Despite my pleasantly cathartic rant about Facebook yesterday, Social Media is a large part of our future. Although I doubt a $100bn company with a $1 product is going to be part of that future, it is certainly shaping and directing that future.
Over at the Harvard Business Review, in Putting Facebook in Perspective, Mark Bonchek argues that Social Media is changing our lives along six trajectories. I’ve summarized his post below but I’d highly recommend the whole article.
1. Media: From Audience to Community
“Audiences once passive, anonymous, and isolated are suddenly active, empowered, and connected. You aren’t giving a lecture anymore; you are hosting a dinner party. Your success is determined by how well you connect people together and keep the conversation going.”
2. Individuals: From Consumer to Co-Creator
In commerce, education, government, etc., we are shifting from consumers to co-creators.
3. Brands: From Push to Pull
“In a social age, people don’t like to be pushed. They don’t need brands to tell them what to buy, where to buy, or when to buy. Their social networks do this for them. It’s why the CEO of Saatchi and Saatchi recently declared that ‘Marketing is dead.’”
4. Organizations: From Hierarchies to Networks
“As employees become more empowered and connected, formal hierarchies are giving way to informal networks.”
5. Markets: From Products to Platforms
“Competition is becoming how well you create platforms from which you can (a) bring products to market, (b) grow an ecosystem of partners, and (c) pull key constituencies into orbit.”
6. Leadership: From Control to Empower
“The new leadership challenge is how to design networks, build platforms, and engage communities. It takes a higher level of authenticity, transparency, and purpose, combined with a commitment to excellence, responsiveness, and performance…In the social age, the nature of power shifts from how much you control to how well you empower”
Bonchek says: “As you read each one, ask yourself how well they apply to your organization or work. Your answers will tell you more about where you are in the social revolution than how many likes you have on Facebook or followers on Twitter.”
Read the whole article here.