Dude, coolness is a trait few possess.
There are far more dorks in the world than there are cool people and even more average Joe’s. Those who exude a self-confidence without being egotistical pricks, that are set apart because of their magnetism and who have a calm composure under nearly any circumstance, are total anomalies; part of cools’ coolness is that it is extremely rare. Most people are simply not cool. What is not rare are people who try to be cool. They are so transparent that you can’t miss them. You see, cool people do not try to be cool. As a matter of fact, the harder they try to deflect attention, the more their gravitational pull is felt by others. They don’t need or necessarily even want the attention, which is probably the exact reason why they shine. Everyone else is desperately insecure and see in those that are totally comfortable in their own skin a holy grail of disposition. If they can only get close enough, maybe it will rub off.
Which brings me to brands on social media. ‘You’ are trying to be cool and in doing so making an ass out of yourself….trying to be cool SCREAMS uncool. In a recent survey by Sprout Social, 69% of respondents disliked brands using slang, 67% disliked brands making fun of competitors, 71% disliked brands talking politics and 88% disliked companies that made fun of their own customers. Who do you think is more likely to be working as a member of a brands social media marketing team, cool people or dorks? I’d go with dorks, or at best somewhere between dorks and average Joe’s. If you think that being cool is using language you’ve been told is hip, making fun of others and talking politics, then clearly you don’t have a cool bone in your body.
Even if the coolest people on earth were driving, social media is a totally inadequate vehicle through which the traits of coolness can be transmitted. Cool people are rare and brands can only hope to be cool if they are associated with cool people, not with social media
…it’s just not cool.
