Social Media is the New Alternative Rock
If you’ve been following me on Twitter, you’ll know that I have been traveling a fair bit lately. I have been to Atlanta and Dallas with Boston coming next week. All three trips have been directly related to the world of social media.
For the uninitiated, social media is a term with a close relationship to Web 2.0. It includes any type of media that allows for conversation and direct interaction. Blogs, social networks, forums, microblogs, photo & video sharing, etc. are all included.
As I listened to the presentations at Telligent’s conference in Dallas, I came to the realization that social media will be redundant very soon. Lawrence Lui, Telligent’s director of platform strategy, remarked during a panel discussion that social media is a useful term today but will become irrelevant as media becomes more inherently social.
It got me thinking about the 1990s when alternative music was all the rage. Pearl Jam and Nirvana ruled the charts. Radio stations with “X” in it were all over the country. Then almost over night, they closed shop. Why? Not because the music became unpopular, but because it went mainstream.
That’s where we’re headed. Social media is becoming mainstream and in a couple years we won’t even be able to imagine a time when we couldn’t interact with all the screens and mobile content surrounding us. It will be odd to get information that doesn’t give us a voice or a way to easily share it.
What do you think – will we be putting away the metaphorical flannels and ripped jeans soon?
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October 29th, 2008 at 10:05 pm
If Seattle was the mecca of alternative music, what would be the social media equivalent?
October 30th, 2008 at 6:27 am
That’s a great question and one I was thinking about, too. With the ease of connecting and sharing online, the importance of being in the same physical location has declined. Is it one mecca or a network of meccas spread out?
October 30th, 2008 at 7:44 am
Great post. You are right it is going mainstream!
October 30th, 2008 at 9:04 pm
I think we all agree that social media functionality will soon blend in with everything we do online.
It is becoming a standard part of most websites. Power to the user!
Great meeting you at in.Telligent.
October 31st, 2008 at 2:55 pm
Mediasauce is the SubPOP of Social Media!