The Flurry of Social Media Activity: Who Will Be Left Standing?

Right now, there is a "summer storm" whirling around social media. The landscape is shaking and shifting as some of the major players try to position and re-position themselves, looking to gain a  foothold in what is becoming an increasingly popular space in cyberspace: the social media space. When all the commotion ends, we don't know who or what will be left standing.

It seems that the debut of Google Plus last July has triggered all the activity. Facebook and now Twitter have come forward with major revamps to 1) do what they do best even better and 2) fill any "gaps" in their product offerings that they have noticed in trying to keep up with the competition.  To gain any measure of meaning from this, look back to these once-dominant social media "leaders": MySpace, Yahoo (remember how portals were all the rage?), AOL (they truly ruled the world in the 1990s), and what about the "news" sites that triggered the cool-at-the-time debates about "push vs pull" technology? we don;t hear about any of those discussions any more. And we don't talk about these and many more Internet "roadkill" in dominant terms. Their day ahas come and gone. It was hard to imagine when they each had their turn at the top of the mountain, but it happened.

That's my point about all the fuss over Google Plus, Facebook, Twitter, you name it. lt is downright silly to pronounce any of these "dead"or "the winner" because there are many miles to go in this journey and anything can happen to tilt the wheel in any direction. The Internet is too fluid and the audience for social media too "transient"to place bets on how the social media wars will shake out.

I believe "who will be standing" is a lame question. The real questions is how will the landscape look when the fighting is over.  Frankly, Idon't believe there will be any "loser," and instead we'll see a different pecking order in which all the principal players in the social media survive and carve out a niche of some sort. I am enjoying watching the transition.

Is There Such a Thing as Tech Burnout?

I wonder if many of us are beginning to feel this way as we find ourselves fully wired 24 hours a day. It is a wonder that our dreams aren't wired and broadcast over the Internet when we are sleeping. I came across a couple interesting pieces on this subject today while scouring the news stories on Google News. Wonder how true you think any of this is? See what you think after you read these articles.

The article that started the debate was published in the N.Y. Times by Stephanie Rosenbloom.The other article is actually a commentary on the Rosenbloom piece.  A lot of this has come to the forefront with all the talk about Google Plus, the new social network, and the questions that has arisen from that debate is, "do we need another social network?"
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Get Used to Technology Burnout (The Atlantic Wire)
For the Plugged-In, Too Many Choices (N.Y,. Times)

My Experience with a "Google Plus Invite"

First of all, this is about "the friend of a friend." So I am not a "first tier" invitee to the new Google Plus social networking thing-a-ma-bob site.  But let me say I was very excited to get an invite, especially since it came "out of the blue" as a total surprise from someone in my office who knew I was interested in it and wanted to try it out. She was simply able to invite me after she got an invite. I have been somewhat desperate to see what the clamor was all about and I am glad that I did. She was not desperate and was just curious.

I have actually enjoyed the past 24 hours of playing around with Google Plus and getting to "test drive" it. It is nicely designed, well thought through for the most part, and seems to be rather easy to use.You feel like you are in a "communicator's pilot seat" when you are inside the network. It's very much like being inside Facebook.Same neighborhood, different house. But I like the concept and I think it is more "grownup" and has the potential to generate more discussion and feedback on issues rather than just be a "show and tell" site.

But here is the $64 billion question: how are they going to get so many millions of people to switch? When people dropped My Space and gravitated to Facebook, there weren't nearly that many people on a so-called social network." It grew in popularity over time because it was something different with a new twist on an old idea of "finding and keeping up with old friends."  I say this because when I reached out to about 20 of my Facebook friends to "join me"on Google Plus, the responses ranged from no response (mostly) to just "so...the world is still rotating on its axis..." I am talking about educated, well-connected, out-and-about social people who like being seen and heard. No one (except me) seemed to be in a hurry to "pack up the house" and move over to a whole new neighborhood hook, line and sinker.

