Chris Brogan offers a really interesting take on branding in his Strip Malls for Personal Brands in response to Steve Rubel who questions in his post Should You Rent or Buy Social Real Estate? where we should invest our time and sweat equity online.
Steve says “Investing time on Twitter truly is starting to feel like renting. When the landlord is doing a good job, everyone is happy. When the landlord is negligent, the tenants get testy and threaten to move”.
Chris’s perspective is a little different: “In Steve Rubel’s tenants and owners analogy, I liken a lot of us who are taking up space on these various social networks as some kind of strip mall tenants. Think about it. In a way, haven’t we made little branding strip malls? Little outlet stores for the product known as “me?”
A thoughtful response to both of these blogs comes from today’s post over at istockanalyst.com. The author doesn’t disagree with the analogies above, but feels
“The strip malls metaphor conjures up images that don’t truly address the enriching and unique experience to be gained from what (social media has to offer). I prefer that social networks be viewed as cafes, restaurants and bars along the road. Not franchises, mind you, although you might get that feel from some of them, but unique places in which you’ll meet some unique and some of the same people”.
What’s your take on this?
