Meg Whitman, Facebook and flirting.

I've just come across two "data-points" as account people like to call them, those things in a simpler era we used to call facts.

The first is from a report from the "Pew Internet and American Life Project." It finds that at least one in five adults uses Facebook for flirting. (My guess is that the real number is 1 in 1, but who's going to admit to public flirting?)

The second is from an article in "The New York Times." It claims that Meg Whitman spent $141 million to lose the California governor's race--more than any person has ever spent on a single political race in US history.

Odd as it may seem, I believe these facts are linked.

As the efficacy of traditional marketing efforts has decreased, marketers are turning to "social media" sites like Facebook to pick up the slack. And what you've got on Facebook are scads of people who really aren't interested in much more than flirting.

The short answer is this.

There is no magic way to get people to like your brand. If you're stiff and unlikeable $141 million of TV won't do it. If you go on Facebook--because it's inexpensive and the home of a billion-eye ball-members--you likely wind up just interfering with flirting.

If you want people to like, try, use, recommend your brand, be likeable, be tryable, be usable, be recommendable.

Then your marketing dollars will work.