I'm not even so sure people outside serious techies and true communications professionals"get it" about Google Plus. I felt sort of "weird" as if I were a deejay trying to get people to dance to some type of  weird new music in the middle of a party that was going good. Overall, I like what I have seen and I have started using the new network, but I don't have anybody else to play with except the person who invited me and a lot of people I don't know (like Bill Gates!) who I am following just to have some kind of activity on my account. To me, the key will be what happens when the doors are open to the public. Will people come rushing? In my case, I was somewhat deflated to know that I was the only one in my "circle" who was excited about Google Plus. I felt out of synch in a digital sort of way. I thought people would thank me and rush to sign up and be my Google Plus friend.

I think the biggest thing Google Plus has to work on is improving the "Sparks" feature At first, it is really cool to get a marquee roll of articles, blog posts, videos and other items on topics you are interested in. And it is cool you can have feeds coming in on multiple topics. But it seems to update very slowly if at all. It needs to be "real time." Maybe they are working on that. They have to be. It is too obvious. But that is a tremendous feature. It's great that you can pull items from that list and simply share them.

My favorite part of the network is quite simply the Circles. I use Facebook friends list,but this is a much easier way to group people and I like the fact that you don't have to ask someone to "be my friend," which to me can be kind of awkward on Facebook. Circles is cool, practical and very effective. I can only imagine how cool it would be if I actually had some real friends in them. I actually think Google Plus is misnamed. It should have been called Google Circles. Google Plus (or +) sounds like a new hyper search engine. Google Circles immediately gives off the impression that we are talking about people and communication...our circles! Such a name might draw more non-techies to sign in when it is available or accept invitations from people like me.

The only confusing part right now is the link to Picasa (soon to be Google Photos). It's not clear to me how it works and out of caution,I have posted no photos of my own outside my profile picture. The way that is explained and presented on the site should be revisited.

Overall, I like Google Plus,and am happy I got an invite. It won' t make me leave Facebook totally, but I have room to operate in both networks if I can just get some friends to join me. No fun if I am in this sandbox all alone with no one else to throw dirt on!

Social Wars: Google versus Facebook

I can't figure out yet just what to make of this new Google+ social media nework. Clearly, the intent here is to go after Facebook and its gargantuan worldwide audience. Sure would be nice if you didn't have to depend on an invite to test drive the new "Internet toy" with all your network buddies. Hopefully that will come soon. I am anxious.

I did figure out a way to peek inside the network without an invitation. I learned it from an article. Just type this string into Google search: "site: plus.gooogle.com posts"....you will be able to click on the thousands of posts so far and actually visit anyone in the network's page. An interesting experience.

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Will Social Media Ever Try to "Charge" for Services?

I was in a meeting a few days ago and was asked whether  we would ever get to a point where the primary social media players would "charge" for their services. In other words, will you have to slide in a credit card or spit out your bank routing number and your account number into a form to get one of these services to let you post your tweet, upload some videos or update your blog? My answer was a flat-out "no." I don't think we will ever get to that point because these social media  tools have become ubiquitous as "freebies." As awkward as it sounds, social media has done such a good job at becoming indispensable at many levels as a free product that they cannot afford to ever "charge," at least not for their core services.  Let me explain.

The fact that all levels of government, major corporations and countless small businesses, as well as untold numbers of advocacy and affinity organizations have made social media sites "home"  is what has legitimized these forms of communication in  the minds of many.  A large number of social media users flock to these sites and utilize these tools every day because people know now these sites are no longer "web toys," but instead are pathways to useful and even critical information relevant to everyday life. In fact, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Blogger represent quicker and more direct paths to serious information. Not to mention the benefits of the interactivity.

A huge driver of the growth of these sites is the fact that government and business/commerce can now be found on many or all of these sites reliably. I don't think social media sites are going to have many options beyond  making money through the current advertising model. That's as close as it gets to "pay." Just like many news experienced a loss of readers when they converted to pay-per-view, the "fans" of social media will simply move away and either do without the services or find substitutes in the form of other spin off technology if it ever comes to fee-for-service.  New things are coming to the Web every day. These sites will then lose their value as "must-have" tools. They will simply go back to being novelties, attracting fewer eyeballs.

