Yes, Facebook and Twitter are annoying fads. Twitter is a high-maintenance, ephemeral and cliquey forum. Facebook is like an overloaded mall packed with obnoxious signs and loud pitchmen.
Both will fade within a year or two.
But they are pioneering, hugely influential portals into another era. Before our eyes they are leading to new and better forms of social dialogue. And the impact they are having on how we relate to one another is nothing short of revolutionary. Pay attention: This is the biggest change in communications -- in freedom of speech -- since desktop publishing. Don't believe me? Check out the Iranian election.
Some people ask, "Why should I be on Facebook?" They're the same people who asked 15 years ago, "Why do I need a home computer?" And five years ago, "Why do I need a cell phone?"
@daveharkins, a Charlotte entrepreneur, tweeted: “Disagree that Twitter and Facebook are fads. They are likely a stepping stone.”
@welfach, Chuck W. of Fort Mill, tweeted: “Interesting blog. my opinion is that twitter may last a little longer because there are still people who don't know about it.”
@wwwmarty, Charlote’s Marty McKeever, tweeted simply: “@jeffelder is an annoying fad.” (I plead guilty. But like Facebook and Twitter, perhaps I am leaving an impression and helping in a very small way to blaze a trail.)
David Beckwith of Charlotte commented on Facebook that (I) “guess we are oinly just now realizing that newspapers were an annoying fad and are going away. At least the physical dinosaur. The important part, the information, will and is carrying on. Same with social media.”
My continuing thoughts on this: Twitter and Facebook are where the Sony Walkman was in the early ’80s: A relatively lame, high-maintenance fad -- and the first breakthrough in a personal music revolution. That’s where we are. Twitter and Facebook will be unrecognizable in a year or two. They are changing all the time. Their contribution to a new way of communicating is, at this point, inestimable. But it will be vast. I feel sorry for people who are not getting involved.
-- My favorite local Twitter uses this hour: @tigerworld tweets exotic animal rescue. (I'm officially trademarking the on-Twitter TV show pilot "THE SNAKE TWEETER.") And @livingsexuality, clinical sexologist Becky Knight's feed on topics like "dysfunction of orgasm." She has 2,354 followers.
-- The news that swine flu had been confirmed at the Harris Y flew around the Web on Monday morning. I first learned about it from The Observer's Twitter feed, and other Charlotteans told me they did, too. But can these things fly too fast for us to get the real story? My sources say both kids were from the same family, had the flu before visiting the Y, and now are doing fine. So the Harris Y is remembered for the headline, but unfairly?
-- Monday was a big day for Twitter as a Charlotte headline service, with the N.C. terror case, swine flu story, Okafor trade and BofA branch cuts all hitting the tweepdom. (BofA news early Tuesday.)
-- Looks like this will be Charlotte's Facebook election, with City Council and the mayoral race all over it. I'm Facebook friends with John Lassiter and with Anthony Foxx. But they're not friends with each other -- that seems a little hard-hearted. Besides, they might be the only guys in Charlotte with such boring FB pages.
-- Not sure why, but I always chuckle when Facebook suggests I add Pat McCrory as a friend.
-- I couldn't find Lassiter's GOP challenger Martin Davis on Facebook. His home page says you can become a fan on FB, but when I clicked the Facebook icon link, I was just taken back to his home page.
-- I argued against posting follower and friend numbers next to our faces on Twitter and Facebook. So this note is somewhat hypocritical. But it's about a different number, that of local followers, a number that is, in fact, hidden from view. I think it's a more relevant stat, and one I'm interested in. According to Twitterholic.com, I've tripled my number of Charlotte followers since I came back to town in June. With 1,850 local followers, I trail only one individual -- biz consultant @mvoulgarelic. (By a lot. He has 7,945.) He's #1, and I'm #3. #2 is The Observer account, @theobserver, with 3,769. Follow me @jeffelder
Image at top from Tiger World
From a business perspective, social media is getting all the focus. Like you state here, much of this is simply a fad that probably will pass away, OR it will morph into a more hyper-focused service designed for absolute specifics (Facebook offshoots a large, interactive business directory?)
