Social media has come to mean a myriad of things. For the younger generation it has a positive connotative value and for some of the older generation it has a more negative connotative value that is connected with confusion and frustration. Whichever category you belong to, it would be wise to get “hip” with social media outlets because they are growing at an exponential pace.
The technologies that are being used by our social media outlets help to make our fast paced lives even faster and hopefully easier. Facebook is one of the most popular social network sites and is just about to introduce its newest application dubbed “Timeline“.
This new profile page, according to Huff Post Tech, allows Facebook users to be even more connected not only to other people’s lives but to their own as well.
Pages like this one are becoming media’s marketing mecca. Discovering patterns in a person’s likes and dislikes helps immensely in effectively marketing products to the masses. What is the benefit to Facebook users?
Zuckerberg said that “Facebook’s mission is to make the world more open and connected” The Timeline supposedly allows Facebook users to “imagine an expression that is beautiful, and curate the story of their lives”.
The digital revolution is powering the way to a more “productive ” and hopefully connected future. It is also a very lucrative business. Facebook is valued at $82.9 billion (yes that is with a ‘b’) dollars and is second only to Google among US internet companies.
The big question is, are we really more connected? That is to say truly, genuinely connected. Many people have 300 plus friends, but who are those people? They can’t possibly be more than associates with most of them and can’t claim to “know ” all of them, or can they?
For more information and another developer’s opinion of Timeline click here.
Another digital revolutionary marketing tool is “mobile marketing”. It is now (with the inception of the iPhone) the biggest marketing tool ever especially with the much anticipated but still allusive iPhone 5. Mobile marketing is filled with a plethora of opportunities for brand marketing. In today’s marketing playground effective media channels are extremely valuable. The apps concept has added to this marketing madness. App are both intriguing and super popular with consumers as well as economically advantageous for companies such as Pandora. Many apps especially radio applications evoke emotion among their consumers.
The Future of Media website suggests that apps create an experience in which the consumer is emotionally engaged and this leads to a greater consumer connection with companies and products which in turn could lead to potential purchases.
This sounds right. I mean, we’ve all seen how popular Angry Birds became.
What are your thoughts on the digital revolution and social networking sites? Are they just what we need to propel us into the future or are we dealing with a slippery slope?
To take a look at Huffington Post’s 10 Predictions for the Future of Media, view this article.