Social media. It started out as a buzzword. Now it seems as though it has permeated every facet of our culture. Anyone with an internet connection has a voice through blogs, message boards and sites like Twitter and Facebook. Even celebrities have gotten onboard, with almost all of them creating Twitter accounts in the past year, each amassing thousands or even millions of followers. When I last visited my grandparents in Indiana, my grandfather asked me if I was on Facebook yet.
My question is: WHEN DID SOCIAL MEDIA BECOME SOCIALLY ACCEPTABLE? I’ve been using the internet socially for as long as it has been available to me (the early to mid 90’s). My parents, had they known, would have been as horrified as most Americans to know that their teen was going into chat rooms, using instant messaging programs and a “regular” at several online message board communities. They constantly warned me against giving out any of my information over the internet – even my first name.
They were scared shitless. And why shouldn’t they have been? All the mainstream media had to say about any of these sorts of online activities was negative. So-And-So talked to a guy online and the next thing you know, SHE’S DEAD. What’s-His-Name ruined his life and ended up in jail because of friends he’d met online who taught him how to build a pipe bomb.
Being social online was not only seen as incredibly dangerous, it was also an activity for the socially inept. Why was I sending my buddies an instant message rather than picking up the phone and calling them?
Most of these fears seem to have gone the way of the buffalo. Today’s internet users are a social bunch, unconcerned with the highly personal information they’re putting out there for anyone who cares enough to look. Twitter and Facebook users keep their followers up-to-date on a moment-by-moment basis with exactly where they are, who they’re with and what they’re doing. Add-on Twitter applications like Foursquare actually pinpoint user’s exact locations, giving thieves enough information to effectively rob your ass blind before you have time to get home.
What changed in the public’s perceptions of these technologies? Perhaps the success and security of e-commerce sites like Amazon has helped to put people’s minds at ease. Perhaps everyone has wised up and finally understands the enormous potential of online communication. Perhaps our news outlets have found way scarier shit to freak us out with on a nightly basis. Perhaps blonde bowl-cut tweens like Justin Bieber putting up some videos on YouTube and landing multi-million dollar record contracts has helped.
Whatever the cause, and for better or worse, the public’s perception of social media has changed. It’s now viewed as an entrepreneurial gold mine and any business not utilizing a regimented social media effort is seen as backwards and incapable of seeing “the big picture.” So called social media “experts” are springing up everywhere, with the only real requirement being that they know how to create and edit a social media account. Businesses are opting not to design a website, citing their social media accounts as “good enough.”
Social media on a mainstream level seems to be here to stay. It is an essential no-brainer element of any larger marketing effort. However, it should be viewed as just that: one element of an overall larger and comprehensive marketing strategy. Treating social media as anything more than a supplemental, albeit beneficial, part of your marketing is like delivering a partial message – an incomplete thought.
Incomplete thoughts…are…confusing to…your……..