Furthermore, if they became straight pay sites, government, business and other "power users" would simply abandon their posts and go back to more traditional communication tools (or develop their own versions of social media) and that would siphon off even more users of these social media sites . How many people would be inclined to log onto Twitter, Facebook or Blogger (and YouTube) if they are no longer going to get access to tax and passport information, the daily stock reports, voter and campaign information,or even customer service information?

So, I really do not foresee the day when we will be charged for using these great tools. And I do not believe they would ever have become as popular as they are today if they had charged from the beginning. Here's an interesting article on this subject: http://www.cnbc.com/id/43443908/

Social Media Moving Into More Church Pews

One area where social media seems to be gaining a significant foothold is in the church. Religious institutions are not shying away from social media. Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Linked In are all fast becoming tools of churches looking to grow and spread their roots throughout the community.

In many instances, churches are tailor-made for social media. Churches themselves are small "communities" of like-minded people brought together around a specific faith or set of beliefs and social media is about creating and building communities around topics and issues and identifiable sets of information. So it should not be surprising then that savvy ministers are grabbing the social media reins and running with them. Whether it is memorable sermons on YouTube, daily Scriptures and nuggets of encouragement offered through Twitter or amplification of messages and pulpit teachings through blogging, ministers are finding social media tools to be their "best friends" in feeding the flock.

This is just further evidence that social media will only get bigger and better and more entrenched in our lives. It is not a "fly-y-night" fad. These tools are just too powerful and cross-cutting and some people and institutions are just now getting a handle on what they can offer when applied thoughtfully, properly and strategically.  Read this interesting article on this subject.

An Idea for Communications Research

Is anybody interested in a challenging topic for communications research? How about a topic that might make news? I cannot find any evidence where it has been done yet, but I believe we are at a point with social media where we can obtain some useful, meaningful data on the use of social media as a "news release" medium. For example, what percentage of hard news stories have been "broken" by social media? In other words, we are talking about stories filtered out to the press through Twitter, blogging or perhaps even YouTube (remember Michael Jackson's doctor releasing an official statement via YouTube). I would also wonder how that data compares over the past five years as social media has rapidly appeared on the scene and mushroomed into a phenomenon.

Now it seems, especially on the part of celebrities, "cool" to break your story through social media. That appears to be a much more 21st century way to get a story in circulation. It may even be a more controlled way to release the story, which may account for the growing appeal. You don't have to talk to a reporter and trust them to spin your message the way you want and when you want.

There is much more in the way of research questions. Some possibilities:  Do stories broken through social media have more or less "legs?" Is the placeent of stories broken through social media better or worse? which social media venue is most popular for breaking news? Conversely,which is least popular? What types of stories are most likely to be broken through social media? How can we quantify the way social media has influenced the initiation of media-focused events? In other words, is it easier to organize a media-focused protest through social media than through traditional methods? I think there is even potential for a separate component to study the impact of social media on politics.

Finally, I am very curious to know what new social media tools will catch on and when. Maybe that can be something research could also unearth. It's simply a great time to be in communications. Here is one take on social media and journalism that may get some more research juices flowing: "The Social Media Revolution" ...

It's a Whole New Ballgame in the News and Information World

I haven't read a hard copy newspaper in months. I no longer walk to the edge of my driveway to pick up the paper, any paper, except to toss it in the trash before it piles up. I haven't watched an evening news program in at least a year or maybe two.and for the life of me, I cannot even remember why I watched it. For what? I only catch snippets of. the local news here and there when it happens to be on and when there is a "story" that has something to do with my neighborhood. Am I out of touch? Absolutely not. In fact, I am more on top of the news than at any time in my life thanks to the proliferation of news and information sources online.

I used to work in the newspaper industry back in its heyday. But right now, I could not be happier as a news consumer because of all that I can access online: live radio broadcasts in other communities and around the world, online TV and special broadcasts and communiques through YouTube, online newspapers and magazines, and countless blogs that delve deeply into topics I care most about. When a big story breaks now, I can feast all day and all night on story after story and update after update combining print and video clips. Whether on the scene or on the issue, I cannot get enough.

