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RSSFor now, let's put it this way -- my attitude toward social networks rests on two adjectives: intrigued and skeptical.
While some have plunged head-first into social networking, my dalliance with the phenomenon has always been more of a dipping-a-toe-in-the-water sort of thing. My Plaxo and LinkedIn profiles mostly exist as placeholders in case I'm ever desperate for a job. My (pitiful) MySpace page was first created for a story I had to write about a year ago, and no one has shown it much interest since. In all that time, only one person whom I know in the real world has wanted to be my friend. (No, Tom Anderson doesn't count.)
Meanwhile, as so many studies have shown, Facebook is where my social networking action is. I don't even actively solicit friends and yet I have 54 of them, and find myself on it almost every day. Its pull is undeniably intriguing, like looking at a dashboard of what some important people in my life are up to. You could still call me apathetic compared to many others -- I haven't responded to pleas to play the "Name of the Brands from Logos" quiz or the "Are You an Ad Whore?" movie quiz even though I so clearly am. I don't have the time -- and then I ask myself: who is it here that doesn't have a life? Me, for not having enough time for this stuff? Or my Facebook friends?
In ways that I haven't learned to articulate yet, social networking has enhanced my virtual world of professional contacts in ways even previous digital communications revolutions, like IMing and emailing, have not. What it hasn't done -- yet -- is come even close to mirroring my offline life as I assume it does for people who are, well, younger than me and in a different phase of life. They are not fortysomething suburban soccer Moms. That's where my skepticism comes in: is the lack of interest in social networking from my non-digerati friends a sign that it just hasn't reached certain demographics yet, or is it that it's of limited utility beyond certain demographics?
Maybe during the course of writing this column every week, I -- and we -- can answer that. In the meantime, feel free to email me your ideas. Or ask to be my Facebook friend.
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It's normal not to get it right away, and I am just as skeptical in terms of the monetization opportunities with social networks.
I don't blog, I don't create fansites, and I don't endorse my favorite brands online but apparently some people do. I don't usually post either (because of people like George ;-) ). Just because a media is more trackable doesn't mean it's better, except in the minds of marketers and the ones they have to report to.
My guess is people in the long term will value brands less and less and look more and more for real quality/value and peer reviews. Using social networks to increase brand value is not very useful but why not. More than anything else it will reflect something already existing. Using them to increase knowledge of a good product/service with little brand awareness is smarter. One possible exception would be entertainment (cf. Cloverfield).
I actually meet my girlfriends in real life, only I realize I don't have to ask for a phone number anymore. If I do spend so much time in front of a screen it's because my job makes me spend some 10 hours daily on the Internet. Going home, multitasking like everybody else I find myself watching TV while checking my facebook profile to see what parties are planned, when my girlfriend has some time to go out for dinner and check pictures of my classmates in Barcelona or Buenos Aires or wherever they are working now. And yes I still have time to run and read a bit everyday, that's called discipline.
You can mock my comment, but I don't believe you would deny the fact that your mobile phone has changed even the way you manage your relationship with your wife. Or do you call her on a landline? Do you write a postcard for new year's eve to everybody? It's just the same with facebook smartmouth.
Now my point is that the online area is not unlike an extra layer of information that's superposed to the real world. You can see where a friend is, chat with him, see his pictures, find his location on google map, check videos on youtube of where he is and what's going on there, have a complete description of the city on wikipedia and see who else is around, what parties they go to, etc. I could go on and on. It doesn't replace a beer at the local boozer but it's nice.
That's called change, get used to it.
Contrarily to many people who admit going on facebook under the social pressure I know why I do it and do not lose time wanking around.
PS: please make an effort with the spelling, it's written just above. I know it's not English, but that's not an excuse for being lazy.
I remember using the original Mac with its great programs MacPaint and MacWrite, a grotesque dot matrix printer and fun desk accessories like Puzzle. The lovable brick was pooh-poohed by every right-minded business person and I was razzed weekly for buying into the next Lisa (the computer that came between the Apple II and the Mac, which was a COMPLETE and HORRIBLE failure). But guess what...the lousy 72 dpi printer gave way to the LaserWriter and then history was made.
There are an awful lot of programs with lots of unrealized potential -- for example, social networks will likely help extend the role that promotional calendars have played, i.e., coordinating third party marketing. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.
The only thing these software ideas needed to succeed was an app like Facebook to do 98% of the heavy lifting.
I would love to see you add your views on the corporate side of things in the future, it's a whole new emerging area that is very exciting, and I'd be eager to hear your unbiased views.
As you add more "friends" and connection in social networks and through this column/blog, I think you'll come to understand what it means to "live" in social media. As others have mentioned in the comments, they have moved beyond just using social media -- they have come to live in it to the point where it is like air...they can't live without it.
