The future of social media is fragmented
The future of social media is fragmented
Plus: S.C. officials probably won't investigate Camp Thunderbird zipline fall; New recycling 'park' headed to Steele Creek; American to reopen airport lounge; Buy a house, get a pizza
Good morning! Today is Monday, June 20, 2022. You’re reading The Charlotte Ledger, an e-newsletter with local business-y news and insights for Charlotte, N.C.
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Q&A: As social media conference begins in Charlotte, organizer Jason Keath breaks down how much has changed as new platforms have emerged
Social Fresh conferences like this one from 2019 in Orlando draw hundreds of social media marketers, company executive and business owners who want to learn how to best promote their companies on social media platforms. (Courtesy of Social Fresh)
by Tony Mecia
A long time ago, before TikTok and Snapchat and Instagram, there were Facebook and Twitter. And there were people like Jason Keath, tech enthusiasts who enjoyed the emerging field of social media and saw its potential.
In 2008, Keath started a Charlotte-based company called Social Fresh, which organizes conferences bringing together experts in social media to compare notes about the future of the field. They held more than two dozen conferences around the country before Covid shut down in-person gatherings.
This week, though, it’s back, with its first in-person conference since the pandemic ended plans for a 2020 conference in Orlando. It’s in Charlotte starting Tuesday, with a lineup of speakers who are social media leaders at companies including Sirius XM, Shopify, Twitter, Microsoft, Walmart, Great Wolf Lodge, Auntie Anne’s and Lyft. Keath expects about 250 attendees, plus another 100 virtually.
The Ledger’s Tony Mecia spoke with Keath last week about the appetite for conferences nowadays and how social media marketing has evolved in the last 15 years. Remarks were edited for brevity and clarity:
Q. You did some virtual conferences during the pandemic. How did those go?
It’s difficult to make a business out of virtual conferences, especially early in the pandemic. You just weren’t able to charge a lot for virtual experiences because there was so much free content out there. As the pandemic went on, we were able to kind of turn that into a little bit better of a business opportunity, but it’s absolutely no replacement for in-person.
Q. What was the atmosphere like for social media back when you started in 2008?
Back then, it was all Facebook and Twitter. It was a lot of bottom-up brand social activities, meaning an employee or a team, whether they were in customer service or marketing, or PR — various departments across the company would become passionate about social media, and they would just simply start an account or get some tacit approval to start experimenting.
It just was much more organic and experimental and just getting the basics of what the opportunity looked like. There was huge enthusiasm, and a much, much broader swath of business units were interested and involved back then, compared to being very much siloed into marketing.
Q. What kind of topics does the conference get into? Why is it necessary?
Social Fresh exists to help businesses and marketers understand where social media goes next. Like, what is the business case for industries that are maybe not completely on TikTok today getting on there? What’s the difference between TikTok and Facebook? Brands are moving away from Facebook right now, slowly but surely. Instagram is still the primary social network for most businesses, especially retail and local, but it’s become much more challenging, and understanding how Instagram works versus how it worked two or three years ago requires a completely different strategy.
Q. So where is social media marketing heading next? I realize the answer is probably “come to the conference and find out.”
We had a presentation in 2012 or 2013 about the fragmentation of social platforms, meaning it was moving beyond just Facebook and a little bit of Twitter to three or four or five social networks.
Today, the average internet user has 10 logins to social platforms that they’re active on on a regular basis, which is insane. That fragmentation piece is pretty important, in that it takes power away from Facebook and their platforms and Instagram. But Facebook is still dominant and probably will have a significant amount of dominance over the next few years.
Even with TikTok, which is taking a lot of time spent away from Facebook and other platforms, Facebook still has the best ad platform and still reaches more U.S. people. It still creates more revenue for businesses, 10x.
But we’re seeing a lot of experimentation. We’re seeing people look at LinkedIn and Reddit and Twitter and Snapchat and TikTok and steering away from Facebook and Instagram. People are getting frustrated with Facebook and Instagram.
Q. How challenging is it for businesses to know where they should be on social, given that there are so many options?
You have to have kind of a group of peers that you can talk to or be able to come to a conference like this where you can compare notes. You try to look at where people are spending their time and where they’re going to get questions answered. Those are the two things to look at.
