by Kara Taylor from Save n Keep
New technology and increased user ship has changed the way social media works.
Social media and social networking will undoubtedly go down as two of the most significant terms coined during the twentieth century. However, as social media becomes less and less a niche activity and more and more a daily thread in the fabric of our existence, will social media continue to play the role that it does and will businesses who use it to attract consumers be able to in the same way?
The Early Bird: MySpace
When the social media landscape first emerged it was confusing and baffling to people. Why would anyone want to spend hours online interacting with their friends and discussing things that they could discuss in person? Why would you want to look at pictures of people that they didn’t know? There seemed to be a disconnect in terms of people’s use of social networking sites and their understanding of what social networking was. For most people the very first social networking site they had heard of was MySpace. Now a relic in comparison with the juggernaut that is Facebook, MySpace was the first social networking site to expand beyond the limits of photographs and personal quotes that were the backbone of sites like Friendster, and make the social networking site a place for creative professionals to spread the word about their work and their activities. Businesses soon began to take note of the site’s popularity and quickly began buying ad space, advertising their products and offering promotions to users. At this point social networking was still very new, and seemed to be the realm of the very young.
Enter: Facebook and YouTube
The addition of Facebook and YouTube to the digital landscape created a seismic shift seemingly overnight. Videos created by internet users could be posted to one’s profile page, emailed back and forth and sent quickly to large numbers of people who then passed them on to their friends. Suddenly videos were going viral, creating a shared experience. The Internet had broken down geographical boundaries and allowed people from all over the world to see and experience the same bits and pieces of culture.
The Problem for Advertisers
However wonderful the benefits of social networking as a concept have proven to be, the phenomenon does pose problems for individuals who are seeking to advertise and market on the web. Because the internet’s landscape is constantly evolving and shifting, it can be very difficult for companies to know exactly how to position themselves when they are trying to recruit customers or followers.
The popular perception of social media user has been, for several years, the image of the isolated, socially awkward misanthrope spending hours at his computer illuminated only by the glow of the screen. Whether that image was very accurate is debatable but certainly, with the development of the iPhone, Blackberry, thinner-and-lighter-than-ever laptops, social media has ceased to be a thing that users do, and has become more and more a part of our everyday lives. People who had initially been resistant to the use of any social media tool now find that Twitter helps them to choose a restaurant, Yelp reviews allow them to pick the best tailor in the neighborhood and YouTube videos on their phone keep them connected with what their children are watching and doing.
It is difficult for marketers, direct messages and consumer focus groups to keep a handle on the way that the digital world is growing and developing, making it hard for them to know how best to use the tools of social media to attract consumers to their product. As was clearly evidenced by the Napster/digital music shakeup of the late 90s, media, marketing and advertising are always a few steps behind the way that the digital world is moving. Social media still exists, but its changing face means those who seek to market online need to stay alert.
Kara is an avid blogger and social media enthusiast. You’ll often find her on free social bookmarking sites, tweeting, on Facebook, and blogging of course.