In architectural media, what it used to be "there is no such thing as bad publicity" in the prime print years, has turned into "puffery is the only publicity" in the age of social media and infinite promotion. There might be some flickers of hope here and there for intelligent criticism, but media in general might as well be one big love fest for the positive thinking which is explained in Herbert Marcuse's One Dimensional Man. The quantity is the key word here and it is counted by thumb up style likes..
It is important and entertaining to peek at the workings of this mechanism that spins.
The context of architectural firms hiring media experts, facebook and twitter representatives for their commanding presence in the world, is a good place to understand some of this new media popularity structure.
Sometimes called a "social media coordinator" or "marketing director," these people are now an essential part of any organization whose mind is set on nothing less than a top place in their field.
It is not like the old days when an editor of the design magazine called and said, “Mr. Superstar, whom you used to intern for free, suggested I contact you and publish that interesting looking home you designed for your parents on the cover of upcoming issue, I think you are handsome and talented and our readers love the cutting edge houses build on an exclusive lakefront properties.”
Nowadays it is much different and the structure of being in the public eye pretty much is self serviced and achieved through the media expert, err.., the full time social media responder and a forum member to whom you pay salary.
Let's say your latest architectural design with an “edgy” camera angle showing that trendy detail is sent to one of the architecture's daily websites and from there it has bounced like a ping pong ball in the internet and simultaneously re-posted by your followers, spreading like a quick fire via facebook, twitter and in the “design writer” circles of endless blogs.
All good so far, a minor star is born. You are now a familiar name and it is up to you how to stretch that and spin it until you have something else to pitch.
However, here is something you did not expect.
Sometimes called a "social media coordinator" or "marketing director", these people are now an essential part of any organization whose mind is set on nothing less than a top place in their field.
A jackass, an internet troll, a homegrown expert on design, an opinionated troublemaker or simply someone having a bad day at work and who despises you no matter what.., comments on your masterpiece, fruit of your irresistible talent, ticket to all things fame enables.
The loathsome post says, ”this sucks! what a terrible design, a waste, go back to school, simply awful.. I wish this forum had a dislike button.”
What will you do?
You'll place a job ad in craigslist.
North America based internationally recognized boutique architecture firm with projects in China and New York's vibrant Chelsea neighborhood is looking for an intrepid social media expert to coordinate firm's web presence and profile. The candidate should possess a keen sense of rapid response to aggressive commentary and public opinion about our projects by irresponsible people who are the enemy of design, capitalism, democracy, freedom and America, Belgium, Denmark, etc...
Applicants will be selected based on the marketing background, possession and conduct of certain vocabulary to counter negativity decisively and willingness to work around the clock.
Salary is based on effectiveness.
This is the age of frolicking in media success. But there are enemies.
You need to defend yourself as you are attacked in real time. Architecture needs to be defended, architecture needs to be famous, architecture must make a successful and profitable impression.
How to defend against negative commentary?
“Easy,” according to Jet Troll, a long time internet hacker, who, in the past, successfully made thousands of people throw their laptops out the upper floor windows in United States alone.
Jet Troll says, “you need to go to the core of the mindset, the mood, and the level of aesthetic register and knowledge.”
“You need to respond with defamation and ad hominem. Don't be a hohoho Santa Claus. Preemptive attack is a good defense also,” Troll adds.
When I ask to list some of the preemptive defamatory words, Jet's first one is, “-haters hate- is a good one because it immediately puts the offenders in a category as the hate monger types and there is no sympathy in that neighborhood. Always end your negativity busting posts with “cheer up!” or something that illustrates the dark space you put this person in.”
Troll continues, “another good one is old age and nostalgia. You pair the hater with old age and po-mo leanings. It really works in an age when everybody is trying to be hip to technology and world of words with flash memory. It hurts people real bad and places them in the out of touch category. After all, who would listen someone with a wrinkled face and pony tail wearing a casual Friday clothing? You get my point?”
Without asking, Jet Troll continues with his trade secrets, “I personally like the fact check references and quote articles which are so easy to find via google.com because as you know, there is some supporter of every idea goes through your mind. Another one is to post a youtube video declaring the opponent stupid in moral grounds.”
More Troll talks, more I understand how easy to say STFU and defend your client who just finished that topsy turvy copycat office building with drywall interiors in China.
It is also important to know that basically architectural design world is driven by no more than few dozen of well placed architects who usually graduated from a well known school or worked for handful of celebrity architects. The profession, particularly schools, are filled with students who are the big fans of them, idolizing every building they design and how they look like. Sort of like cult following. These are the people usually leave messages on architectural boards saying (all commentary below is collected “as is” from popular sites by the author and separated by dash marks,)
“I am in loove with it!! - Fantastic! - i never liked a symmetry before but in this one i love itttt !!! - i feel like a cut paper, awesome!! - awesome ... many glass in the wall - It's spectacular!!! - woowww.. amazing - The pencil leaves the rest to the imagination... fantastic Mr. Holle!”