These things shift over time, and they shift a lot more quickly today than they used to. You didn't used to default to Instagram to look for local businesses. You didn’t used to go to YouTube to search to get questions answered. People go to Twitter to complain about customer service issues. So there are challenges. I think most businesses, especially with limited resources, need to focus on two to three platforms, max, to get right. Typically you need to choose a primary platform that you that spend most of your time on.
Today’s supporting sponsors are T.R. Lawing Realty…
… and Landon A. Dunn, attorney-at-law in Matthews:
Camp Thunderbird zipline fall likely won’t be investigated by state officials
South Carolina officials likely won’t investigate a 12-year-old girl’s fall from the zipline structure at YMCA Camp Thunderbird because such ziplines aren’t regulated in the state.
Only ziplines with mechanical braking systems are regulated by the South Carolina’s Office of Elevator and Amusement Rides, Labor Department spokeswoman Lesia Kudelka told The Ledger. The zipline at Camp Thunderbird has a “gravity” brake, not a mechanical brake.
YMCA officials still haven’t released details of the 40-foot fall that happened on June 7 or given information about the girl’s condition. Initial emails sent to parents with children at camp said the girl was hospitalized for her injuries and asked for prayers, and a statement from the YMCA last Tuesday said that all ziplines in the YMCA of Greater Charlotte system had been shut down.
“As we shared last week, the incident remains under review and our resolve to respect the privacy of the camper and her family hasn’t wavered,” YMCA spokeswoman Heather Briganti wrote in an email to The Ledger Sunday. “Our hope is that the suspension of all ropes course activities while the incident is under review provides families some peace of mind.”
Zipline safety report: The North Carolina Department of Labor studied zipline safety in 2016 after a 12-year-old girl died from a zipline fall at Camp Cheerio, a YMCA camp in Alleghany County. The department’s report found that 17 other states regulate and require inspections of commercial ziplines.
“Anecdotal evidence suggests that most incidents are caused by human error — not equipment failure,” the report said. “This suggests the need for greater emphasis on staff training and that the training should be site‐ and design‐specific.”
In 2017, North Carolina required zipline operators to carry liability insurance. A law that would have required annual inspections and standards for operator training didn’t get through the N.C. Senate.
Neither Briganti nor Camp Thunderbird resident director Andy Belich have answered questions from The Ledger about how often the Camp Thunderbird zipline is inspected, what type of training staff members receive or if there is a minimum age for the camp’s zipline operators.
At least one parent said she was so concerned about the incident and the lack of information that she pulled her kids out of planned Camp Thunderbird sessions later this summer.
“Mistakes happen, but not disclosing what happened or ways they intend to prevent [something] similar occurring in the future bothered me,” the parent, who did not want to be named, told The Ledger through Facebook. “If they can’t be transparent upfront on major accidents, what minor incidents could they decide not to disclose?”
Other parents in Facebook groups said they thought the YMCA handled the incident appropriately by alerting parents and shutting down the zipline.
Matt Hunt, who oversees the zipline canopy tour at Camp Canaan in Rock Hill, said there is always some inherent risk when you’re high above the ground and moving at high speeds. Operators try to lower that risk to a manageable level by following industry safety standards, he said.
At Camp Canaan, all zipline operators must be at least 18 years old, and they go through intensive training, he said. In addition, the course is inspected daily, and an annual third-party inspector gives the course a detailed look, checking “everything down to the last bolt.” — Michelle Crouch, Ledger contributor
Related Ledger articles:
“Camper seriously injured in zipline fall at Camp Thunderbird” (🔒, June 15)
“YMCA still refusing to explain how a girl fell 40’ from its Camp Thunderbird zipline” (🔒, June 17)
Don’t call it a recycling center: trash and recycling ‘park’ is heading to southwest Charlotte
Mecklenburg County plans to open a new trash and recycling center “park” in the Steele Creek area of southwest Charlotte in 2024, making it the county’s fifth full-service drop center for solid waste and recycling collection.
The “park” name is a rebranding of sorts, county officials say, and it may one day extend to other trash and collection centers across the county, which are located near county parks.
