Or does it turn you off?
We live in a new era where words like “social media”, “interaction”, and “engagement” are thrown around on a daily basis. Whether or not you’re in the thick of it in marketing, advertising or PR, or looking at it from a pure business perspective, chances are social media is impacting your life and your job.
Are you a journalist who is tired of covering social media? Are you a PR practitioner who wants to pull their hair out if a client asks you one more time “about that Tweeter thing…”?
Are you tired of hearing about how innovative social media is? Bored with checking in on FourSquare, Twitter and Facebook for the latest news? And what is up with all of the photo memes clogging your Facebook feed with pictures of cats and Barney Stinson? You’re not alone.
Even some of my favorite sites like Pinterest make me tired sometimes. There is just so darn much out on the Internet, it’s no wonder everyone is feeling a bit fatigued. There are apps for apps and sites to combine posting across multiple social networks, and more. Sometimes it’s just a bit overwhelming. Not only that, but with a HUGE echo chamber out there for pretty much every topic under the sun, the Internet can become a dangerous place of group think, and less about innovation.
There is a lot of speculation that social media is reaching a bubble (and those that say it is not), and I, for one sometimes just want the bubble to pop.
But, hear me out.
It’s not necessarily a descent into darkness, more of a shift in what it all means. How it’s being used, and how it can make an impact. Let’s come up with ways to keep social media fresh and meaningful. As we come up on the 2012 election, I have to recall 2008 and the starry-eyed reviews of President Obama’s amazing political campaign. I definitely was in love – and part of the reason was not only was the President using social media in his campaign (which is funny if you think about how far we’ve come, now it’s unheard of to NOT use social media), but he was making things happen. People were sharing. People were interacting. There was a two-way dialogue. And most importantly, people were mobilizing and taking actions OFFLINE.
Think about that the next time you go to add another point to an already fatigued marketplace.
Do you know of someone who is doing really innovative work? How are you using social media tools to make a difference? Who do you know that is making things happen, and just happens to be using social media to do it?
And that, my friends, is a way to keep the fires burning.
