What Social Media Means Today And What it Will Mean Tomorrow
Posted by Beth Hrusch on Fri, Nov 20, 2009
It would be difficult to overstate the prevalence of social media today. Facebook has 300 million users. CNN allows you to post stories to it or "Mixx" them. Many pro athletes Tweet regularly, often to the chagrin of their coaches and team owners. You can now Digg things, Flickr pictures, or watch one of a few billion videos of a toddler on YouTube.
Social media companies appear to be here to stay. Some poorly executed ideas will probably be lost in the shuffle, and at least one new company will probably threaten to change the balance of power in the social media world (unless Google Wave really takes over the world the way that currently appears possible.)
But predicting the future of social media today is difficult. Humans are a gregarious species, so we will probably continue to talk for quite some time. Despite the best efforts of technology, face-to-face communication will always be worth more than a text or a Tweet. But given the recent popularity of social media, it's clearly here to stay.
Despite efforts to protect privacy, nearly every time an individual uses social media, they give away information about themselves and their preferences. This trend seems certain to continue, and this information could be assembled by anyone with the time and energy to wade through trillions of Tweets and Reddits.
Social media today is still in its infancy. Social media tomorrow will be a way for people to connect socially, but also an effective way to learn about the individual desires of consumers. Until more people start tweeting about Blu-Ray player purchases, it will be difficult to do this. More advanced and perhaps invasive forms of social media, depending on your view, are sure to emerge.