If one had to bank on an easy prediction about social media, look for social media sites to proliferate and cater to more specialized audiences as the media form that is now called “social media” begins to develop.
Right now, the social media can be said to be still in an infancy stage with general interest sites like Facebook and Twitter the rule. These can be analogized to the early days of broadcasting when television was still a new medium and the concept of TV “networks,” local affiliates bringing the same slate of content to millions of screens, was still a novelty.
But, it took television only 25 years–roughly from 1950 to 1975–to become a narrowcasting medium, as cable and satellite TV launched the 500 channel universe. Fairly quickly, those channels took on specialized identities–sports viewers on ESPN, movie hounds on HBO, and news buffs on CNN.
Expect something similar to happen with social media in a much shorter time. Facebook has set a paradigm for how social media sites are supposed to work, so it’s easy to see how a Web producer looking at a narrow audience–people who are interested in online auctions, for example–could deliver an experience more targeted and more meaningful than Facebook, with the opportunity for live online “events,” i.e., auctions.
Or, let’s say a sports radio show wanted to bring its Twitter traffic in house. It could use a live chat technology to invite listeners for a running commentary of the show in progress. ESPN already does this on some of its NFL shows.
In a few years, it would not be surprising if social media grew and then dispersed along the channels seen in cable TV, news, sports, shopping, local interest.
These “channels” are seemingly there for the taking; for example, LinkedIn can be said to attract a “business audience,” but does not deliver a whole lot in the way of content except for what might be called “directory information,” millions of names and addresses. There are a number of side forums, and other opportunities for members to send e-mails to one another, but there is so far nothing like a “LInkedIn wall” that invites that kind of interaction seen on Facebook.
A question yet to be answered: who produces the content? To be attracted to a social media site in the future, the producer is going to need to offer a richer experience than can be found on a blog, for example, where there is little “quality control” over the content.
Social media sites and their producers may start to hire professional producers, who can combine various media–print, video, chat, polls–to bring a more involving experience to social media than is now found on Facebook or Twitter.
If you require further information or have any specific questions, don’t hesitate to give a member of the GoPromotional team a call on 0800 0148 970 or simply email us today.