I am still amazed at how you can "plant" yourself into a local community and feel the energy of a breaking news story that may seem like it is only confined to that community. And a major story of national or international importance -- recent New Zealand and Japan earthquakes, tornadoes in the Carolinas -- seems much more real and "in your face" when you can see homemade YouTube clips of the aftermath or read Twitter feeds and blog posts from people in the community, along with numerous news reports from wire services and newspapers. It gives you a tremendous perspective beyond just the facts.

Even when there is no news, I enjoy immensely listening to Internet streaming radio.It is my number one passion on the web and the activity has extended to my smartphone. I always have my earphones on and am listening to a station far away, sometimes in an English-speaking foreign land.

Check out this article on the impact of online information sources on newspapers and TV news.

Interesting Take on Social Media and Digital Content Issues

http://m.govtech.com/a?id=121093874

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Another Use for Social Media - Family Ties ?

We know how social media has changed business, government and organizations and the advocacy community. But I believe there is an aspect of it that is underated. It is the promise of this technology in uniting and maintaining the ties that bind families together. The maily that "tweets" together stays together? Not quite, but something like that.

A large family with members spread across the country could build an internal communications network that would serve a medium-sized business.

The central engine of such a netwok could be a blog. People from every branch of a family tree could have autho rights to THE family blog. They would post about birthdays, graduations, job changes, relocations, new arrivals and even memorials. Blog postst could also be used to share information about prior generations to tie together lineage in a fun and interestingly interactive way.

The next component would be You Tube. Family members near and far could share videos on activities and milestones that could be linked from and highlighted on the blog. Baby's first words, highights from a wedding or Grandma's stories about her childhood would be excellent candidates for this tool. Imagine the excitement and togetherness that would come from constant uploads to You Tube from cousins and siblings in different states.

Flick would enhance the video segment. A readily accessible collection of social media-style photo albums that everyone can contribute to and access would reallygenerate some family enthusiasm. For exmple, you and Uncle Billy both took photos at jane's graduation. But he got a better angle and used a professional camera. You can download or copy his shots at Flickr. Or someone else in the family network sees some really good candid shots of themselves in the collection. Presto - they've grabbed them and now they are part of that family's blog post. What's an historical achive without photos.

Next we have Facebook. Already, maybe half of your family is on Facebook. So you create a family Facebook page that draws in all the relatives as Friends. The family Facebook page comports with the other elements and undergirds the entire network like a foundation for a house. Better yet it becomes your family's Digital Town Square.

Finally, the one tie that runs through it all is a series of Twitter feeds. You could have one central feed that alerts about new postings on the blog, new photos or videos uploaded. Quite simply, we are talking about a fmily news and information network.

I've given you the blueprint. Now go build it.

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The Ultimate Newspaper

I have been thinking lately about what the "ultimate" newspaper would be like if we could build it in this current web-driven environment. I think I have a pretty good idea. For starters, such a newspaper would be online only. There would be no hard copies anywhere.  At best, you could print out the articles and photos that are posted online, but you definitely would not hear it thud at the edge of your driveway and it wouldn't even be available at the vending box on the street.

Just like we see with online editions now, my ultimate newspaper would continuously post stories and photos digitally as they happen. There would never be a "final" edition. As long as events are developing, the "paper" is constantly evolving new and better stories and updates on previously reported stories. In blog and journal style, you would get reporting that is less prose and more minute-by-minute or hour-by-hour.

A second wave of reporters and writers would come in behind the reports and offer perspective and insight. What does this story mean? Who are the winners and the losers? What is at stake? How does this story and the outcome change life and also who is affected?

But here is the kicker: as news stories develop, I would go beyond just providing video clips to enhance the story as today's online publications tend to do. The ultimate newspaper would instead rely on the new smartphone streaming technology to go live to news hotspots. Within the stories of the ultimate newspaper there would be links where you could tune in to live on-the-scene reports and activity as it occurs.

What I envision is an "ultimate" newspaper that is the news equivalent of a "living document" constantly changing in text, photos, videos and live feeds with no end. The Huffington Post has come closest I think but the day is coming when that very model will be in place. I don't think the newspaper industry is really dead. It is just in a state of transition and this is what I see it transitioning to in order to survive. Once this happens across the landscape, it will revitalize the industry.

This CNN report on the decline of newspapers is two years old, but has some interesting points.

