoned or drugs (note also the use of colons)

likker ga kill we = Booze will kill you

lip shet = Keep your mouth closed

Sands and chicken sous = booze reference, means drinking

If you’re looking for software to conduct textual analysis (e.g. sentiment), don’t bother. The sheer volume of text data required to provide a reasonable sample size and avoid significant false positives is simply not available online. The other challenge is the constant shifting of terms and meanings in today’s fast-paced cyber world. In addition, characters such as colons and semi-colons plus those for emoticons are also often used, adding a significant level of automation challenges to any software.

We’ve also noted the influence of Western entertainment and products in slang terms in countries like India, Ghana, Sudan, Emirates and a number of others. A product name or use of the product can take on an actual meaning, like Kleenex becoming a word used for tissues, even though it’s a product. We saw in some Caribbean research that Gosling’s rum was picked up for a time as “git gosled” (pro: gozzled) and in India we saw the term “makked” referencing the Gilette Mach series of razors, it was a positive use for this brand. But this shows how digital language adapts swiftly in online communities and how products and issues are absorbed. Our research into the referendum in Sudan two years ago showed a number of Southern Sudanese using the term “kartoomed”. In this case it meant the individual in question was loyal to the government in Khartoum and was therefor deemed against secession from the north.

Identifying language use, cultural, ethnic and regional/local variations is critical when looking to engage with ethnic audiences. Not doing this can miss a critical piece of understanding who and where to engage online and in the real world where so many ideas and online discussion translates to real-world activity.

Government Engaging Ethnic Communities Through Social Media

Canada, like America and the UK are cultural melting pots. Personally I think that makes for a richer tapestry of interweaving cultures that defines a better democracy and a diverse environment which can only enrich ones life. For governments (local through federal) it represents a number of serious challenges from by-laws to legislation on everything from health care and education through to municipal planning and human resources policies. Increasingly, government departments at all levels are looking to increase their communications with various ethnic communities. Naturally, social media channels are becoming a part of the discussion on how to engage these communities.

The challenge for governments or IGO‘s looking to engage however, is where, how and to what extent. And once engaged, how does that conversation continue? Who is going to manage it and how will feedback be incorporated into policy making and insights that are helpful to senior staff and policy makers?

From our research work, we’ve seen the same behaviour patterns in Canada, America and the UK when it comes to ethnic communities active in social media channels. They may partake in Facebook, perhaps even creating a Facebook page for their cultural community group. Primary communications however, often take place in more “closed” social network services such as a Ning group or similar tool. To participate in those groups means the target community must let you in and be open to a government or IGO having some small part in the conversation in that group.

This means trust has to be developed before-hand and then subsequently once engaged. This is a challenge in and of itself; ensuring the community your engagement as an organization is sincere and meant to be a positive action. There will also be an awareness by the community that an outside organization is engaged. There are strategies and processes for handling this (part of our consulting) but research up front can be critical.

Finding where these groups are talking is key, then listening to their public commentary and layering that over empirical research and current understanding can ensure a safer path to engagement. A more popular approach we’ve seen work is for an organization to find a champion or two within the target community and have them bring members into an online environment run by the organization. This approach means the organization can focus the feedback and the community feels their privacy is respected.

Culture & Ethnicity in Social Media

Understanding cultural and ethnic behaviours and uses of Social Media can often play a key role in developing an engagement strategy for Social Media; whether that be for marketing, general communications or other purposes.

In our research, we’ve found that ethnic and cultural groups use tools in similar patterns, no matter the group. What we’ve found is that either a cultural our ethnic group that resides inside a non-indigenous state will use a Social Media tool that can connect them globally across all cultures and also use tools that connect them just within their cultural or ethnic group. Yeah, so what does that mean?

We define Global Social Media Tools as those tools or services that are agnostic to a culture or ethnic group and enable communication in any language (text, audio or image) and have global reach – doesn’t matter what country you’re in, you can access them (for the most part). Examples would be Twitter or Facebook or Buzz.

Then you have what we call Group Specific Social Media Tools. These are tools that are language (usually indicating culture or ethnicity) specific or culture/ethnic group specific. Examples would be Vkontakte which is Russia’s “Facebook” or Sonico.com which is for Latin Americans and Portugese speakers or AbairThusa, a Gaelic speaking Social Network. Ameba is an example of a microblogging service in Japan that is like Twitter but for those speaking Japanese.

