Social media giants like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter are not really social any longer, but they are the modern equivalent of the old network broadcasting system. That’s the verdict of an excellent article from Jay Baer at Convince and Convert.
These companies used interaction and community to grow to massive scale. Now they are monetizing their audiences by becoming delivery channels for content from big corporations and brands. It’s exactly like the broadcasting model — use programming to attract eyeballs for ads — with one modern twist. Media companies like Twitter and Facebook don’t have to pay for content — you and I produce it for free.
Baer is absolutely right. I’ve been talking about this since 2012. This trend is partly due to the social media giants going public and having to increase revenue. The other part is what I call the quid pro quo of the online economy, in which consumers get online tools and apps for free in exchange for targeted advertising powered by online tracking.
I’m not sure exactly how I feel about this transformation. In one way it validates the the kind of campaigns I execute for clients, albeit on a much smaller scale. We stress the publication of high quality content to build an engaged audience, which is then (appropriately) introduced into the sales process of the client.
As a consumer I’ve experienced the thrill of social media, of connecting with people around shared interests regardless of geography or cultural differences. That’s still possible, and social media networks will always provide more connectivity opportunities to users than the old Big Three networks. On the other hand, some of the rhetoric around social media was a bit hyperbolic.
Social media provides new channels of communication. Of course brands will want to use these channels to promote themselves, and of course the social media giants will find more creative ways to charge them to do so. Whether or not the big social media networks become totally one-way channels depends in the end on us, the users. Social media is a tool — use it wisely.