In Social Media We Trust
Posted on March 5, 2010 by Marek
Observing the market, and what I was writing about recently I came to the conclusion that it is time to change the tagline of the blog. On “In social media we trust.” In addition to market surveillance and writing about it (or not writing, which means doing other things at that time), I did last a short presentation about the community. And it was another proof for me of how important social mediaare and will be.
- According to the Nielsen survey online 03.2009 social networking sites are more popular than e-mails. We are using social media to communicate (Facebook for example) more often than e-mail. While the business case requires proof of possession on mail so much more personal topics dealt with social networking sites, Facebook and others. But what’s not surprising, since there we have the majority of friends who very often appear on Facebook.
- Social media goes beyond computers to mobile devices, as well as no surprise but it certainly gives users the ability to even greater integration with social media To paraphrase one Polish advertisement – once Facebook took Joe everywhere, now Joe takes Facebook anywhere.
- For various reasons we met people more often on the Internet than in real life. The most common excuses – lack of time and shyness. And what is the best place to find people? Social media of course.
- Social media are an important place for marketers. Though not for everyone. And should be, because it is the perfect place to communicate with potential customers. I was thinking that if Toyota took care more about their fan page on Facebook they could ease the situation somewhat. Just in case that company it’s more surprising because almost evenly two years ago, their entire advertising campaign took place on YouTube, and that ended with success. A sign of the times is also a decision of Pepsi to resign with TV ads during the Super Bowl final for Internet, with Facebookiem on main position.
And what’s next?
Of course, this only a conjecture and may prove to be as relevant and irrelevant (but after I predicted internet TV and gossip media success I think I am right). But I think that a social heart of the Internet will increasingly be Facebook, and its strength will benefit more and more to communities centered around very specific interests – from the prospectors business contacts by hobbies and services operating at the interface between the brand and the customer, to communities that have strong emotions, such as illness or disability.
Undoubtedly fosters community-building technology and services to enable properly in a simple way to create a suitable place for the community:
If the future owner of the social networking site is not afraid of technology that may benefit from a paid or unpaid engine and build something of their own. There is a lot of possibilities, rather name a few more popular:
One of the another arguments for the development of social networking sites are money. I have the overwhelming impression that the counterweight to the increasingly larger budgets to SEM will be money for the SMM (Social Media Marketing). Worth a look at earnings of two most popular social networking sites in the world:
- Facebook – 605 million U.S. dollars
- MySpace – 409 million U.S. dollars
Only these two websites had revenues in excess of over one billion dollars. Inside Facebook expects that same Facebook this year will have income in excess of a billion dollars. But looking at the results of both sites worth paying attention to something else. Now, Facebook in 2009, recorded revenue growth of 39%, while the service owned by News Corp. scored 21% decline, which certainly is not pleased Rupert Murdoch (even more he will be disappointed at the end of this year).
But this is not the only money that appear on social networking sites. Facebook does not only earn money but let to earn another people and companies. Facebook’s popularity has benefited the company Zynga (the company which supplied entertainment to more than 70 million people with Farmville), the valuation ranges between 1.5 and 3 billion dollars.
Zynga’s competitor Playfish was bought by a magnate in the computer games market – Electronic Arts - for 275 million U.S. dollars and the transaction could reach a level of 400 million. The rest of the services associated with Facebookiem uses much more companies and people. There are even services such as the ability to buy friends … As you can see enough to have an idea and take advantage of the popularity of the platform.
The fact is that the communication (regardless of distance) has never been as easy as today and it was thanks to a social news services.
That is my point of view. And how it looks from abroad? I asked Lucian Bitai for some statement of social media future and he knows what he is talking about while every day he’s dealing with communities in Download.Chip.eu. (By the way congratulations beacuse of the promotion 
)
I think that social media will be absolutely a crucial part of the future of online. This is a new revolution for the estabilished online publishers, just like the one that the emergence of online media represented for the estabilished print publishers in the nineties. The world is changing, and it’s changing fast!
For the regular user’s perspective, social media is not only a way to keep up with friends, but also a way to read and produce content. Social media will definitely attract more users on the internet, although it has to be said some of these users will not really represent “more business” for the online publishers, as Facebook or Twitter might be the only reason why these users go online (and they are less interested in reading the New York Times’ news online).
However, there is something in it for the online business owners as well. Online media has already become a really strong an important marketing tool. Online audiences have never been so easy to reach as they are now, thanks to social media. It is also true that it is a bit more difficult to get their attention, so reaching them is becoming a new science, being born right now.
Bottom line, social media will continue to grow. It will be more and more important, both to the regular Joe who has a computer and an internet connection, but also for the big online powerhouses – and everybody in-between. It is also an important social tool, that allows voices from countries with oppressive regimes to be heard because they allow information to flow directly, eliminating the “middleman” i.e. the estabilished media. By no means will it lead to the disappearance of the regular media, prin or online, just as the TV star did not kill the radio and as the Internet did not kill newspapers and magazines!
Jak widać w podobny sposób postrzegamy przyszłość serwisów społecznościowych. As can be seen in a similar way we perceive the future of social networking sites. A to oznacza, że w społeczności siła. This means that the power of community.
PS3. I tested for a while Google Buzz, but somewhere in the 5th minute of testing I gave up with naming this social networking site. And so on Buzz.
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