It’s got a nice ring to it doesn’t it? When I saw Steve Rubel’s post “Social Media is No Mo” that got picked up by Reuter’s, I have to admit that I think I did a little dance of joy. Thoughts flooded my head of a giant server crash at MySpace and 4 million emo kids without a place to call thier home on the internets. YouTube, gone as quickly as it came. A flash in the pan now gutted by commercialism, leaving scores of people Ghost Ridin’ tha Whip for no one’s pleasure but their own.
Dream on man, it just couldn’t get that good. No, instead of Webpacalypse 2.0, Steve was really talking about what he sees as mainstream acceptance of Social Media to the point where there is no difference between the old and new school.
In 2006 all media went social. Pretty much every newspaper, TV network and publication has wholeheartedly embraced these technologies. Newspapers have comments, RSS feeds, blogs, wikis and other forms of two-way communications. TV networks have a presence in Second Life and more. The lines have blurred.
And here’s where I’m going to have to chime in with a big old… ummm… No.
Seriously, to some extent media outlets have indeed embraced new technologies. They’ve had to in order to stay current and not fall behind. That’s pretty much been the way since things started going digital though so it only makes sense that they would progress along these lines after making the initial investment. However I would say that the majority of outlets have not “wholeheartedly embraced” two way communication. RSS feeds don’t count. Blogs without comments are for the most part editorials or Flogs. Most with comments are pretty heavily moderated, lest they pull a Tom Delay.
The changes in communications go deeper, however. The media formerly called mainstream also communicates in a far more conversational tone that it did before — one we use.”
Ahh and here’s the rub. See mainstream media missed something big when they gave bloggers and ‘indy media’ the cold shoulder a few years ago. Always late to the party and never wanting to take off their coat at the door, they realize this and seeing the success of the Daily Show and the impact of the Blogosphere they are trying to follow suit. They talk like us! They’re conversational! Down to earth! Steve Jobs is my Homie!
No. They want Joe Shmoe to think that they care. They want us to think that they are just regular guys hanging out around the water cooler shootin’ the shit. In reality though, their idea of 2-way communication is just a facade. It’s about time to realize that you’re standing there feeling cool while talking to a cardboard cutout that hands out self-esteem like gift cards at Christmas.
This isn’t to put down Rubel at all, whose opinion I often look forward to reading, but much more along the lines of not feeling that Social Media is dead or “no mo”. It may very well be that mainstream media outlets are having to accept that Social Media is here and a force to be reckoned with. I could even say that at some point in the future they might actually have to fully integrate with this new mindset. Currently though, just because they let the black kids on the bus doesn’t mean they’re not all still shoved in the back.
greg :: Jan.04.2007 ::
Social Media Optimization ::
2 Comments »