Social Media Networking Is Slowing: What Does It Mean?

I saw this article on the web tonight and it made me think about the future of social media and all the networking sites.  It is logical that growth would at some point slow down as more and more people "catch the wave," though it is pretty late in the game now. Very definitely we are reaching a saturation point. This article says what will drive future growth and keep interest high is the rollout of new features as all the social media networking sites compete for users. I believe the future lies in greater expansion of social media networking sites by business and government and organizations. These are the entities that are going to create a "second life" for social networking. Read the article here.         

One Local Government's Progressive View of Social Media

One of the biggest reasons social media is here to stay is the overwhelming adoption of it as a core communication tool by government. It's not all federal government either.  Hundreds of state and local governments and public agencies have boarded the social media train that has long since departed the station.

Overall, government in general is past the "how do we do this" stage and is now grappling with issues like improving effectiveness, employing evaluation and perhaps the toughest issue of all, which is how to integrate it into the workplace and allow it to flourish without choking the potential due to concerns about regulation and restriction.

I like the approach by Jefferson County, Colorado, which has essentially removed the chains in favor of letting social media be a natural extension of employees and their work ultimately benefiting government and its relations with the public. Read this article

Social Media and the Japanese Earthquake: Another View

Watch this informative report from ABC News on the role of social media in chronicling the ongoing Japanese crisis in the aftermath of the recent earthquake and tsunami.

On the Scene of Major Disasters: The Influence of Social Media is Underestimated

If there is one aspect of social media and "new wave" communications that is underestimated, it is social media and the impact it has on the coverage of natural disasters. The catastrophic earthquake in Japan that jolted all of us from our sleep today and the recent ones in New Zealand and Haiti are the latest examples of how social media lets us "live in the moment"of these unfolding tragedies in a way that even live TV news cannot replicate.

There is something "eerily intimate" about watching a homemade YouTube video from the streets of an earthquake zone; watching an amateur camera pan crumbling buildings, broken glass, overturned vehicles and downed power lines with the slow, sifting rise of smoke as the only movement in the video. For me, that trumps a television reporter's commentary and professional pictures on the reality meter.  TV feels like TV but a YouTube feels like real life.

Live Twitter feeds from the scene of natural disasters also push some emotional and internal buttons because they are people's real, live thoughts at the moment of tragedy. You are privy to the first thing that comes to their minds by virtue of a tweet.

And then there are people sharing thoughts and information via blogs, Facebook posts and even photo sharing social media sites like Flickr. All of this adds a "reality layer" to the news coverage, giving it depth and meaning and context.

Traditional news is still good for the who, what, when, where and why. But social media is all about the "how" -- how does it feel to be there, how does it affect life at its most basic element (emotion and the soul), and how does it really look,sound and feel from the inside. Social media lets us go there and almost simulate what it is like.

Here is an interesting news report on social media in the wake of the Japan earthquake.

And here is one interesting homemade YouTube video among many.

The Real News Behind Charlie Sheen Going Live Tonight on Ustream

Regardless of what you think of him or about what is going on with him in the news right now,  actor Charlie Sheen made a powerful statement about just how game-changing social media is when he grabbd his Twitter account with 1.8 million followers and told people to meet him LIVE online tonight. The traditional press did not give him a forum, but he created his own forum. Now, he has become a story and the traditional press HAS to cover him. In a backhanded way he demonstrated the strategy that is continuing to gain traction today and is putting more people and organizations in charge of their message more than ever before. 

Again, you have to put aside the Sheen controversy and look at what he did with two simple tools -- he announced to "the world" when he was broadcasting ("meet me...") and then he did his own private broadcast ("I don't need 'real' news people...") and managed to say whatever it was he wanted to say to whoever was interested. I won't even attempt to be a judge of that. The audience at its zenith reached about 10% of the Twitter followers, which does not sound like very much. But now the whole event is a "story" all over the news and for those who did not "tune in," his message is still available to them as well.

Every day, large organizations (even smaller ones, and especially a smaller ones) with a legitimate message are getting more comfortable with this approach every day and the middle man ("the filer") continues to be cut out of the process. The upshot is that social media is not about reaching everyone. It's about reaching everyone who may be interested.  You may want to read this.

