Whoooosh!
That's the noise of me blowing the dust off this blog!! Hello there! It's been a while, huh? Well, thanks to Dr. Burns' Social Media class I'm taking for grad school, this blog will see some real action! And now, for the action ....
What's the worst punishment you can think of for a human being? According to Shirky in his book, "Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing without Organizations,"it's solitary confinement. I know, you might have been thinking death by monkeys or some sort of water torture but it's really quite simple. Humans are social creatures. A lot of tasks we take on might seem like individual tasks but we work with one another to get things done. We actively seek out others who think, act and believe like we do. Since the dawn of time, this has been true.
So it's really no surprise that we've come to embrace social media the way we have. What easier way to connect with one another than using technology? There are no meetings to attend or RSVPs to make, just log on and communicate, 24/7/365/from anywhere on the globe (with Internet access, of course!)
A good definition of social media comes from Boyd and Ellison's 2007 article, Social Network Sites: Definition, History and Scholarship:
"We define social network sites as web-based services that allow individuals to (1) construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, (2) articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and (3) view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system. The nature and nomenclature of these connections may vary from site to site."
You might think that social network sites came into existence very recently, but that's not the case. Thirteen years ago, in 1997, SixDegrees.com emerged as the first. Although profiles (such as on dating sites), friend lists and instant messaging already existed, this site was the first to put them all in one place (Boyd and Ellison). What happened to SixDegrees? Well, according to Boyd and Ellison, it "failed to become a sustainable business" and closed in 2000. Some said that it was just before its time.
I think back to that time and we still had telephone cords running up and down our hallways and everyone used AOL. It's no wonder it didn't catch on. We were all "newbies" to the internet and really didn't know where to look for such a thing!
And now that we've figured it out and have spawned such giants as Facebook, YouTube, MySpace and other social network sites, the next logical step comes from the advertising world -- how can we use these groups to sell more products! According to Pete Cashmore of Mashable.com in the Social Marketing Playbook, Brands are becoming our "friends" and therefore, they need to become good at storytelling. This is what gives the Brand a voice very much like any other person you might talk to, and is necessary for success.
You might notice a lot of ads on tv now integrating their facebook page or even directing viewers to the page. Just when you thought social media would replace traditional media, this is not the case. Just like when TV came out and radio shivered in its boots, there's plenty of room for social media. As Jeff Pulver of Pulver.com points out in the Social Marketing Playbook, "Old Media and New Media need each other, and have for a long time...When Old Media and New Media become catalysts for each other, amazing things can and will happen."
Shirky says in his book, "When we change the way we communicate, we change society." Nothing could be closer to the truth. We are living it right now. Email, cell phones, smart phones, Internet tv, social networking sites, instant messaging, text messaging ... they are definitely changing the way we communicate. Society, look out!
What's the worst punishment you can think of for a human being? According to Shirky in his book, "Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing without Organizations,"it's solitary confinement. I know, you might have been thinking death by monkeys or some sort of water torture but it's really quite simple. Humans are social creatures. A lot of tasks we take on might seem like individual tasks but we work with one another to get things done. We actively seek out others who think, act and believe like we do. Since the dawn of time, this has been true.
So it's really no surprise that we've come to embrace social media the way we have. What easier way to connect with one another than using technology? There are no meetings to attend or RSVPs to make, just log on and communicate, 24/7/365/from anywhere on the globe (with Internet access, of course!)
A good definition of social media comes from Boyd and Ellison's 2007 article, Social Network Sites: Definition, History and Scholarship:
"We define social network sites as web-based services that allow individuals to (1) construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, (2) articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and (3) view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system. The nature and nomenclature of these connections may vary from site to site."
You might think that social network sites came into existence very recently, but that's not the case. Thirteen years ago, in 1997, SixDegrees.com emerged as the first. Although profiles (such as on dating sites), friend lists and instant messaging already existed, this site was the first to put them all in one place (Boyd and Ellison). What happened to SixDegrees? Well, according to Boyd and Ellison, it "failed to become a sustainable business" and closed in 2000. Some said that it was just before its time.
I think back to that time and we still had telephone cords running up and down our hallways and everyone used AOL. It's no wonder it didn't catch on. We were all "newbies" to the internet and really didn't know where to look for such a thing!
And now that we've figured it out and have spawned such giants as Facebook, YouTube, MySpace and other social network sites, the next logical step comes from the advertising world -- how can we use these groups to sell more products! According to Pete Cashmore of Mashable.com in the Social Marketing Playbook, Brands are becoming our "friends" and therefore, they need to become good at storytelling. This is what gives the Brand a voice very much like any other person you might talk to, and is necessary for success.
You might notice a lot of ads on tv now integrating their facebook page or even directing viewers to the page. Just when you thought social media would replace traditional media, this is not the case. Just like when TV came out and radio shivered in its boots, there's plenty of room for social media. As Jeff Pulver of Pulver.com points out in the Social Marketing Playbook, "Old Media and New Media need each other, and have for a long time...When Old Media and New Media become catalysts for each other, amazing things can and will happen."
Shirky says in his book, "When we change the way we communicate, we change society." Nothing could be closer to the truth. We are living it right now. Email, cell phones, smart phones, Internet tv, social networking sites, instant messaging, text messaging ... they are definitely changing the way we communicate. Society, look out!
Labels: Boyd, Cashmore, Ellison, Shirky, social marketing, social networking
posted by Jan at
1:35 PM