And look for a Facebook friend request coming your way!
Thanks for your time! Dr. Larry Rosen Professor of Psychology California State University, Dominguez Hills
I enjoyed your first post and expect I will enjoy your future ones as well. It's nice to read a blog from someone who isn't afraid to admit they're not "the expert" yet. I read so many blogs that come off that way and for me -- someone who is young and just beginning to use social media for professional -- it's a welcomed change.
Nice column and welcome aboard. I look forward to reading more from you.
I am fairly new to Facebook myself but have found it to be an incredibly great place to meet people in my industry (mobile marketing) and to connect with more technologicially inclined people than my offline friends tend to be.
Probably 10 of my 61 friends are people I have met outside Facebook and I like that this means I am meeting and getting to know new people - exactly what I want from a networking situation.
See you on Facebook!
From a business perspective, I don't hold the golden key for measuring its impact. However, viral advertising and networking have wide ranging impact. If you promote a product/service, plant the seed on Facebook, if its good, its libel to have a major domino effect with little work of your own. Also a great way to kep a pulse on the world.
I work with a small retailer and it's tough to know how much time, energy and financial resources to spend establishing a social 'footprint', especially on a restricted budget. We don't know what the return will be but we are all convinced we should be there [squidoo, Facebook, Flickr, etc.] - if for no other reason than the fact that our competition is there. But is that a justifiable reason? Not sure.
Since then there has been applications, Microsoft-induced 15B valuation, etc. and my love for facebook has faded a little but I still can't live without it. It has made asking for a phone number obsolete. It has made giving everybody your email address when you move to another city obsolete. And to be honest it has changed even the way I managed my relationship with my [ex-]girlfriend or how I started dating a new girl.
Between work and my private life I must spend 8 to 12 hours a day in front of a screen except on weekends. Still I run half an hour everyday, watch movies and documentaries, go on dates, go out for drinks with friends most days and find time to read books.
The world we live in has changed in a radical way. When I was born mobile phones were a thing of the future, and I have grown up with this new technological wave. However, contrarily to all expectations (I can testify, I've not heard anything else all my life), our online life isn't eating up our offline life, preventing us from socializing or developping our personalities.
Online is an additional layer of our lives that covers up everything we do and enhances it.
I'm not sure if you're going to read this or not...I hope you will.
With all due respect, you're thinking about ROI and monetization in the wrong way.
Many companies want to get a reasonable return from their social networking/social media activites (and rightly so), but before you start asking about a return, you need to examine your investment.
In other words, don't expect much to come from a business where being active on Facebook (or using any other social media tools) is optional and where smart social media activity goes unrewarded.
I would be willing to bet serious dollars that if ninjas vs. pirates time is turned into serious influencer identification and engagment paired with a progressive commenting/rating strategy...and ok, some ninjas vs. pirates...you wouldn't have to worry about monetization, it would be obvious.
Take a challenge and try it for 60 days...what've you got to lose except a few pirates?
Congratulations on your first post. I'm glad we agree - I found it odd that you're writing for the Social Media Insider, yet you've only done some toe-dipping. Hardly an insider's perspective; but then again, perhaps it's that kind of fresh perspective that we need, instead of the Kool-Aid that many of we social media types are guilty of passing around...
I think what we're seeing as far as non-adoption is two-fold: 1) The demographics haven't been reached yet. I'm steeped in the digital world, yet my wife only recently (and reluctantly) joined Facebook. She's been gradually reconnecting with friends from college, including some she hasn't spoken with for nearly 15 years.
I think we're going to see this spread gradually over the next year or two, as GenX isn't quite as wired as GenY. Which leads to my second point:
2) Adoption will speed up as we find more uses to bridge online and offline activities. Tools that make it easier to connect and plan will be welcomed - whether it's using a Twitter group to direct-message friends or a sports team, or using Upcoming or MyPunchBowl to organize a party or event.
I saw a recent statistic that 83% of everyone online has made some sort of online purchase. That means that now, some 12 years after Amazon's debut, there are still 17% of people who are able to go to the site but that don't buy anything from it.
You can bet that if it took e-commerce a decade to reach that kind of saturation, it's going to take a while for social media to sink in. Hopefully not as long, though.
I'd be happy to have you as a reader to my blog - it's free to subscribe! You can find The Social Media Marketing Blog at http://www.scottmonty.com
Best of luck in your newfound role!
But, I think the end result isn't going to be either or - in other words, it won't be that that social media "hasn’t reached certain demographics yet, or is that it’s of limited utility beyond certain demographics"; it's both. Like the web and email were at first.
Some boomers came along for the ride as the ride became more ubiquitous, others didn't.
Looking forward to reading more...