It’s easy to talk to an audience that is already accepting of your message. Sales and marketing professionals that are reaching out to a group already interested in their product don’t need to work as hard to persuade their consumers.
The same can be said for social media. With millions of bloggers, MySpace members, Flickr photos and thousands of YouTube videos available, it’s clear that adoption is becoming more mainstream. Slowly, more corporations and individuals are becoming an interactive part of the Web 2.0 conversation, and the thoughts and ideas that we, as social media consultants and professionals, have, are increasingly important additions to the conversation.
But what is it that we’re providing through our thoughts, blogs, and general discussions of social media? Through the many conferences, interviews and podcasts, what is the real value here in what we are saying?
Are we just speaking to each other, like-minded individuals with a passion for social media? Or are we impacting a larger audience and reaching out to those companies and individuals who are still unsure or critical of Web 2.0 and social media? I think that maybe it’s a combination, and blogs such as this one, and those of our friends and colleagues, serve as a medium to develop those thoughts and hopefully declare some answers.
On yesterday’s BlogTalkRadio with Toby Bloomberg, Shel Israel, and Geoff Livingston, the main topic of conversation was Astroturfing (which according to Geoff there have been 120 posts in the past month alone!), however a few other comments were made which got me thinking.
Digital Legacies
One of the points that Shel made during the podcast was the idea that the words that we are writing today, are going to live on forever. While many companies fear that idea when considering hosting a corporate blog, the benefit highly outweighs the risk.
"Digital lasts forever and the records we are writing now will last forever. Writings [of the three of us] that we don’t even think are the most important will be poked at and perused and considered by some PhD candidate at some university that may not have been founded, and each of us may find that we are quoted by someone that lives in the era of our great great great grandchildren."
How amazing to think that since we are on the early side of adoption and as social media continues to evolve, we will be the innovators, thought leaders, and critics. It’s an exciting time, as well as controversial as many people seek to determine the rules and ethics of blogging and social networking.
"We are going to later be referred to as the pioneers of social media."
The Golden Era
The whole idea that we’re on the brink of the bubble, is part of social media’s appeal and sexiness. Similar to the dot-com era, we are now in a position to shape the ideas and concepts that will be discussed decades from now, whether or not social media continues its explosion (we like to think yes).
Shel also pointed out the fact that, "you don’t know what you say, or what conversation you have or what insight you have that is going to change a large and complex chain of events which make up history. Those of us that are early into social media, which I would include all three of us [from the podcast], and anyone that is here [listening] now as fairly into social media…we are going to be later referred to as the pioneers."
Just like the advent of email use, we are now looking at the age of social media. And, just like email, there will be critics, controversies (spammers anyone?) and questions…but in this day and age, how many people do you know that don’t have at least one email address? Some people have multiple accounts that they maintain. I think that for many people, particularly Generation Y, the same will be true of social media.
Now What?
Social media is poised to become the next common link to bring businesses, and more importantly, people together. Communication is changing; how we speak to each other (IM, email, text messaging), how we relate (electronic etiquette), and how we update one another on our lives (Twitter, Facebook news feeds, blogs).
I believe that communication constantly evolves. However, I also think that through that evolution, people have an inherent need to be a part of a community, and surround themselves with like-minded individuals. People that share the same values, thoughts and strong sense of integrity. It’s important to identify with others, and validate your opinions.
Perhaps the idea that we are making a difference in the ever evolving development of social media is what keeps us all here. Through our blogs, Twitterings, link sharing, IMing and emailing…somewhere down the line we know that we’re making a difference. Contributing to the community and defining its role, building something from the ground up. I think that collaboration fuels innovation, and that is the true ROI for what we do.
Its good to be on the edge of the emergent wave of social media. People are only now starting to realise the potential that is out there with the tools that currently exist.