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October 10, 2007
Social Media / Internet Communication Trends: The Conversation
Back in the day, Content was king, but in the world of social media communications, "the conversation" has taken the throne. Sure, content still matters, as does context, but for those of you who are looking to where the next mega trend on the Internet will be, I am placing my bets on something I am referring to as: The Conversation.
Many of us have shifted away from the one-way experience of Radio and TV, (the majority of the time our radios and TVs are on they are entertaining us in the background) and away from one-way content on the web. We have moved towards experiences that both engage us and afford us the opportunity to have Conversations. There are two major trends to consider here for businesses who are interested in participating in the evolving Internet Communications Marketplace: be PART of the conversation, and to be PRESENT both when and where the conversations are happening.
Businesses participate in The Conversation by having an active social media presence. For some this includes a Facebook strategy, maybe a commitment to produce podcasts and sometimes participation through interactive real-time social media platforms like: twitter, Jaiku and Pounce.
By embracing social media, a business can shift from being a monolithic company name or a branded product and transform themselves to a person, an individual who advocates and evangelizes. YOU can become part of a community, with a voice, and with an interest in the people around you. And in this way, brand equity and common experiences go further than any traditional marketing or advertising effort ever could hope to achieve. This is core to what I sometimes refer to as “Bottom Up Community Development.”
People seeking to build business around this shift from Content to The Conversation should observe Facebook ads and the interstitial ads inside Pownce. Similar to the Google's context sensitive AdWords which are presented alongside your Gmail, several companies are placing their advertising dollars into new territories where the Conversation is the key activity.
For example, “The Pudding” is a social media play whose technology listens to telephone conversations and provides relevant advertisements based on the content of the conversation. As social media continues to evolve, I expect to see more of these kinds of content/context plays as people figure out the balance of what works and what is too intrusive.
The way I approach the Internet continues to be influenced by my experiences as an Amateur Radio operator…as a self enabler. I like to look at thing from the perspective of being able to communicate without the need of a traditional service provider. I also like to look at ways we can leverage the power of the internet and do the things which were never before practical without it.
This for me is, in some ways, an extension and a manifestation of what we were doing with ICQ and CUSeeMee in the early days of Internet Communications, and thus, why I feel so strongly about the Internet Communications Continuum. This is all part of the larger story of helping people communicate in richer, more meaningful ways. ]
Whenever I turn on my Ham Radio, I can almost always find someone to talk to, regardless of the time of day. And the same can be said with social media platforms, be it twitter or Facebook. These are the places where the conversations are taking place, a place which is “On” on a 24/7/365 basis and a place where you are never alone, and a place where you can always learn something new, but only if you are part of “The Conversation”.
Where are YOU part of the Conversation, and how many ways are YOU communicating with your friends, partners, and customers?
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Tags: The Conversation, Facebook, twitter, Social Media, Jeff Pulver
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Posted by jeff on October 10, 2007 09:04 AM | Permalink
Additional resources: Watch PrimeTime TV Shows | Watch the Jeff Pulver Show | Jeff's Qik Videos
Comments
So, without sounding too snarky here, Wilson, what part of the conversation is your comment, other than linking to a site where you are trying to sell the im helper?
We're having a discussion on marketing as conversation, and yet you are providing the context for what many of us are trying to get away from.
If I'm missing something, let me know.
Posted by: Howard Greenstein at October 12, 2007 06:20 PM
Great blog. I really liked it. I have also created a lens in same niche. This is my first time, hope u guys like it. Here’s a brief intro: : Running your own Internet Marketing business is really the best way to make money in the world. You get to set your own hours. You can work from almost anywhere in the world. All of your efforts go towards YOUR business and YOUR success, rather than a large corporation's. You write your own paycheck. http://www.squidoo.com/internet-marketing-business/
Posted by: wilson at October 11, 2007 07:32 AM
This juxtaposition has come up a lot lately: "Content or Community (or Conversation as written here)." I heard Josh Bernoff of Forrester say much the same thing at a recent Social Media Club event in Boston, which sparked a polite but interesting debate.
Of course, as noted above, it is not content OR community, but the community-- sorry, the conversation-- seems to be taking precedence.
I have been part of the "content is king" crowd, but have really noticed that you can only make there content work where there are people to enjoy it. I liken social networks to a stairmaster that way-- it only works if someone's on it.
Should I care that my Twitter stream has more juice than my blog? Nope-- I get a lot of great conversations-- personal, networking, work-related-- and accomplish a lot-- and the content flows out of the conversation, not the other way around.