Mecklenburg County’s Solid Waste Management department reviewed the locations of current recycling centers around the county and found several areas where residents have to travel far to get to a drop center, said Joe Hack, project manager with Mecklenburg County Solid Waste Management. The new trash and recycling center location will be between South Tryon Street and John Price Road (near Westinghouse Boulevard) to serve residents in southwest Charlotte, especially those who live in the growing Steele Creek area.
It will be similar to existing trash and recycling centers, which accept trash, bulky items and recycling, Hack said.
The project is still in the rezoning and design phases, he said. —LB
Buy a house, get a free pizza
We found the best deal in Charlotte: free pizza ... but only if you purchase a house first. Brittany Wall, founder of Dragonfly Homes, started offering a free pizza as a way to catch buyers’ eyes and make them laugh. When asked if buyers actually want the pizza with their purchase, Wall says that most buyers do, so she usually goes to the local pizzeria in the listing’s neighborhood. During a difficult real estate market, free pizza lightens the mood and allows her to bring her humor into her business, she says. (Photo by Ledger reader in the Overlook neighborhood on Mountain Island Lake)
In brief:
Admirals Club reopening at CLT: American Airlines will reopen its largest Admirals Club in Terminal C at Charlotte-Douglas International Airport on Friday, after shutting it down for repairs more than 6 months ago. Repairs included new fire safety upgrades and some other improvements, but not a big design overhaul. (The Points Guy)
Coach backs out of Hornets job: Kenny Atkinson, a Golden State Warriors assistant who had agreed to become the next head coach of the Charlotte Hornets, changed his mind and decided to stick with Golden State. He and the Hornets had reached a four-year deal but had not signed a contract. (ESPN)
Covid vaccines for toddlers: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that children ages 6 months through 5 years receive the Pfizer or Moderna Covid vaccine, the agency said Saturday, which means that all Americans ages 6 months and up are eligible. Parents should talk to their doctors, pharmacists or health departments to see where the vaccines are available, the CDC said.
Apartments confirmed for Zack’s Hamburgers site: Texas-based real estate firm Embrey plans to start construction this month on a building with 403 apartments at the site of the old Zack’s Hamburgers at South Boulevard and Scaleybark Road, according to a news release. It closed on the five-acre site last week at a price of $22.1M. (Observer, subscriber-only)
UNC basketball legend dies: Lennie Rosenbluth, who led UNC Chapel Hill to its first basketball national title in 1957, died Saturday at 89. Rosenbluth joined UNC coach Frank McGuire and the Tar Heels in 1955 and was an all-Atlantic Coast Conference honoree in each of his three seasons. His No. 10 is one of only eight jerseys retired by UNC. (AP)
Assault charges dropped against council member: A special prosecutor has dropped assault charges against City Council member Braxton Winston, who had been accused by his estranged wife. “There was no evidence to suggest that Mr. Braxton committed this criminal offense,” said the head of the N.C. Conference of District Attorneys. (WSOC)
Rock Hill’s legal fees: The city of Rock Hill was charged at least $325,000 in legal fees connected with the failed Carolina Panthers headquarters project by Rock Hill law firm Spencer & Spencer through March 2022, according to records obtained by the Charlotte Business Journal through a public records request. Rock Hill charged the Business Journal $1,360 for reviewing and redacting detailed billing records, the publication said. (Biz Journal)
Biltmore death: A highly decorated New York City firefighter was killed Friday afternoon when a tree blew over at the entrance to the Biltmore Estate during a windstorm and crushed him in his SUV. Casey Skudin, 45, was on a family trip to celebrate his birthday and Father’s Day. His wife and two sons survived, but one son was hospitalized with minor injuries. (NY Post)
Taking stock: You might not want to look
Unless you are a day trader, checking your stocks daily is unhealthy. So how about weekly? How local stocks of note fared last week (through Friday’s close), and year to date:
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Executive editor: Tony Mecia; Managing editor: Cristina Bolling; Staff writer: Lindsey Banks; Contributing editor: Tim Whitmire, CXN Advisory; Contributing photographer/videographer: Kevin Young, The 5 and 2 Project