ReplyDeleteThe problem with many businesses is they're jumping too quickly on the social media bandwagon without first understanding how they SHOULD apply social media in their full integrated marketing strategies. It's not smart to dump other strategies in favor of one... especially one that is so new... especially one that is still partly in "fad" stage... especially one that you have no clue if your customers are actually using to connect to!
Did I make my point?
Has it changed how we communicate with our customers? ABSOLUTELY! Much of the way you connect, write content, and share information in social media can and should be duplicated on your own web site.
So maybe Facebook and Twitter will go away, but the lasting impression they have made on how we connect and communicate online should always be a part of a company's overall marketing strategy!
interesting that you think they are fads? especially considering your depth of knowledge in the subject, am interested to know why you think so. You compare them indirectly to cell phones - definitely not a fad.
ReplyDeleteHey Jeff... I just sat my facebook account aside for the upcoming month of August to see if anything would happen... I doubt it will... but I'll let you know.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your insight. You may go now.
ReplyDeleteJeff, I'm enjoying your new column but have a small irritant - the formatting! There's a different font style and size for every entry (and sometimes within the same one). It makes it difficult to read through multiple posts. Can you go back and fix, please?
ReplyDeleteI highly doubt Facebook will be gone in a year. If it is, it will have been replaced by another social networking site, just as many people have left Myspace to go to Facebook. Or, of course, are members on both...as well as all the other networking sites out there.
ReplyDeleteAnd have you seen the message boards at www.loserville.net?
You're right about Twitter. Facebook has kept up its explosive growth for five years now, no reason to think it's a fad at all.
ReplyDeleteI think the fad will wear off for you old people. Technology is too much and it is why you see people under the age of 35 starting these companies. Bill Gates, Mark Cuban, etc...at your age you are past the prime to be interested in this type of networking and would rather do it the "old school" way. Now the negative thing about "our" generation is people don't use the personal touch anymore. I'm tired of getting important e-mails when the right thing to do is pick up the phone and call or even better stop by the office and tell me face to face!!!
ReplyDeletePersonally, I don't see Facebook as being a "fad" at all. If anything, it's a clear representation of the future of human interaction. Facebook will become the new "mall." Where people can sign on, meet new people, "meet" with old friends (by way of status updates), and window shop (advertisements, fan pages, etc...). So I have to disagree with you on your Facebook assumptions.
ReplyDeleteAs for Twitter... I agree with you to a point. Yes, I definitely see Twitter losing a lot of the casual users once the initial 15 minutes of fame are over, but this will be beneficial to the Twitter network overall. A lot of the people who use Twitter to routinely inform their 15 followers that they had an "awesome!" sandwich for lunch will probably lose interest and close or abandon their accounts (this is already evident with the low return rate of users who initially set up accounts). On the other hand, the Twitter network will stay strong (and probably become even stronger) in the niche markets where people in the design, technology, marketing, etc... fields will continue to share information and relative links with each other. So to call it a "fad"... yes it probably will be for the general public, but it will continue to be a very important tool for those in professional fields who share things other than "my cat just threw up on the carpet LOL!" with each other.
Facebook isn't a fad. The reality is that Google is scared to death of Facebook right now, for a couple of reasons:
ReplyDelete1. Facebook users spend a lot more time on the site than they do on Google. This means more ad revenue for Facebook, and less for Google.
2. Facebook users use their real names and have a real sense of community. There is no such thing on Google. Facebook is a destination; Google is a tool.
So while Twitter might fade, Facebook will be around for a long time. Its main purpose might evolve, but it's not going anywhere.