By the way, where can I get some of those tasty Powdermilk Biscuits?
Posted by: Doug Haslam at October 10, 2007 10:37 PM
Here here Jeff, very well said!
If it’s one thing that we can learn about Social media is that people and the markets they represent have rallied against marketing and slick marketers and have demanded personalization, transparency, and sincerity.
Social Media is about breaking down barriers to engage in conversations.
There are a lot of companies complaining that as social media grows, it will this out the marketing departments. This is why companies should start looking at community advocates to participate on their behalf.
I also recently discussed the subject here:
http://www.briansolis.com/2007/09/conversational-marketing-versus-market.html
Posted by: Brian Solis at October 10, 2007 05:14 PM
Jeff -
As far as putting advertising dollars in the middle of conversations, there's some fine line that can easily get crossed where those interstitial advertising elements look like spam.
[This post brought to you by Powdermilk Biscuits. "Heavens they're tasty, and expeditious."]
As soon as you start to make it possible to insert pay-per-x messages into the conversation, we'll need to make sure that the channel doesn't get slammed with so much advertising that people bail on it, or that they create their own citizen media that has 100% non-commercial content.
Posted by: Edward Vielmetti at October 10, 2007 04:39 PM
I don't see it as being about conversation VS content. I think you need both.
Content that doesn't generate a conversation won't gain traction, but a conversation absent of "quality people" won't make a difference, either.
Any two or three people can mutter about something in the back channels. The "real" conversations involve those with knowledge disseminating it to those without; everything else is conjecture and sabre-rattling (at best) or white noise (at worst).
Posted by: Justin Kownacki at October 10, 2007 11:23 AM
Strange though, isn't more of a circle then a trend? I mean the original intent of the internet was to be a conversation (bbs, irc, usenet), but then for some reason the conversation stopped. We went shopping, downloading, ebaying, and finding bigger and better tools for anonymity. Maybe it was all the spam or all the scams and predators, but there was definitely a time when we stopped "talking". Now we're all heading back to one another, albeit talking @ eachother.
Posted by: Seth E at October 10, 2007 11:13 AM
Jeff, thanks for starting this conversation!
As I start to receive feedback about my Podcast, which isn't a business venture but is purely a personal and creative effort (www.achatandasong.com ) it is the feedback, the conversation that keeps my effort going. In the same way, when a company starts a group on Facebook to hear what people have to say about their product, or to gather their fans together, they're gaining from the conversation.
More over at my blog: http://howardgreenstein.com/blog/archives/2007/10/social_media_as_conversation.html
Posted by: Howard Greenstein at October 10, 2007 11:00 AM
After my year of "Networking Myself Into The Ground" I've decided that at some point, as a video producer at least, you gotta shut up and shoot. That said, I can't imagine life without Facebook or my blog or Twitter nowadays. They also take up an innordinate amount of my time, not to mention all the time I spend on other people's sites -- and shows like yours every now and then! I really need to take what I've learned from deep inside the social media realm over the last year and begin to bring it more to the surface as I reach out to businesses. But sometimes it's so immensely frustrating... moreso for me. I see them, hear them, shrug off the blogospere in its great, vast entirety as something they can just turn-off or turn-on at whim. As we all know, it just doesn't work that way. I don't know if it's fear or cluelessness or just plain arrogance that keeps them from joining -- The Conversation. And keeps them from, with all the news and content creators I deal with, not only The Conversation, but from The Sharing of The Media.
Posted by: Grayson at October 10, 2007 10:55 AM
I agree with you Jeff. Of course there still a big place for an artist to make something and present it as a finished work that people kick back and experience, but it's got to share the stage with the carnival of conversation that technology is facilitating.
I love doing my web talkshow in a traditional format---interviewing invited guests---but then it's so exciting to me to mix it up with the interaction of my "audience" via live chat and their own webcams. Really the audience are guests as well.
The Pudding sounds cool! I'll have to check it out.
Posted by: Jonny Goldstein at October 10, 2007 10:47 AM
Hey Jeff,
Networking using social media could be a full time job. So I think that it's important to identify where a person can maximize their time & efforts but yet one has to keep tabs on the up & coming soc-nets.
Where am I at you ask?
I have 3 blogs that provide 3 unique homebases. They feed into Facebook where I network with customers & peers. Twitter provides a more real time interface for updating with my friends. And I stay in close contact with the community at forums for ACDSee products & digital scrapbooking. All of these are interwoven & allow me to provide service as well as access to much info.
Posted by: Connie Bensen at October 10, 2007 10:33 AM