In the case of cultural and ethnic groups in countries like Canada, the United States or UK, almost all active people from cultural and ethnic groups also speak English and will have English friends and business connections and so will also use Facebook, Twitter or similar. But the majority of their activity takes place on services that are specific to their culture or ethnic group.

This is important when considering engagement in Social Media. Since you may also want to reach those people and measure activity, within their ethnic or cultural group. This adds a layer of complexity however, since you’ll need to understand their written language.

Think these groups are too small to really be concerned about? Not at all. Societally we all belong to different cultural, ethnic and social groups. Immigrant populations inside a country can be very positively engaged in their new home country. This can offer significant opportunities.

(Author: G. Crouch, MD)

Why Not To Start Your Own Social Network

I’ve had 2 calls in the last week from businesses looking to build their own Social Network and over the past several months, similar inquiries. When I ask them if they have about $40 Million to invest in getting it going I either get dead silence or a nervous chuckle. My advice is “forget it and invest elsewhere.”

The space is well established now. The leaders are Facebook and NetLog followed by MySpace and MyYearbook among others. Perception-wise Facebook is leading internationally. The others vary by country (these come from a simple but good site for this data.)

One might and I emphasize “might” succeed with a micro-Social Networking site that caters to a specific ethnic, cultural or special interest group. But often those are well supported by services like Ning. Of course it’s one thing to build it, then you need to attract people. Even in ethnic/cultural group terms, they’ve tended to have found their piece of turf inside Facebook or other services. For clubs and organizations there’s services like Qlubb – well, there’s over 60 of them out there. In the business world it’s a fight now between LinkedIn and FastPitch.

Only about 5% of people spend more than a few hours a week inside a Social Network and less than 3% belong to more than one Social Network (our research, March 2009). Once they have established a presence and entered their personal data and made connections, it’s very hard to move them. Porting the data over is hard enough to do, but porting their connections? Almost impossible.

Venture Capital companies are not financing Social Networks. Raising debt to finance them is personal financial suicide. And quite frankly, you’ll need at least $40 Million to build a presence. If you can figure out a very compelling reason to switch for a person (porting over data and friends included) then you might have something. Over time, opportunities might present themselves. The one sector we see some opportunity through our research is better ethnic/cultural focused Social Networks in countries like America, Canada, England and Europe. Possibly. But there are services for those markets (BlackPlanet and Migente are two) and the revenue opportunities may be limited based on demographics and adoption.

Our advice then is, work within a Social Network to build community if that’s your goal (here’s an example). For big brands, I’ve yet to see a sustainable model – the reality is, once the brand has accomplished it’s marketing objective, are they really going to want to spend the money required to maintain that presence? Not likely.

Addressing Culture In Social Media Marketing

What makes our world so incredible is the mix of cultures on this little planet. This diversity is exemplified and amplified in Social Media applications. One might ponder that Social Media could be a way of uniting us, resulting in less wars, greater societal wealth and more. Coming back to earth for a moment, there are some serious implications in regards to marketing and communications in Social Media in cultural terms.

Failing to understand cultural issues is a key, yet often overlooked, factor in the success or failure of Social Media activities. Done right however, reaching and succeeding with cultural clusters in the U.S., UK and Canada can mean highly loyal customers and vital feedback on product development.

When looking to implement a Social Media marketing effort however, the considerations go beyond just language planning and resource allocations internally. Each cultural group has specific social rules, etiquette and behavioral issues that should be addressed. These can range from who is making the buying decisions and how those buying decisions are divided in the household. Different cultures have different traditions regarding the handling of finances. Then there’s “how” ethnic and cultural groups make decisions on sharing. There are many variables, failure to understand or plan for them can result in a failed effort. If you truly fail, the results can also be very long term.

Simply translating the creative and campaign elements when targeting an ethnic group will likely result in failure. As with language support, you need to have the back-end support and understanding in place. Not doing so can result in abject failure and long-term loss of potential customers. So while implementing a Social Media campaign or strategy that engages cultural groups can be very rewarding, take careful planning and consider you’re ability to commit to maintaining that relationship. Many non-Western cultures place extremely high value on familial and social relationships, so engaging needs commitment, research, resources and empathy.