Then some dickhead comes and says “what a waste!” “Crap.” Or, “Steven Holl sucks!”
This is the daily bread of the hate control specialist and that person must be told and told forcefully STFU.
A perfect time to say “haters hate or why so much hate” without the question mark because as a social media expert, you are not asking a question but placing the comment in the dark side of the haters' space. You also need to appear not as professional but as a devoted and positive fan, a lover of architecture and design. Ready to defend, insult, defame and earn the money they are paying you every month to protect their reputation, spin their game and periodically wax their brand.
There is a great financial advancement for the firm if you can have herds of poor people living in poverty to speak up for it, support and idolize the recent project they designed on that lakeshore with few acres of trees around it where the architecture centers around a living room that it is hard to distinguish between indoor or outdoor because of the walls of triple layer glass in that northern ice weather. You know.., the media shots.., to keep people's aspirations alive. The new American virtual dream, lifestyle and consumerism.
All this boxing match among the design plebs for the property of prominent art collectors where they spend their weekends away from the city and regroup their enterprising thoughts, or, appreciate their new acquisition of a painting, or, just spend few days relaxing before they go back to the city to make more money in few days than most architects make in a year.
A long-time contributor to Archinect as a senior editor and writing about architecture, urbanism, people, politics, arts, and culture. The featured articles, interviews, news posts, activism, and provocations are published here and on other websites and media. A licensed architect in ...
19 Comments
I think I need to take a long, hot shower..
haha, yes long hot shower because of the topical seediness. interesting post, perhaps should be called "last exit to architecture"
but the remedy could be to hire a counter-troll. deploy armies of trolls against each other to wage proxy wars. but then, what to waste your intellect on in this economy?
also the architectural circle doesn't need media to expose this sickness. stick with the architectural circle for a while.
i frequent a few forums. this, archinect, is one. another is a string instrument makers/musician forum and -to a lesser extent- a couple of drawing/painting forums.
out of all those, the architects', here, is the most vicious and highstrung of the lot. there is an extravagant reserve of vitriol and an abounding synonymity of insecure dissatisfaction and egomanic smugness - one overlaid over the other. the musician's internet corner is elysian by comparison; its members mother teresas compared to the nicest amongst us here.
not to make this simplistic though - we can discuss the nature and place of criticism.
First you say,"The profession, particularly schools, are filled by students who are the big fans of them, idolizing every building they design and how they look like. Sort of like cult following. These are the people usually leave messages on architectural boards..."
Then you say, "There is a great financial advancement for the firm if you can have herds of poor people living in poverty to speak up for it, support and idolize the recent project they designed."
I hope you are not trying to insinuate that architectural students are poor. They certainly are not rich, but any hardship they are going through is likely of their own doing. I hope the absurdity of calling anyone who is posting online from their own computer "poor" is clear to everyone.
On topic... It seems as though confronting the "trolls" not with hate and vitriol, but with a legitimate attempt at intelligent discussion would be the best course of action. You take the high road, and the offensive individual is exposed as either not intelligent enough to comment on the subject, or an intelligent person who is trolling for unknown reasons, neither of which are conducive to a becoming professional reputation.
It seems society in general has become ever more sensitized to criticism... facebook has no "dislike" button and apparently now architecture firms are hiring people to assassinate the character of anyone who dares disagree with them instead of engaging in the type of discourse that has traditionally made our profession unique.
I doubt an architect would personally insult someone who dislikes their building, why is OK for someone hired by an architect to do so?
Have architects forgotten that they serve clients and the public, not their own egos and interests?
“I personally like the fact check references and quote articles which are so easy to find via google.com because as you know, there is some supporter of every idea goes through your mind. Another one is to post a youtube video declaring the opponent stupid in moral grounds.”
'google dot com' .. ha! that made me laugh
Nicholas : "On topic... It seems as though confronting the "trolls" not with hate and vitriol, but with a legitimate attempt at intelligent discussion would be the best course of action"
i don't agree. if you excuse me for saying this, its like setting out to make a prostitute fall in love with you and forget all about the payment. noble and christian of you - insiduous as well. but not very realistic. no?
the media recognition thing has always been kind of a mystery to me. we have many projects that don't deserve recognition, but then we also have one or two which probably do. without us paying to participate in a periodical, i've never understood how that recognition can be garnered.
is it the media specialist > is that the price of entry?!
is the editor of the past no longer searching out work deserving of recognition but merely promoting those who pay to play? i know that this is very naive; really, i do. but, as long as i've been in this line of work, i've never seen behind the curtain, except for tiny glimpses.
