NDLR : This is a post by Jonny Evans, blogger at Computerworld US, and guest blogger at Le Web 2012 on behalf of the live.orange.com blog. Please note that some of the opinions expressed in this post are those of the author
Jamie Oliver was passionate: “It’s not just about selling stuff. Firms (he’s referring to Instagram) companies need to get people working with them who get it and who are passionate about what they’re doing.”
“The truth is we’re all novices at this really. Content is key. The stuff I do that works is all about emotions or my recipes, which are really popular. The internet is about being generous, and I think if you are good enough or you touch people they will respond to you.”
He has definite ideas that favour passionate or original content above base marketing: “It’s about having that generous spirit where new things can organically grow,” said Oliver. “For me it’s a vehicle I prefer, because when people express themselves with pictures they tend to be more creative, while words can easily become spiteful,” he added.
Naturally, Oliver, a chef with a passion for food, said “I guess the food industry is about as corrupt as the arms industry or any other industry, and just as corrupt, so I like to stir the pot a little bit…”
On his food campaigning he continued: “When you give the public good solid information they can make better decisions…there’s lot’s of people out there who find it hard to be political, but who care a lot about certain things…we try to aggregate communities,” he added, stressing the value of digital to his brand of “facilitated activism”.
“All of us when we are challenged…we are all on a journey… and I think forms of interrogation no matter which way they come can help us on that….”
Oliver believes that the great decisions made in the world will be made by connected people using their smartphones and tablets, a connected consensus in the digital age.
Systrom: “One of the beauties of what we do on Instagram is we allow people to do what they want to do with their content. For us it’s not just about beautiful photos, people worry about that…I think that if it’s an honest photo, it will [resonate].”
Oliver quipped: “What it also proves is that if you want to get into business, it’s still about boobs, girls and dogs.”
Systrom responded by speaking up for entrepreneurship: “I’d rather see more entrepreneurs focus on the big problems in this world, and that’s what Jamie [Oliver} does. Too many focus on the detail, thing is if you focus on the big problems you’ll find there’s always supporters behind you…”
Oliver talked about the value of good content: “I think the world the digital world represents is about words, pictures and trying to communicate…”
How can you tell what works? You can’t.
“It’s like trying to create a hit song,” said Oliver. “You don’t always know what will work.”
These discussions concerning original content as a driver for social media is not trivial. It’s extremely important. Broadcast funding on a like for like basis is down 45 percent in recent years, Oliver revealed but there’s still hope: “Now we’re seeing new pockets of cash come out of the digital economy. Proper real cash to make content for digital platforms.”
Why does this matter? Because conventional media is transforming, the TV chef said: “I don’t know if anyone will be watching television in ten years time,” he observed. “I’m excited about that.”
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