“Social Media” does exist.
But when it becomes ubiquitous, we’ll quit referring to it in that manner.
Want proof?
YEAH! Expanded Cable FTW!
When was the last time you heard anyone say “I can’t wait to get home tonight and watch some Expanded Cable!”
Well, you do watch expanded cable. And it does exist. But there comes a point when we start talking about specifics to a degree that the intermediate term is no longer necessary.
Social Media will continue to exist. But we won’t talk about it like it’s a separate thing, and we certainly won’t treat it like it is special. There is a big difference between existence and visibility.
But it stands to reason that you won’t get very far branding yourself as the Expanded Cable Guru.
(inspired by a comment I left at @AdamCohen’s wonderful site.)
When my friends and family talk about what I do, they typically say, “She does social media” and I get all irritated about it. No! I don’t do social media! I do communications! Sigh…
You’re absolutely right about it not disappearing and about it becoming a part of how we COMMUNICATE daily. Just like email and the phone, this is another tool in how we talk with our friends, our clients, our family, our peers, and our stakeholders.
Now, if we could call it something other than social “media”. Work on that, will you?
http://twitter.com/ginidietrich
Ike,
Truer words haven’t been said enough. You can add political television campaigns to mix of your examples. They’ve been part of the “campaign” for some time now. I expect the absorption rate to be twice as fast.
Best,
Rich
So true Ike. Do you believe in “social media” like unicorns or ghosts or the elusive non-fat, no carb chocolate frozen thing that doesn’t taste like crap? Please. When we stop writing about SM, using the “air quotes” like it’s this new, mysterious thing.. we can all get back to doing what we really do: marketing, communications, PR. FWIW.
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