Social media lessons from vaudeville for businesses

Does your social media business plan “play in Peoria?”

If not, then consider a few 100-year-old tips from the vaudeville stage to attract an audience to your tired Facebook act.

Vaudeville was the main form of entertainment in our country from the 1880s through the early 1930s. The term vaudeville came from the French phrase “voix de ville,” or “voice of the city.”

Social media is today’s vaudeville. Our “voix de ville” comes from Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

The original vaudeville show was a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill. Comedians, singers, dancers, Shakespearian actors, jugglers, freaks and anyone else who could entertain an audience shared stages across America.

Entertainers tried to refine their acts to work their way from the small towns to the big-time venues of New York and Chicago.

“Will it play in Peoria?” was vaudeville’s mantra, as promoters knew talent would shine through no matter where it played.

The similarities of vaudeville and social media are hard to miss. Many gather on common digital platforms these days to provide entertainment, social commentary and business, all on the same bill. Statistics show more than 90 percent of Americans work to be noticed in the social media theater.

Yet many businesses still struggle on the social media stage. They strive for the big time but too often end up getting the hook.

Here are five vaudeville principles that apply to your social media efforts.

1. Keep it clean. Vaudeville promoters passed out blue envelopes each Monday to acts that used lewd language or themes, warning them to change the material or be blackballed. Off-color content will repel more people than attract. Keep your web sites, Facebook pages and Twitter accounts PG clean.

2. Know your audience. Vaudeville comedians drew on numerous accents for their acts. They would not, however, make fun of Germans in a town full of Germans. They made fun of Italians. (ba-dah-bing) Be relevant, not repulsive.

3. Content rules. Milton Berle, the late vaudeville and television comedian, said it took 18 months to two years to develop seven minutes of good stand-up comedy. Having quality social media content takes time, effort, talent and continuous editing.

4. Pay for talent. Telling a joke does not make you a comedian. Hire the talent to make your web site and social media channels crackle with excitement. The business owner is the promoter, not the act.

5. Keep it current. Audiences in 1920 wanted to hear “Swanee,” not “By the Old Mill Stream,” which was so 1910. Vaudeville audiences wanted fresh, exciting and fun stuff. Your audience wants the same. Update your social media material on a regular basis. If it never changes, you’ll be playing to an empty house.

Keep these ideas in mind as you try to attract an audience for your business. And who knows? If it plays in Peoria, it just might go viral!

Share and Enjoy

Carroll teachers are not to ‘friend’ students or their parents on social media

With the Missouri state law going into effect Aug. 28
prohibiting social networking between teachers and students, local
educators and school officials are weighing in on what venues of
communication between the two parties are appropriate.

Carroll County Public Schools Assistant Superintendent of
Instruction Steven Johnson said teachers are informed during a
yearly training that includes the topic of staff and student
relationships that teachers are not to “friend” students – or the
parents of their students – on Facebook.

“Friending” others allows you to connect with them, often seeing
personal information that they post.

Teachers are advised should only communicate with students about
school-related topics, like coursework and grades. They are also
told that they should be very cautious about what they post on
their personal social media sites.

“Teachers are held to a high standard of ethical behavior,” he
said.

When teachers start interacting with students outside of school,
they open themselves up to possible criticism, accusations or even
litigation, Johnson said.

Director of Human Resources Jimmie Saylor said there is no
official written policy in place concerning teacher and student
social media site relationships, but there is a policy about staff
and student professionalism.

There have been a couple incidents over the years concerning
teachers exchanging too much information with parents and students
on Facebook, Saylor said. Issues have also been raised about
students posting things about their teachers on Facebook, which can
also be inappropriate.

“The teacher has to be very careful not to share student
information on a Facebook page” because of student privacy rights,
she said.

Complaints or problems concerning social media sites are
addressed on a case-by-case basis, Saylor said.

Franklin Middle School language arts teacher Deana Munchow, of
Littlestown, Pa., said she feels very strongly that teachers and
students should not be friends on Facebook. While several students
have tried to “friend” her, she has declined their requests.

“I just feel that Facebook is my private area,” she said.

Even if it happens unintentionally, the boundaries between
teacher and student could be blurred if the two become linked on
social media sites, Munchow said.

There are many other ways for students and teachers to keep in
contact, like email and through wiki pages, she said.

Munchow doesn’t post anything inappropriate on her Facebook, but
it’s not created at the level of professionalism she would want
parents and students to see, she said.

New Oxford High School language arts and English teacher Amanda
Bamberger said she would not friend a student on Facebook unless
she knew him or her on a personal level.

Bamberger, of Hampstead, said she knows some teachers who are
friends with their students because they interact with them
elsewhere, in the community where they both live. Bamberger said
that is not really an issue for her since she doesn’t live in the
community where she teaches.

While being friends with some students would probably be OK, she
thinks it wouldn’t be as appropriate with other students, so she
has decided to keep it separate. Also, she said some people may
challenge why teachers, especially young ones like herself, would
be friends with her students on social media sites.

One merit to connecting to students on Facebook would be that
the social media site is something in which they are interested.
Bamberger has used mock Facebook pages in her lesson plans because
it is something with which her students are familiar.

“I think if people are aware of the risks, and are professional
and responsible, they could use technologies as a way to connect
with [students],” Bamberger said.

While Munchow doesn’t think that students and teachers should
become friends on Facebook, she recognizes there can be exceptions,
like being related to a student.

She and Bamberger don’t think it should be prohibited by law, as
it now is in Missouri.

“I don’t think the government should be able to step in and tell
you who you can and can’t befriend on Facebook,” Munchow said.

Reach staff writer Alisha George at 410-857-7876 or
alisha.george@carrollcountytimes.com.

© 2011 Carroll County Times. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Share and Enjoy