Gladwell’s recent New Yorker piece on social media and activism includes some solid insights for corporations who invest millions marketing on Facebook and Twitter. Remember, these quotes from the piece are in the context of social activism. I will apply them to our world: marketing to consumers. Is social media an effective tool to convince thousands — hopefully millions — of consumers to purchase something?

Let’s explore (these next two quotes are directly from Gladwell’s New Yorker article):

Facebook activism succeeds not by motivating people to make a real sacrifice but by motivating them to do the things that people do when they are not motivated enough to make a real sacrifice. We are a long way from the lunch counters of Greensboro.

In our world, it’s safe to say that spending hundreds, maybe thousands of dollars, on a product is a real sacrifice for most people.

Facebook and the like are tools for building networks, which are the opposite, in structure and character, of hierarchies. Unlike hierarchies, with their rules and procedures, networks aren’t controlled by a single central authority. Decisions are made through consensus, and the ties that bind people to the group are loose.

Loose ties. Consensus. Of course, a purchasing decision is intensely personal. Should I spend my hard-earned money on this device? Is the iPhone better for me, or an Android phone? Is it time to buy a new HDTV? Cable or satellite? A social network is an ill-suited place to influence consumers to part with their money. Conversely, television and radio is a very well-suited place to ask people to buy your product. There, even though you’re reaching more people, ironically, your message, if effectively communicated, is perceived as though you’re speaking directly to the consumer. One-to-one, as opposed to one-to-thousands on social networks.

Here’s another insight: Social network participants are actually turned off if they perceive somebody (or some entity) to be capitalizing on the network. That’s right. Social media folks are intensely, instinctually anti-profit. To them, social media is pure, where messages — and, as Gladwell details, causes — spread organically.

Your efforts to influence what happens in social networks may well be held against you. Manipulation — particularly for the purpose of profits — is frowned upon by the social masses.

Participants unmotivated to sacrifice their money. No leaders. Loose ties. Anti-profit.

Is this where you want to be investing your marketing budget?