Can we talk about the Sonic Social Media outlets for a moment...

[Badnik Mechanic]

I thought this forum had rules about not being hostile towards others, but I guess it only applies to those who don't have a high position like you. Fine, I'll stop talking to you, since if I insulted you like you deserve right now I unlike you would get a strike. Since I don't like being insulted without deserving it, I just won't talk to you again, since I like having civil conversations without people being hostile. Goodbye.

You effectively asked me to prove what Sega is planning for the next game, how is that not a ridiculous thing to request?

Once again, why are we allowed to joke about the bad stuff, but Sega isn't.

[SSF1991]

I think you have to look at it from a PR standpoint. Aaron has generated a ton of discussion, attention, and reactions from mere tweets despite not having anything to promote other than the Boom cartoon (that's a different story altogether and even then it is no longer premiering new episodes). And it isn't negative press either, the media is happily covering it. From a PR standpoint that's a job well done. Will it bring in new Sonic fans? Of course it won't no matter how great the PR is. Why? Well how can you promote the franchise when it is in such a critical situation right now? It isn't easy. For the time being this is the best you can do until you have something you can promote.

Aaron has celebrated birthdays, milestones...the Ask Eggman session was brilliantly done. There has been celebrating.

I think despite the circumstances Aaron's done well so far. But he can only do so much. The games simply need to get better.

Edited November 20, 2015 by SSF1991

[Rey Skywalker-Ren]

OK @Roger_van_der_weide~ Im in tears from laugher. This is why I look up to you.

But anyway I understand your conserns about people thinking Sonic is funny which there are times it doesnt have its funny stuffs. Its not a comdedy yes and part of why I dont like Sonic Boom is that thought it is a comedy everything written seems to be ignored for comedy. However a twitter feed I think shouldnt effect anyone to think Sonic is a comedy. 

[pppp]

You effectively asked me to prove what Sega is planning for the next game, how is that not a ridiculous thing to request?

It was a RETHORICAL QUESTION! Am I allowed to call you an idiot for not getting it? Oh that's right, I'll get a strike if I do, nevermind, you go ahead and keep acting like you're the source of all truth and everyone else in the world is a moron.

[Tara]

Okay, I think the conversation looks like it's getting just a tad bit (a lot) heated.  Let's tone it down a notch, as we're very close to, if not already in, flame war territory.

[AAUK]

Interesting topic. I'd say that the Sonic twitter account have made the bold move from the marketing methods of the old to the new. SEGA couldn't be more on fleek with that decision. Social media craves attention, but is also very sceptical towards the obvious. The old ways of marketing is what we call "spam" nowadays. Millennials, raised by extreme marketing, sees brands as "persons" and assumes they act like one and that they're clear with their values. The Sonic twitter account have perfected that and it will be taught in schools eventually. It's that good.  

EDIT: Call in AAUK into the discussion. He knows more.

You get bonus points for using the term "on fleek". But of all the things you summon me in to AC/H&M! SIGH. Well this is going to be strange awkward isn't it? Right. First things first is that Aaron is my friend. I like Aaron. He's a great guy and I'm lonnng gone from SEGA at this point. But talking about the current SEGA/Sonic Community/Social Media and especially the current social strategy feels odd because it was in many ways my baby. I set up the Sonic account after all back when it was @SonicGames (I think) and ran everything Sonic for many years. Now things have changed - it's his show and he can do what he likes. However one of those things that has changed apparently is HOW you can use those accounts and that messaging.

The biggest thing with the Sonic social was you could not pretend or imply that you were the character. It was out of bounds. 100% forbade. (Edit: Except OFFLINE funnily enough, I wrote goodness knows how many letters and Christmas cards to young kids as Sonic.) The SEGA/Sonic accounts did interact with other companies and sites back in the day and did reference the past. Heck I often did references here and there in the blogs, there were certainly jokes and acknowledgements and even the odd comeback but it was much more in a nudge nudge wink wink kind of way. You know, we know, you know we know. What you could do was as a result rather restricted. I've said before on another thread mentioning older games was frowned upon. The rules of social engagement were THE rules and whilst you can push those a bit on the rare occasions that was that basically. I once received a right rocket for acknowledging a tasteful Elise joke and answering back with a Sonic 06 quote. That's the difference. We all worked within that framework and made it the best we could. Which frankly was still bloody good.

