Is agitate the groundswell by threatening and making anxiety a good idea?
I am so anxious now...
It is midnight, I have just finished 6 online tests from different companies. During the daytime, I participated 3 interviews.
This is an important time for students who will graduate soon, because this is a time we have the most opportunities and the easiest chances to enter our dream companies in China, we call it "campus recruitment". After graduation, we can only participate in social recruitment, which requires several years of working experiences. (Seems unreasonable but it happens in my country) So, this year's graduates are under a great pressure of recruitment.
I wanted to look through social media for a while and then go to bed, however, when I turned on Wechat, all the articles recommended for me were about job, "Autumn recruitment is coming to an end, have you found your job?". Anxiously, I turned off Wechat and surferring on Sina Weibo. A hashtag appeared: #How hard it is for new grads to miss out on fall recruiting#. Looking through the posts, I felt too anxious to go asleep as I have not found my job yet.
Here are some posts on Sina Weibo.
Most descriptions are same on Sina Weibo, which encourages the groundswell catch the chance, however, make a great anxiety emotion for the groundswell. And when we look at the ads of Job counseling agencies, most of the ads would take advantage of the anxiety of the groundswell. So, I could see articles on Wechat with the title "Autumn recruitment is coming to an end, have you found your job?".
For me, the ads are effective, because I am under a large pressure of recruitment. And the agencies exactly caught my pain point. (If the price was affordable, I might spent on it, but it was really over my budget)
Actually, Job counseling agencies' ads are only a tip of the iceberg of the threatening and anxious ads in the groundswell. Last year, Bosch China invited a celebrity to make an ad about privacy leakage on the balcony to let consumers feel fear about hanging out to dry the clothes, and sell their dryer.
The brand also used a tag on social media #Don't share your privacy# to attract the groundswell and make we feel fear about that. In the video, we even could not find it was an ad at the beginning, so, it did a well job on resonance, however, the video made most of us felt uncomfortable and fear about an usual habit in China, hanging out the clothes under sun shine to dry them. The video gained a lot of attention, and led to a large discussion in the groundswell. Someone even criticized the ad because of the anxiety it made for the groundswell.
We see that commercial use of threatening the groundswell can always be refused, even damages brands' images when it is inappropriate. However, it can be very effective and applauded for Non-profit uses. For example, CDC's promotional video which appeals us not to smoke.
They made a series of threaten video about smokers who lost their voice and suffering in health problems to let us feel uncomfortable to convince us not to smoke. That can have a very positive influence on the groundswell.
In summary, threatening the groundswell is effective, but positive use and direction are widely approval. While commercial use would be hated by the groundswell.
Do you have some anxious or fearful experience when reading or watching ads on social media? Share with me!
(I think I feel better now, writing blog gave me some time to get back from the anxious of job seeking. Finished, good night!)
By the way, I will appreciate it if you would like to share your job seeking experience.
Hi Shiqiu,
ReplyDeleteI am very glad to read your article. If you want to make the article read a lot, when choosing an article, choose the topic of the current hot spot; the second step is to attract attention through the sense of horror; when the user starts to pay attention to the article, then Substitute the user into the scene of your own expression. So finding hot spots, a sense of horror, and a sense of substitution are ways to gain attention. Many media people use this routine. Jack Ma once had a speech titled "Many people will be unemployed in the next 30 years", through which many people are unemployed to create a sense of terror, and then gradually substituted into the theme of the Internet. Of course, Jack Ma comes with its own traffic, and Jack Ma’s speech is a hot spot. He does not need to find a hot spot. Many self-media people always use Jack Ma’s hot spot to create a sense of horror through unemployment, and then substitute the theme. So searching through Baidu: Jack Ma, unemployment two keywords, will find a lot of articles. This is the routine of these self-media people: looking for hot spots, a sense of horror, and a sense of substitution. The result must be to make the public anxious.
Hi, Haoran, thanks for your using Jack Ma's example. As one of the most famous celebrity, Jack Ma's words can have a great influence in the groundswell. His speech gave the companies a lot of opportunities to find some topics and create a sense of terror for marketing in the groundswell. The more they use, the more popular Jack Ma's words is.
DeleteHey Shiqiu,
ReplyDeleteI found your blog is discussing an important point especially for seniors and grad students who have to think about life after college. This reminds me of LinkedIn where everyone seems to be posting their accomplishments and success during or after college. It can cause major anxiety and remove the usefulness & connecting aspect of LinkedIn. Also why less and less of people our age are making those accounts. I appreciate this blog because the fear and stress of getting a job immediately after college isn't realistic for everyone (plus the job market doesn't want all of us!!) Thanks for this insightful post - it's very relatable and a great read!
Thanks for your reply, Gloria. I agree that Linkedin is a platform where we can update our resumes. Everyone has his or her unique experiences, so I think it is a platform for companies to understand the groundswell. However, using the information by making anxiety is effective but not a wise choice for image building.
DeleteHi Shiqiu，
ReplyDeleteI like your article, although I was a bit scared by the sound of this video. You used two examples to verify the good and bad aspects of the threat. I think this structure is really good, and your logic is super clear. This semester is my last semester, and I am also facing the problem of finding a job, but I think I still have to consider what I am most interested in, and look for it in this direction, so that there may be good results. Don’t be anxious by information on the Internet, So anxious to find a job that is not suitable for you. Work is a long-term thing, so interest is really important. I believe you can find a satisfactory job.
Thankyou for your like and encouraging, Yi. The same to your, hope all of us can find the most appropriate job.
Delete