I may be naive about the whole marketing of superstar architect thing, but is this for real? When I read this I thought it was an onion piece or so super ironic that once again I missed the point.
Interactive Design, Graphic Design / Signage, Writing, Computer Programming=architecture
got it!
another great piece of irony truth and fiction, orhan.
@ steven, we never pay to be published, except that it costs us a bit of time to prepare material. it doesn't really have much to do with our business though. except that we get more students asking for jobs.
as far as this cool observation from ohan goes we are definitely not doing it right. twitter and facebook sometimes leads to interesting contacts but most interesting people that drop a line from out of the blue are through archinect.
I once worked for an Architecture Magazine. Unsolicited projects had a given route - from in-mail to garbage can. Calls and PR releases were equally noted and ignored. So how does or did architects get published without kissing the editors behind? Editors whim and the economics of publication. Ina word or two - publish your support.
Electronic media makes this more democratic and less dependent on who's paying your bills.
Archinect is an excellent example of this as anybody with a good idea and a computer can find a forum. Which is why I support Archinect.
Thanks for the commentary. Next Series is a collection of, as will galloway described it, "irony, truth and fiction." Enjoy..
NEXT SERIES: FASTER PUSSYCAT CITY
NEXT SERIES: RADAR LOVE
NEXT SERIES: ARCHITECTURE JURY, A Factual and Fictional Manual
NEXT SERIES: APARTMENT STORIES
NEXT SERIES: TWINS
That's curious Eric. When we first started we just started sending projects out to magazines. Frame wallpaper domus detail published us right away. Now editors contact us, though still not the traditionally big ones. Would be nice to get into a+u someday assuming we design something worth seeing.
Archinect is def more open and all the better for it too.
This was an AIA publication.
I remember a story about the PA Awards. Peter Eisenman called during the selection process lobbying, and then after his project was included, he called again, demanding and complained that he needed one of the top awards. A heavy handed tactic that soured me to him. BTW this was relatively early in Eisenman's career, more than 30 odd years ago
Eric, I don't think anything has changed in that department/publication.
These days, if you want, for fundraising purposes, to give an annual "award" of your organization to a celebrity architect, they have a fee schedule for that.
In many cases rightly so, for spending an evening with boring people whose only interest in you because you are a celebrated creative genius and can draw people in for donations. It usually includes a little acceptance speech, a round table dinner attendance with photo ops and book signings. Crowds include ceo's, shareholders, deans, directors, faculty, fund raiser staff, corporate, and other starfucks. No names needed to be given on my part. It is not an uncommon practice.
thats hilarious eric. not surprising. weve not been published in usa i admit. maybe that is the reason why. although i think things has changed a wee bit because of the internets. content is always needed and more of it more often is more better - so we have a place to send things. the downside is it devalues being published in some ways. place like archdaily, which is cool, seems to have not so much curation going on. amazingly great database but not really the place to go in search of the cutting edge (if such a thing exists)...
which is why print media is a bit more cool, especially if they have writers and don't just cut and paste the text we send them. not so common anymore sadly.
archinect is most interesting cuz its almost all new content, very little cutting and pasties at all. i wonder if it makes PA scared...?
There needs to be a media specialist software added to must have start up architecture office must haves. The one which automatically finds negative commentary about your firm and responds them rapidly and automarketer to let people know your job related travels naming the airports. Wait! They already have that..
To fans: I am gonna be at the WTF airport for 15 minutes, come and meet me for a beer...
The PA Award has been dead longer than the PA magazine. It is funny that it even exists anymore.
The point that Will makes is interesting. It is my firm belief that as the internet normalizes a bit more (due to economic reasons mostly outside of architecture) there will, and already has been, something of a vetting for online publications. There was a point when amateur blogs and actual criticism where nearly impossible to separate. As time has passed, and I believe this to still be the trend, voices rise through the noise. My hope will be that this will usher in a new era in critical writing. Though Archinect is not exactly the most critical outlet, it is a model of what a really great critical online "publication" could resemble. The input coming from Academia, and the Profession (maybe the trades too) makes it one of the most viable online resources for architects. It is achieving what so many magazines have tried and failed to do, that includes Progressive Architecture, Blueprint, and even Oppositions., to name a few.
sorry that is all getting off topic maybe. Good Discussion.
Is a response really even necessary? As a secondary observer, I always though that the internet trolls make themselves sound like a prepubescent teen with no ability to go out on a Friday Night and should just be left alone just like their buddies had when they abandoned him. I would just focus on gracious responses to other's positive feedback.
The best kind of publicity you can have is showing community involvement. If you want to post that somewhere, there's nothing wrong with mixing some of your finished projects in with your causes. Amazing the people you meet outside of an office environment
i like this how did you come up with the design?
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