To give you a further idea one of the ideas I proposed for Generations back in 2010 was to have Dr. Eggman have his own social channel before taking over the Sonic ones and over the course of a couple of weeks he would try and UNDO some of the announcements for the games so announcing that all your LEAST favourite levels were being put in, that Tails has been fired from the game and basically have him kick up a big stink about how he was being shunned from the promotion of Generations. A campaign that was the mirror of the promotional campaign in essence. We'd even get Mike Pollock in to do messages to people and-.... hmm this is starting to sound familiar somehow(!) The point is, whilst the idea interested it was refused because we would be saying stuff as the character and there were concerns about playing 'fast and loose' (that is indeed loose, not lose) with the characters and the franchise.

Now when Aaron came in that day he visited SOA and took over the accounts - which btw I'd be surprised if SOJ and SOE didn't have an absolute fit over, "we let a non-contracted former employee takes over the company social" doesn't exactly scream good business sense, does it?) - whatever happened that day the rulebook went completely out of the window. How? Why? Hog alone knows. It got attention though, it was the CMs basically off the leash at last. So it wasn't so much that what's happening has been revolutionary- we wanted to be a bit more like that. It's just Aaron is pretty much the first person with brand knowledge to be allowed to do that.

So yes a very bold decision I completely agree and a complete 180 from the previous stance but SEGA have been doing "brands are people" for years.

Now as for it being "perfected" and should be taught in schools.....

No - and yes because no.

Personally I'm actually not a fan of how the accounts behave now. IMO, and I know I'm in the minority here and will likely have a load of crap thrown at me and accusations of jealousy or some other nonsense because I dare to think differently, but whilst you can do memes having them be 90% of your output  is the wrong way to go about it as far as I'm concerned. In fact it is too far in the oppositie direction. There's a difference between being clever - which some of the time it certainly is - being (ow the) edgy and then actually going "HEY WE WERE STUPID! LOLLL" which it is what I see often. It may get a load of coverage but how does that HELP the brand exactly? 

That's why I subscribe to the nod and the wink. You can acknowledge and share the joke and the failures without screaming how much you suck and have a similar effect.

Also if you're doing all the memes and not promoting the products the brand is working on then what's the point? If anyone's tuned in to the Sonic Boom Commentary pre and post-shows we've talked about Sonic Boom and how piss poor the marketing has been at length there. The social is part of that. SEGA have been terrible at promoting when the show is on. Metal Sonic episode? Not a whimper. Hell it was only through prompting they promoted the fricking series finale and Shadow appearing, That's ludicrous when the show has been the thing helping the Boom franchise gain any kind of traction as opposed to the games. Surely you'd want to make sure that you're giving it all the backing in the world since it helping change perceptions and improve the health of the brand you are trying to sell stuff with. They can't possibly be too busy to plan this stuff. Other things too though. This Movember campaign. Nice. So why is it starting gone half way through November exactly? Where was the plan there?

Now SEGA can do whatever the hell it likes, and I wish them the best. It is their direction and it seems to be working for them. I'm not exactly sure what the ultimate aim is but hey, they seem happy about it. You seem happy about it too which is just as important. So: working. 

But personally I don't hold the activity in as high regard as you guys do and I don't think this is a net benefit in the long run.  Again, you can have fun and have a laugh - if you're allowed - and you can show you are a person, heck I'm an advocate of this! But you should probably remember to push people in the direction of the things that bring the company money once in a while. Moreover if you do nothing but play the fool for long enough that'll be all people will associate you with - and for the Sonic brand it has enough problems as it is. 

