What the F**k is Social Media NOW?

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07 · 18

What the F**k is Social Media NOW?

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When Facebook launched in 2004, it reached a few thousand college students—and that was it. This week, it will officially reach 500 million people worldwide. FIve months ago that number was 400 million. A year ago, it was 200 million, and eight months before that it was at just 100 million.

While those numbers (and the others in this updated version of the What the F**k is Social Media deck) are mind-boggling, the thing that is most amazing to me is that there are still so many businesses (and of course, individuals) scratching their heads about "all this social media hype" and proclaiming it "misplaced frothy excitement akin to a teenager trying desperately to be heard and taken seriously by grown-ups."

Really?

I'm pretty sure that the vast majority of those 500 million Facebook users are no longer teenagers, but then... what do I know?

This year's WTF update is meant less to be a celebration of numbers, and more a discussion about how the medium is evolving. My personal view? ALL MEDIA IS SOCIAL MEDIA these days. I'm actually kind of hoping that we'll do away with the term "social media" fairly soon, but that just might be wishful thinking.

So what do YOU think social media is now?

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almost 2 years ago mark longbottom responded:

Fantastic - here in england some peopel keep telling me we are lagging behind america but i get the same feedback as you suggest above. its not too late i say just see it as part of life as younger generaions do and use it to add value to what you do in business and life ingeneral. makes sense to either be in the largest market place for discussion, business or both.

More than anything its enjoyable, whether my business works or not this media source will still be there and all I am trying to do is help others be there too.

Thanks for sharing.

Mark

almost 2 years ago David Fisher responded:

You may be right that all media will become social media. Yet, when that day happens is the day I tap out of the field I think. Maybe that's why I already feel my foot in the door.

I never wanted to work in the media industry. I was just a geek that caught this stuff early and understood it instantly. I'm good at it, but I have little desire to work on just feeding the public messages for consumption. Somehow that turned into contracts, gigs, jobs, etc.

almost 2 years ago pascal lorenzini responded:

I find it really enjoyable to show people that want to avoid the topic social media altogether parts of your presentation. you get the messages right to the point. And with this third edition I think that the consequences of not taking part in the conversation is elaborated even better. Thank you, great job, Marta!

almost 2 years ago nexusboston responded:

Marta, impressive numbers. Thanks for sharing this.

David, I was just thinking of that the other day. "Technology Review" had a piece on "Social TV" as a big new idea, and I was thinking what it will be like to have a TV that's really a computer that can link to data (video, music, books, audiobooks, newspaper, blogs, social media, etc), in 3D, etc at any moment from anywhere. People will have iPad (but flexible)-like devices that can use this content. It's going to be a matrix-like universe, it seems, although there is a discrepancy of who has access to these media based on income, privilege, class, etc. So like you say, "You may be right that all media will become social media."

My big questions are more the limiting factors: cable networks, environmental resources, cost, etc. Here are a few questions:

(A) If social media is about the democratization of communication to a mass public, what does it mean that the networks with which we connect are monopolies?

(B) Connecting on this level has enormous (positive and negative) environmental consequences - the embodied energy of many of these tech materials is enormous, the waste disposal processes typically mean shipping old hardware to developing countries, and the lifespan of these hardware decreases as the technology curve increases; but at the same time, we save the resources used in transportation, buildings, etc by having virtual communication supplement live communication - how does this complex environmental resources dance play out? Do we gain more than we lose?

almost 2 years ago Danielle Campbell responded:

Wow those figures are very impressive and a sign of just how influential 'social' media is, and has the power to be! Why people are so anti - the social is beyond me..... it's free, easy to use, provides direct feedback from customers and competitors and gives you a chance to advertise products, services and people from all walks of life!! Surely this is an absolute dream for businesses as we all know the is very little for free in the world of marketing that can make such a direct impact!!! As for the idea that it's not very 'grown up' these are clearly the words echoed by some grump who just enjoys being negative! I believe we have come full circle with regards interaction in the business sphere...... in the beginning it was all about the travelling salesman, travelling the country generating interest in his product or service through talking and pitching to the masses in town centres..... then when technology initially took over we all became much more introverted, emails and websites were the sole voices for these services and the personal touch that often was the 'selling point', was lost.
NOW we've regained our voices through social media platforms and using these voices to personalise our brands introduce the people behind them... now the untouchable C.E.O. can be found tweeting about what he's reading on his lunch break...... pretty cool if you ask me!!!
Our company's very new to the whole social media world and we admit we've quite a bit to go to make the same impact but the point is we're trying!! I love the idea of being able to build a relationship with our Maildistiller customers in a relaxed forum whereby sales is not the concern but rather customer satisfaction and building a reputation for being approachable, helpful and genuinely concerned about our partners!!!!!
Great article!!!

almost 2 years ago Marta Kagan responded:

Thanks for the great feedback, everyone. @NexusBoston, you um... made my head spin. But I think the short answer to your question is, the monopolies are comin' down... probably only to spur new monopolies ;) but it will be nice for awhile.

That's what the Magic 8ball told me anyway. I dont actually have a clue what I'm talking about.

almost 2 years ago Markl Longbottom responded:

Someone who hasn't a clue what they are doing, will always rise to the top. Honesty is excellent.

over 1 year ago william ory liked this post.

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What the F**k is Social Media NOW?

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