I predict that when released to the public, Google Wave will usher in the next generation of online social networking and leave all these others in the dust.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely not a fad in the way people communicate with one another...there are way too many people who take themselves way too seriously for, say, Twitter to just go away. Replaced by something better? Maybe.
ReplyDeleteBut I will agree that from a business perspective, all of the hyper-attention given to social media may achieve "fad" status. Having worked for a huge corporation where nothing is done without a rock-solid business case, unless someone can crack the ROI measurement code in a meaningful, tangible way, social media will lose prominence as a business marketing tool. (I know the social media pundits may flame me for this, but it is 100% TRUE)
My balls itch, where's the Gold Bond.
ReplyDeleteThe home PC was not a fad. But I agree that twits and facebookers are. These things come and go like the attention span of a child that spends all day watching the boob tube. Hope you don't waste too much time building your facebook page only to find that everyone has moved on to the next boring fad.
ReplyDeleteCNN recently posted an article about jobs for Facebook, Twitter and social media addicts.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/worklife/07/28/cb.best.job.facbook.addict/index.html
Jeff:
ReplyDeleteI am wondering why you think this is so, and what you think will replace them.
It seems the cat is out of the bag, so to speak. We've added this to our communication toolbox, and it's not going away.
How will we use these new tools going forward?
We are a PR firm in Greenville SC just getting into the social media thing. I think it's going to help re-vamp our business. We have been fairly traditional; do a lot of government relations and political relations, but this is a whole new way to reach people. It seemed trendy at first but I think it's going to stick around. Yes, maybe it won't be Twitter in ten years (or maybe it will be), but these ideas are here for the long haul. Better to get on board early so you are not totally swept out to sea having to catch up!
ReplyDeleteBrian comments that the problem with businesses is that they don't understand how to apply social media in the mktg mix. Businesses that hang back and contemplate the why and how these days are the ones missing the boat -- missing the killer app. Just do it, should be the mantra. Every business should reward and support R&D in product development, marketing, HR and the rest. That goes for social media too. You learn by doing. Test and revise -- the ones who adopt that strategy throughout their business are the ones who will succeed in this fast-paced environment. The ones that fail are the ones that sit on the sidelines trying to get everything just right before trying something new.
ReplyDeleteI will say, as far as businesses getting into SM...
ReplyDeleteWe try to put out relevant and interesting content, and not overwhelm followers or fans either by posting too much or promoting ourselves. It needs to be about providing info that will help THEM, not YOU.
I have seen several biz CEOs, to remain nameless, who are doing the Twitter thing, and all they write about is where they are and what they are doing. Do we really care that they are sitting on their plane eating peanuts and having a cocktail?
A fad? Not at all....Twitter and Facebook are part of the evolution of media and communication
ReplyDeleteI like reading your thoughts on social media, Jeff......but I want MORE than just short blurbs and blips. Want more fleshed out articles. Want to know MORE about why you really think these are just fads.
Thanks for mentioning my @livingsexuality tweets. I was initially resistant to Twitter and thought it would waste time, but it has proven to become a fun and useful way to connect with like-minded people from all corners of the globe. I've been invited to guest write on blogs, appear on TV, and have gotten new clients because of my presence on Twitter.
ReplyDelete>>-- Not sure why, but I always chuckle when Facebook suggests I add Pat McCrory as a friend.<<
ReplyDeleteIf you delete him from your E-mail contacts, he should go away if you're sick of seeing him. This is a very annoying aspect for FB to me. However, my E-mail contact list is now very tidy.
I'm not sure how I feel about this to be honest. I haven't found twitter to be very useful so far. I used it a while back for about a month and it just seemed to consume time and keep me distracted. Proof in pudding... I have over 1000 followers on twitter and asked people to message me if they had a twitter success story and I didn't get one tweet back about it.
ReplyDeleteFacebook, however, has been a great tool for reconnecting with people and discovering those who I lost touch with over the years. Other than that it is sometimes interesting to see what is going on with people from time to time.