So there you go. The strategy seems to be working for Aaron - and great for him on that -, you now know a bit more about what happened and why it wasn't like that before. But if you were looking to me to rubber stamp it - no. Throwing memes around and celebrating every National Day hashtag is not some revolutionary thing.  (And at some point someone will realise National does not equal International.)

But I don't have anything to do with it anymore, so who cares what I think.

[FriendBot]

As probably the only SSMB member (that isn't part of the actual crew) that listens to the Sonic Boom commentaries, I can agree with ol' Kevin that SEGA didn't do jack shit when it comes to promoting the show. I mean, I'm sure Kellie Parker was on hands on the social media pages before Aaron came along and she posted the daily "here's what the latest Boom episode is about" which is nice (though there was that small "controversy" about the Into the Wilderness episode) but when Aaron took over, we got nothing about Boom, which is quite tragic since I really do like the show and it would be amazing if it the promotion I feel it deserves but nothing.....

But that doesn't mean I still don't love Aaron's work, as Kevin said "it works" and people are becoming more interested in the Sonic Social Media than ever before, which is saying something! But it would be nice to have those little "by the way, here's the latest Sonic product we have to offer!" every once in a while. While it was a nice move to promote the season finale episode of Sonic Boom during the Eggman takeover, I just wish they could do that more. I want to be informed about the latest Sonic stuff from the SEGA staff and not from the fans, I mean seriously, it's the fan that made sure when the Boom episodes are airing. That's just not good but that's a different issue altogether.

Aaron brings in the community and has fun doing it, in return the community (well a good majority of it) does as well! But come on Aaron, promote me some Sanic stuff! (which is ironic to say since I'm not too fond of the ads, atleast the in-your-face ones)

[Your Vest Friend]

I wouldn't be surprised if some of it inadvertently hurt sales in some way, even if minor; remember when Aaron made the Tumblr post about Fire and Ice and one of the tag was something along the lines of "It'll be good this time!". Shattered Crystal was still was a relatively recent product at the time, if anyone wanted to buy it at the tail end, it wouldn't have been encouraged with one of their staff calling it out as bad. 

That's probably the one concern I have about Aaron's way of going about it; it's comparatively frenetic compared to past style, but being true to real life that risks collateral damage, albeit figuratively here. 

[FriendBot]

I wouldn't be surprised if some of it inadvertently hurt sales in some way, even if minor; remember when Aaron made the Tumblr post about Fire and Ice and one of the tag was something along the lines of "It'll be good this time!". Shattered Crystal was still was a relatively recent product at the time, if anyone wanted to buy it at the tail end, it wouldn't have been encouraged with one of their staff calling it out as bad. 

That's probably the one concern I have about Aaron's way of going about it; it's comparatively frenetic compared to past style, but being true to real life that risks collateral damage, albeit figuratively here. 

Yeah, considering that I found Shattered Crystal to be a decent game (yes, yes I know. I have bad opinions, nothing new. moving on.), it was pretty weird for Aaron to say that Fire & Ice to be actually good. It's pretty ballsy and sometimes, not all of it works. But when it works, it works well. Like "making GameInformer eat their own spiel" levels of well!

[PandoloFox]

Well, im no professional when it comes to these things. But i too am conflicted about the management of the twitter page. My confliction draws however in what kind of people the twitter is actualy attracting. While the sonic twitter has indeed gained more traffic i wouldnt automaticaly classify it as good, unless you are one of those people that believes in the saying " there is no bad publicity". 

Often when you attract people you will atract the people you are aiming for. when simply marketing games one would assume that you will attract people that are interested in games. But the twitter is now mostly joking around, and if i may be bold, marketing the social media itself and its memes. The people that are there afre not interested in sonic nor the product, they are interested in the memes and the fun they can have at the twitter account. And a lot of memes represent the fans "mockery" of the franchise ( knuckles skipping leg day as an example ). So from my point of view, what is being marketed is how bad sonic actualy is. And while that gains traffic from some people, people like me who are interested in the "games" back of.