Mobile Technology Eats Away ISP's and Other Industries

Obsolescence is the price of technological advance.  I don't know if someone else said that or if it is something I can now lay claim to as a "new thought."  But I know this -- as we go forward with exciting new creations like the rapidly advancing mobile technology, we find some other aspects of technology are cast aside.

Below is an article that matter-of-factly reports on the unfolding developments of mobile phone growth. It is amazing to think how something that was first created (and amazingly at that) to just complete a "call without a cord" has multiplied into something that has swept across the vast business landscape putting whole sectors either at-risk or totally out of business. I have never considered the impact that smartphones would have on Internet Service Providers, but it sure makes sense and this article does a good job of explaining it.

Read the Article from The Citizen, which is published in Tanzania.

Here's a Look at Broadband Access in the U.S.

Several years ago, communications professionals identified broadband as the one technology hurdle we needed to clear to move from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0. They were certainly right. Probably nobody under the age of 25 can even relate to slow dial-up and the inability to play audio and video files or even read online newspapers and magazines.  Clearly, broadband has become the norm. Undoubtedly, the mass adoption of high-speed Internet is what has really given the Web its second life and probably its eternal life. I would make the argument that if broadband had not taken a foothold in our communities, the Web would never have become the ubiquitous communications tool that it is today. I could even envision a world where the popularity of the Internet would have waned and it would have become just another fad.

For all the benefits of broadband, it still has not reached up to every doorstep and there are still questions about whether it will truly penetrate all of our communities. Here is an interesting take on broadband and a map about broadband service in the U.S.: Broadband Map.

Information Overload? There is No Such Thing

Occasionally the debate about social media and the Internet will turn to the topic of "Information Overload." Are we simply getting hit with too much information? Frankly, I do not think there is any such thing as too much information. I just don't believe you can know too much about any particular topic or issue. More information is always better and the question is what level of interest do you have in the subject and to what degree does it affect your life.

If anything, we are more likely to have more control over the information that we receive today than we did before. With the Internet and social media tools, we have the ability to make choices about how, where and what type of information we want. In fact, such tools allow us to turn one information spigot on full blast and to shut another one down completely. Contrast that to what it used to be like "B.I." (Before the Internet). Our information sources were limited and we had to intake whatever amount of information we were given on any topic to get any information at all about that same subject. The same information could be "too much" and "too little" to different groups of people and neither group had much control over how much information they got and how.

Today, you control the switch. Social media is just one component of a new communications contiuum that is anchored in the Internet and empowering when it comes to deciding what you want to know, where you want to get it from and when and how you want to learn that information. Information overload is simply our choosing to open every single information door and window available to us rather than utilizing the power we have to determine which doors and windows we want (or need) to open when it comes to information.

Read this article on Social Media Overload from USA Today.

How the "Adults" Changed Social Media, Social Networking

Social media tools are too often associated with youth. In fact, you could make the case that they are "over-associated" with youth. But it was seniors (the adults) who have helped shape the use of Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and other social media tools from novelty to practical.  The growth of seniors online has helped mature the use of the Internet overall.  In recent years, the numbers of seniors ramping onto the Internet has exploded.  Nowadays, it is not uncommon for retired and over-65 persons to take computer classes mainly to learn how to communicate with their grandhcildren two generations removed.

Many seniors have symbolically traded in shuffleboard for digital photography, web design, video creation and e-mail (replacing the phone) along with Facebook and Twitter.  What has this translated into for the online world? I make the case that the graying of the Internet has changed the attitude of adults who go online and made it more of a learning experience and less of a fad. As a result, there has been a more thoughtful approach to the Internet and especially in the adoption of social media tools. In many ways, I contend that seniors have made it "cool" to be "serious"and practical about social media and Internet use.

This article says that this "graying" will continue and represent a boom for e-marketers in the coming years. I say it will accelerate discovery of improved approaches to social networking and hasten the development of new social media tools that may be every bit as popular as Twitter,YouTube, Facebook and blogs are today.

