What Getting Roasted Says About Community

Written By Chani Krinsky

The hashtag gets a lot of hate. Like in this 2016 article, which proclaims that “hashtags are worthless”, or in this article by Casey Newton, who announces that, “Twitter hashtags aren’t as useful as they used to be”.

I don’t agree. 

There are some places that hashtags don’t belong (like Twitter bios), but as with anything, it’s more about how you use them than whether or not you do. One example of the right way to use a hashtag, for instance, is this tweet that was posted by Adweek’s marketing and social media manager Julian Gamboa. 

The tweet, deeply ironic, makes a bit more sense with some historic context. Back in February, Gamboa had tweeted this:

Somewhere in the 424 replies was Adrian Molina, Senior Brand Manager (and sometimes the man behind the handle) at Aviation Gin. If the brand name doesn’t jog your memory, perhaps the owner’s name, Ryan Reynolds, will. 

Molina and Gamboa have never met in person, but they are part of an ever-growing marketing and social media community on Twitter. The community is everything that LinkedIn wishes it was, a hive of networking, support, education, and friendship. 

Since that February tweet, Gamboa and Molina have become friends. In that time, Molina went on to win two Adweek awards. He was named one of Adweek’s 2020 Young Influentials in August and Hottest Social Media Marketer in October. As a good friend, Gamboa had to keep Molina humble. So he rallied members of the Marketing Twitter community to organize a roast. 

Yes, a roast. On October 27th, after Gamboa wrote that the #AdrianMolinaIsOverParty was happening, others started spreading the word. 

The tweets were coming from marketers at The Knot, Delta, Clorox, The Walt Disney Company, IHG, Chipotle, educational institutions, and startups. From all ages and levels of experience. The one thing in common: a marketing job and support for Molina.

The roast can be read in its entirety by clicking on the tweet below. 

This wasn’t a brand campaign. This was a group of friends (in a shared industry) organizing on social media to have some fun. It represented everything that great social media is about, but more importantly, how an online community can come together. 

Since I’ve become active on Twitter, I’ve reached out to many of the people I regularly interact with to chat off the platform. These people have different backgrounds, different personalities and work in different areas of marketing. But at some point, every one of them has said variations of: 

I can’t believe it took me so long to find this community. 

I’ve learned so much from everyone. 

I’m amazed at how supportive and helpful people are. 

This is my favorite part of the internet. 

People are starving for community. Twitter isn’t technically a vertical social network, a platform targeting people with a shared interest. Vertical social networks have been gaining popularity. Twitch, one of the most frequently cited examples, is a streaming platform for gamers that was acquired by Amazon in 2014 for $1 billion. Instead, Twitter is designed to facilitate any conversation on any topic. 

As the need for community becomes more apparent, so will the growth of the vertical social network. Facebook knows this. In recent years, the company has shifted focus to their groups feature, which is perhaps the last saving grace of the platform (in addition to marketplace). 

Look no further than Facebook’s 2020 Super Bowl commercial. Forget about the conspiracy theories in your feed, Facebook is where you can connect with others that share your rare hobby. 

LinkedIn has a groups feature as well. Unlike Facebook, they have barely put any work into it at all, which is, in my opinion, a wasted opportunity. Slack, the workplace communication tool, has become a makeshift vertical network for many. We’re all on Slack, anyways, so why not create a new workspace for say, marketing? 
While these options work, none of them have the focus and design that a platform like Twitch does. When you narrow in on your audience, you can build features that serve them directly. 

New social networks are still being built. Clubhouse, an audio platform still in beta, raised a $10 million Series A round from venture capital firm Andreesen Horowitz. Users can jump in and out of different chat rooms with live audio conversations. Unfortunately, Clubhouse has already come under fire for hosting conversations that were antisemitic (on Yom Kippur, no less). Strong community guidelines and safeguards against abuse or harassment should be designed initially, not defensively. 

What’s relevant here isn’t actually Clubhouse. It’s Locker Room, another audio platform which was recently announced. Similar to Clubhouse, users can jump in and out of chat rooms. The difference? All conversations on Locker Room are about sports. 

Clubhouse hasn’t even launched to the public yet, but a company has already taken the idea vertical. It’s a solid bet on their part. There will doubtless be more that attempt the same. 

As more companies go remote and daily interactions with coworkers changes, more people will be looking for ways to connect with others in their industry. 

The topic of social media can feel like a jaded one. LinkedIn launched in 2003, Facebook in 2004, Twitter in 2006, and Instagram and Pinterest in 2010. They have billions of users and billions in revenue between them. They have been (incorrectly) hailed as a panacea for marketing and it can appear that the conversation is nearing its apex. 

It’s time we restart it differently. 2020 is ripe to usher in a decade of community. And maybe, if I play my cards right, one day I, too, can get roasted. 

Chani Krinsky
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