[Rey Skywalker-Ren]

I do wanna say the more I look on the Sonic tumblr stuffs the more I understand why people are tired of it. I starting to get a little tired of the memes and Sanic as well. I mean the Sanic christmas thing was good it was funny but it seems like all they do is meme jokes and Sanic. Its just..... getting old. I dont wanna be a party pooper but they need new matieral. 

I hear these jokes all the time from the fanbase so its old having to hear them from Sega to. and overused. 

[Ripe]

Yeah, some stuff that Sonic twitter does is very funny but I think it shares the same problem with the entire series currently, it tries way too much to be fun without much substance.

Ps. I never understood what was funny about "Sanic"

[Multikaris]

I can understand why Webber is doing this, but I don't like it. C'mon, the franchise is flopping like a fried Mexican Jumping Bean flapjack in caffeinated oil, there's at least one superior indie successor on the market (and it's not Action Henk), as well as dozens of fan-games, a strong surmount of fans hate every inch of what SEGA is doing, there's all manner of legal issues going on... It's okay to make a bunch of jokes to lighten the mood. Unfortunately, the series itself in general is treated like a joke now, and this social media is only  making the fans angrier and more savage.

[CottonCandy]

I've never found the "gotta go fast", Sanic , or ms paint fanart that funny in the first place. So it got old to me pretty quickly. 

I understand what the social accounts are trying to do. Embracing the jokes instead of running away from them isn't always a bad idea. However, I think they're embracing them a bit too much. It's becoming kinda lame and the memes are becoming more of an annoyance than anything hilarious. I feel like there needs to be a balance to all of this. 

[Rey Skywalker-Ren]

I've never found the "gotta go fast", Sanic , or ms paint fanart that funny in the first place. So it got old to me pretty quickly. 

I understand what the social accounts are trying to do. Embracing the jokes instead of running away from them isn't always a bad idea. However, I think they're embracing them a bit too much. It's becoming kinda lame and the memes are becoming more of an annoyance than anything hilarious. I feel like there needs to be a balance to all of this. 

this bascially. like i say i hear these jokes all the time from the fanbase but the sonic accounts just rub it in our faces

[Metal the Mario]

I'm probably jumping on the bandwagon at this point, but the recent replies have summed up how I've been feeling lately pretty well.

I'm sure Aaron has the best intentions for the brand and it's great to see such an unprecedented level of fan interaction and exposure from a Sonic social media standpoint. To me, though, this current PR style serves (even if unintentionally) as an extension of Sonic's baffling shift toward comedy in the past five years that still feels like it came out of nowhere. While I enjoy a little humor and self-awareness, I think these continued antics are starting to set a different overall "tone" for the brand that's more dissonant with the existing media than I'd like.

To me, Sonic is a series of cool, fast-paced action with a rich history of diverse characters and locales. I'd just like those aspects to be acknowledged and embraced a bit more on the official side. I feel there's a ton of untapped potential with marketing that sort of thing that extends beyond in-jokes and memes.

[J&/MA/MC]

Coming from the "Thermian Argument" thread to this one, I think Aaron has done more harm than good in the long run. His claim to fame was even one.

Right there, he stood on gamergaters side without realizing it and no one bat an eye (unless you're Marrowing, of course) .

There's a clear gender gap regarding fandom activities here. Women makes the fanart. Men makes the memes. And what have Aaron decided to pander towards here? Men, of course! Memes relies on the lowest common denominator and more often than not, it has politically incorrect undertones. The cheapness of it all is explicitly used to insult and to create a hostile environment towards those with the higher standards in the fandom, which in most cases are women.

So I think the guys at the Sonic Adventure 3 page have point here. The demands on higher standards on the PR department is only for the greater good. No one's a cinnamon roll in the real world.    

Edited December 13, 2015 by AMC/H&M

[Badnik Mechanic]

Right there, he stood on gamergaters side without realizing it and no one bat an eye (unless you're Marrowing, of course).

Is this a joke post?

Would you mind explaining exactly what is wrong with that? If a media outlet is saying that 'you are deluded if you like a certain game' and the official account of said game defends the fans of it by effectively saying "Please don't insult people for liking something you don't" now a bad thing?