This Social Media Tool Gets A Bad Rap - But It Still Rules

Facebook evokes a lot of emotion in the digital world. You either hate it or love it. It is undoubtedly a powerful force and perhaps the leading edge of social media. Despite rampant privacy concerns, it certainly is one of the social media tools that has easily and effectively found its "niche" for mainstream use in organizations, businesses and government. Quite simply, Facebook still has far more supporters than detractors. It is a must-have in any legitimate organization's communications tool kit. So why do these kinds of articles keep popping up? Is Facebook's real future as a social media tool geared mainly to organizational communications functions? Could it even survive with that business model?

New Report on Corporate Use of Social Media

I presented today at a conference on Social Media and Government and it is becoming more and more clear as this and other such conferences continue to grow in popularity and frequency that the most popular social media tools are here to stay (see previous post).  There is no turning back, especially given the transparency and interactivity that Twitter, You Tube, blogs and Facebook are providing to the public in relating to their government. When you consider this along with a new Burson-Marsteller study released today about growing corporate use of social media, you can understand why social media is solid for the future and why in some respects we are only scratching the surface and opening the door to more new two-way communications tools.

How much of a foothold is social media gaining in corporate America? Read the report to find out. Also, here is a terrific 2-minute video that tosses out some amazing numbers on the penetration of social media throughout society:

The "Business" of Social Media Won't Sweep Away Any Vital Communication Tools

The business side of anything is often “the ugly side” that is unseen. This is especially true when viewing a particular product or development from an idealistic standpoint.  While something may have a lot of proven populist and practical value and may indeed be popular (even wildly regarded), the realistic assessment that sometimes goes counter to the idealistic view is whether the “it” can work financially. Is it a good business model?  How will it react to sudden change in strategy such as a buyout or a merger? These are the questions some observers are beginning to ask about Facebook, You Tube and Twitter, and not necessarily as “social media tools” but rather as business entities, which they really are.

Here is an article from the San Francisco Chronicle’s web site suggesting that the whole issue (recently debated) of investing in social media sites  brings to mind the Internet technology bubble of the 2000s. The writer wonders if this, too, could be a bubble about to “pop?” It certainly is a legitimate question to be put on the table, but I do not believe for one minute any of these key social media tools will go away or stray far from their original iterations, no matter what happens from a business and economic vantage point.  These social media tools have become too critical to changing the way communications functions across the globe. 

Social media tools – at least these three leading the way - are legitimate “game changers” that have brought about watershed, historical changes in communications.  There is no turning back. While there are numerous lesser known social media sites that have a smaller and more niche-like reach than these three, and those sites may indeed lose their footing down the road, rest assured that Facebook, You Tube, Twitter and the concept of blogging are here to stay for the rest of time. Hands down. Quite simply they are a whole new way of communicating that rivals the invention of the telephone and the television.  They have transformed communications in general and they have revolutionized the Internet and made it something that a lot of us never envisioned – or even could – back in the 1990s when  “the Internet” was introduced to the masses.

What This Blog is All About

Welcome to Digital Dialogue.  I am writing this blog to keep current with digital communications and how it is changing the face and nature of public affairs and communications today. I want to get beneath the surface of why the Internet and Social Media are so popular and why these tools are important to the future of communications. I especially want to look for trends and be on the constant lookout for "the next big thing" in digital communications.

One of the first thing out of the blocks that has my attention is the sale of The Huffington Post. I have said on numerous occasions recently that The Huff Post was the best and most-recognized publication to come out of Web 2.0. It is what tomorrow's (today's!) newspaper will have to look like to survive. I am not assuming the worst just because it is being sold to AOL, but as with any business entity that "changes hands," you have to wonder if they will continue to do what they do best -- which is cover a lot of hot topics and provoke "new thought" on topics you had not thought about in a unique way that combines traditional newspapering with Social Media. The Huff Post clear was and is a direct result of the impact of Social Media on the news and communications industry. The Huff Post got it just right in terms of marrying video with traditional reporting and writing. The video wasn't overdone.

Sure, lots of other online Web 2.0 publications have sprung up, but not with the same heft and reputation as The Post. We shall see what will happen. Here is an interesting take ("How The Huffington Post Works") from a contributor to the "paper."