Social Media Etiquette

I am sitting in my marketing class at USF thinking about the power of social networks, probably because social media marketing is a theme that comes up frequently.

The notion that "brands" are not owned or controlled by companies as they were in the Mad Men days is not new but it is troubling for those responsible for corporate communications and marketing today. Brand now is in the hands of the people who use them. Anyone, can say virtually anything they like about you in the world and there is virtually no way to stop it - there is no way to un-ring the bell.

What does this mean and why should we care? I believe anything that dilutes the concentration of media and messaging - ostensibly that implies greater democracy. The idea that now any one person can actually be the voice of a multi-million dollar company is actually quite liberating.

In marketing, consumerism and politics it is a truism that the more active and engaged you are the more "voice" you have. The fact is, voice will continue to happen whether or not companies view this as an opportunity to engage or act in fear...

shwitting

The term social media is being thrown around by marketing people so much lately it's dizzying. I have been well amused by David Letterman's jokes about insignificant tweets involving changing his socks, but the point is well made, much information in the social media universe is insignificant and uninteresting, and may even be causing user fatigue. Someone told me even Ashton's followers are ebbing, and for the first time this month there actually may be a decline in Twitter usage. A good friend of mine pointed out to me yesterday that perhaps Twitter would have been wise to sell to Murdoch when they had the chance. How will this decline and lack of ability to monetize the site bode for its' future?

Social media is one vehicle, just as AdWords is one vehicle, and when used in combination with an overall marketing plan it can be a effective vehicle for communication but can not replace all forms of traditional media marketing.

My intuition tells me that social media will become increasingly more fragmented as people begin to develop niche communities around specific interests. For example, the art school were I am employed teaches animation and video game design, and students spend time on sites where they give and receive feedback about their work, and have lots of space to upload large images. These communities will continue to spring up for professional and activity groups. It is interesting the way the conversation is developing - but it is no marketing magic bullet.

My good friend from school sent me an interesting tweet that may be relevant on the topic of how to use social media, shwitting....

http://twitter.com/shwitting