Edit 2: and now it's back.

Edit 3:

And what have Aaron decided to pander towards here? Men, of course! 

.... .... ... ... ... ... ... What?  

[Ripe]

 

Right there, he stood on gamergaters side without realizing it and no one bat an eye (unless you're Marrowing, of course).

There's a clear gender gap regarding fandom activities here. Women makes the fanart. Men makes the memes. And what have Aaron decided to pander towards here? Men, of course! Memes relies on the lowest common denominator and more often than not, it has politically incorrect undertones. The cheapness of it all is explicitly used to insult and to create a hostile environment towards those with the higher standards in the fandom, which in most cases are women.

Do you have any evidence to support these claims? Seems to be quite far-fetched in multiple of ways.

[Rey Skywalker-Ren]

 

There's a clear gender gap regarding fandom activities here. Women makes the fanart. Men makes the memes. And what have Aaron decided to pander towards here? Men, of course! Memes relies on the lowest common denominator and more often than not, it has politically incorrect undertones. The cheapness of it all is explicitly used to insult and to create a hostile environment towards those with the higher standards in the fandom, which in most cases are women.

 

UM......

huh?

Edited December 13, 2015 by Mikyeong

[Tani Coyote]

Even if he's somehow took GamerGate's side by proxy, the overall idea is sound. They feel it's okay to like Sonic games that aren't critical masterpieces. Which is a good sentiment to have since the vast majority are NOT even close to such.

You can agree with something someone said without agreeing with them in totality.

[Guest]

Coming from the "Thermian Argument" thread to this one, I think Aaron has done more harm than good in the long run. His claim to fame was even one.

Right there, he stood on gamergaters side without realizing it and no one bat an eye (unless you're Marrowing, of course) .

There's a clear gender gap regarding fandom activities here. Women makes the fanart. Men makes the memes. And what have Aaron decided to pander towards here? Men, of course! Memes relies on the lowest common denominator and more often than not, it has politically incorrect undertones. The cheapness of it all is explicitly used to insult and to create a hostile environment towards those with the higher standards in the fandom, which in most cases are women.

So I think the guys at the Sonic Adventure 3 page have point here. The demands on higher standards on the PR department is only for the greater good. No one's a cinnamon roll in the real world.    

What does Aaron have to do with the absolute embarassment and uttershithole GG?

Please explain, and before you all come and attack me for being against such embarrassment like GG, allow me to explain: GG is not what the group or some people want you to believe, its origins is why you should worry about supporting such group, there's so much dark and messed up history behind it, please, listen to me.

Aaron is not even talking about gender issues or any of that, he is simply saying that others shouldn't harass others for opinions over video games, it has nothing to do with anything else, period.

[Komodin]

Coming from the "Thermian Argument" thread to this one, I think Aaron has done more harm than good in the long run. His claim to fame was even one.

Right there, he stood on gamergaters side without realizing it and no one bat an eye (unless you're Marrowing, of course) .

... This isn't some deliberate attempt at appealing to Gamergaters. This is a saying that one should refrain from acting like a jerk over someone liking a game that they don't. Being a fan hater, as TV Tropes would call such a person, is just being needlessly mean and should be avoided. I know that this recent social media move can be rather annoying to see past a certain point if you're the sort who prefer to see things taken more seriously, but saying that this has something to do with Gamergate is just overstepping things a tad, to say the least.

[PandoloFox]

Whoa now, even i wont go as far as saying that Webber is anti women. But i dont think he has any buisness going around correcting people for their opinions ( even if those opinions are trashing others ). Besides, if he truly thinks like this then maybe promoting game grumps who delibratly makes fun of people liking the sa games isnt the best idea. As for the topic of #gamergate, i have seen a lot of different discussions on what they are about. Not sure what to believe on that actualy

[Nepenthe]

As a feminist, I'm appalled that a statement that was obviously about not being a jerk to people who like platform games you don't was misconstrued into an anti-feminist, pro-Gamergate stance. This shit is why we can't have nice things.