Social media, Web 2.0, and the paradigm shift

At the start of this new decade, we find our corporate clients and partners positioned at various points along the social media learning curve – from inspired and empowered to just plain figuring out what to do first.

What exactly is this paradigm shift encompassing social media? Why is its importance hard to overstate, and why has it caused virtually all businesses and organizations to sit up and take notice?

Social media has forever changed the communications landscape and provided unprecedented opportunity to build trust and develop or strengthen relationships. It’s provided unlimited channels through which to identify and reach communities, listen as well as speak, humanize brands, and extend the reach of our voices. So profound is this shift that the Internet officially has been nominated for the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize.

To understand this new world, it’s helpful to understand where we used to be and how much we’ve evolved, from traditional media and Web 1.0 to the proliferation of many media channels and Web 2.0.

Web 1.0 and traditional media – one-way broadcasting to the masses

Web 1.0 was an era of one-way communication and limited channels of centralized outlets. As marketers, we pushed information and strategic messages out to our intended audiences, either through advertising or marketing materials or third-party journalists (whose editorial interest was our best method of gaining an additional factor of credibility and substance). As part of an audience, we searched for information or received impressions so that we were more informed or influenced to think differently or act in a certain way. Perhaps we would be convinced to buy a product, believe in a cause, or think highly of a company.

The Web 2.0 cocktail party – not your boss’s “Internets”

Web 2.0 and the use of social media is about real people in dialogue, connecting within dynamic communities. The nature of interaction has been compared to being at a cocktail party. Would you talk only about yourself, spouting off your benefits over and over?  For most of us thankfully the answer is, “Of course not.” 

No longer are we limited as communicators and marketers to simply providing information and pushing our messages out to our audiences. And as members of various audiences, no longer are we simply receiving or connecting to a static website of archived information. Instead, we’re able to be part of many simultaneous conversations, find our communities of common interests, and build relationships. Really. 

These new opportunities are powerful, allowing us to connect, converse, learn, socialize, assess, and sell. (And the list goes on.)

With this democratization of media, anyone with a laptop or mobile device (and hopefully compelling communication skills) is able to publish their expertise or otherwise express themselves through blogs, Twitter streams, Facebook pages, videos, etc. We’re able to connect our minds, thoughts, and opinions with those of others. 

One of the realities of this new environment is that our customers and audiences essentially have more say and control over our brands than we as marketers do, and that’s a reality to which we’d better adjust. From a branding standpoint, this environment of mass engagement through both generalized and specialized channels allows brands to be part of the conversation. We’re able to go out and find our communities, champions, and even critics, and hopefully learn from them as well as build trust among them. 

Web 2.0 provides the opportunity to easily and consistently provide thought leadership, listen to what others are saying, learn from mistakes, and provide expanded customer service through various channels, in real time. As businesses and brands, we will need to embrace transparency and present who we truly are, while also looking inward, learning, and becoming who we want to be as organizations. 

With an understanding of this profound communications shift that is occurring, and its powerful effect on the way we conduct business, the next step is to develop a social media strategy.  Stay tuned …

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