Thinking Socially

When I wake up in the morning the first thing I do is look at the time on my phone. I immediately then unlock and check my emails. As soon as I am at my desk, I open gmail, facebook, twitter, my blog reader and turn on NPR. My desktop is one of social media, but is that really good for business?

Social Media has to be the term of the decade. When I got to college Facebook was still just an idea in a dorm room at Harvard... the dream of a nerd with a severe lack of useful social skills. Today, as the Director of Marketing for my company, I would be robbing my employer blind if I weren't maintaining our presence on the site.

The most interesting thing about this to me is the sea change that this represents in the world around us.  Gone are the days of hard sell, the cold call.  No longer are newspaper ads the best way to reach your desired demographic.  That coveted 18-35 year-old middle class male has been eclipsed by the 26-40 nerd.  Well, maybe not eclipsed, but rather the two demographics have fused.  As Chris Hardwick of Nerdist Industries often remarks on his "Nerdist" podcast, "nerd culture" has gone mainstream.

This is in part due old executive seeing the money-making potential, but in larger part to the presence (omnipresence, really) of the computer and the web.  In 2006 there was a line in the short-lived but critically acclaimed "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" in which Bradley Whitford quips "I can cut a feature-length movie on this phone." While intended for hyperbole then, just 5 short years later we are in fact shooting and editing high-definition video on our phones. Connectivity isn't just on the desktop anymore, but it our bags, our pockets and even our kitchen appliances (such as the wifi enabled refrigerator for which I am seeing ads). The world is changing.

What I find most remarkable about this is that it is a reflection of a change in the world in general.  The youth, and young adults of today aren't interested in being told what is cool and hip... they want to find it themselves.  Sites like stumbleupon and tumblr allow users to set up a profile explaining their interests, and then users upload things that fit those interests and at the click of a button (think digital slot machine handle) a site fitting one of the qualified interests shows up.  So while these sites might be seen as "telling" people what is cool, the user feels he or she is seeking the content and therefore engaging it.

The same goes with facebook.  A user uploads content and links that he or she thinks is interesting, and those who are connected can see what has been shared.  Furthermore, the more that facebook refines it's interface, the better this sharing of common interests and ideas gets.  A while back I had a romantic relationship fall apart, and the only way for me not to see my ex on facebook was to delete her as a friend. Today, you can simply check a box next to a person's name and elect never to see any updates from him or her.  In this case, deleting my connection was probably the best solution as it kept me from actively seeking her account out to get updates. However, if someone, say, continually posts updates about their cat, and this just doesn't interest you at all, facebook has allowed you to remain connected with that person without ever having to see an update like "my cat just ate a treat... soooooo cute. hart her!".

What this means for my professional life is that people are interested in sharing and communicating in a 2-way fashion now more than in the past.  People no longer want to be told by a company that this product is cool, or hip. Rather, they want to find it for themselves, engage it and share it with their friends. And honestly, this makes the job of selling that much easier.  It is like the democratization of the corporate world, to some extent.  Put out a good product or brand, and let people chose it by popular vote via "liking" on facebook.  Yes, facebook has whittled down the human experience to its very essence "i like" vs. "i do not like."  It's Darwinian at it's core (survival of the fittest) and democratic on it's face (1,000,000 people like this, including these friends of yours!).

Anyone trying to grow a brand without engaging in facebook and other social media isn't worth his weight in mud.  And big corporation shouldn't be afraid of this, look at the earning potential! If coca-cola had produced "angry birds" and put a free version of it on their facebook page, they would have millions of people playing it there every day. Not only that, but people would have a positive connotation with coke (not that they necessarily don't already) and they would be spending all that time with Coke's brand and messages in their faces... but they would be actively seeking it out.  And, in a rather non-democratic way, the bigger the company, the more potential they have to create something on these sites that people desire to engage.

So, do I spend a lot of my day with a blog reader open, facebook notifications alerting me as much as my emails, and tweets coming in from left and right? You bet I do.  Because if I don't, we will be left behind, shouting into a blank vaccuum where no one will hear us, like us or share.