Social Media

If you have read any of my blog before, you probably know how excited I am for this entry. A few years ago, my girlfriend at the time told me about this cool new website called Facebook and told me I had to join. I immediately thought "what a waste of time." How wrong I was. Those early years when Mark Zuckerberg's concept for a new social experience would bring about a revolution that even Mark himself could not have forseen. Then came Ev Williams and Biz Stone's creation of Twitter. Poor Tom and his MySpace. It would never see the fame his rivals were to experience which is quite an interesting future blog entry in itself.

Social media took the power of communication and put it squarely in the hands of the most powerful people in the world, consumers. There was no turning back. Those who say that social media is a fad are the organizations that are setting themselves up for failure not only because they are going to be at a disadvantage in their consumer relationships, but also because it is an illustration of rigidity and stubborness.

It is extremely difficult to box social media into a single explanation because it is not a product, service, or entity of any kind. It is a platform that has no set definition nor confines despite major brand associations such as Facebook and Twitter. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Digg, QSpace, Orkut, Yelp, FourSquare and other may one day disappear but they are not what is social media. Social media is a concept that will live on beyond these companies.

In terms of the 2012 campaign, its going to be interesting for three reasons to see how social media impacts the elections. First, not only are the means by which people consumer information changing, but consumers of information now have a channel to react and express concern and/or opinions. Second, everyone with internet access or in some channels, text messaging, is able to be a creator and producer of content. This allows not only the famous and well known political movers and shakers a voice, but it also allows John, Joe, and Sally an equal voice to contribute to the conversation. Finally, social media has created a new level of transparency because of the accountability the public will hold politicians to via social media channels and viral content.

Not only is social media changing how politicans are to communication during campaigns but its also changing the very criteria of who would be a successful contender for public office because if said politicians cannot engage in the new social conversation channels, they are wasting their time and money.