Social Media and Future, Research Paper Example

Facebook now has over one billion members (Smith, Segall and Cowley) and if it were a country, it would be the world’s third largest country by population, behind only China and India. The rise of Facebook and other social networking companies such as LinkedIn and Twitter should convince anyone that social media is here to stay and it will continue to shape both our personal and professional lives.

As long as we remember, electronic and print media such as TV, radio, newspapers, and magazines have been major content provider as well as marketing channels. But that may change soon as social media is expected to become significantly reduce the influence of other media channels. Even old-fashioned media tycoons such as Rupert Murdoch have been experimenting with paid online content (Dumenco). Panel participants at the MIPTV exhibition in Cannes, France in 2010 unanimously agreed that social media will drive the future of mainstream media. Matt Locke, Channel 4 commissioning editor for education, claimed that some TV genres such as cult drama have been adapting themselves to the social media environment by increasing interactivity possibilities with audience. Traditionally, TV genres have engaged in one-way communication with their audience(Nutley).

Social media will also shape future business models in several ways including product launches, consumer research, and consumer engagement. Companies like UB Group, LG Electronics, Canon, and Future Group are forming dedicated social media teams. Southwest Airlines has a Chief Twitter Officer who is also responsible for monitoring the company’s Facebook activities. Dell launched the Social Media Listening Command Center in 2010 where 5,000 social media specialists monitor more than 22,000 Dell-related topic posts in social media sites and engage with the clients. The trend is also widespread in emerging economies like Indian where leading Indian business schools such as IIMs and ISB now offer courses in social media(Mukherjee). Thus, social media will continue to shape the ways companies engage with consumers and learn about them.

Social media will not only help companies reach consumers but also increase workplace productivity. New business tools such as SAP’s Sales OnDemand which improve collaborative decision making also take advantage of social media(Snabe). A significant number of employees today use social media as private users, thus, they can be quickly trained in social media intelligence tools to gather data on consumers and identify emerging patterns.

Social media will also provide new learning tools to children and, thus, influence their education. KidzVuz teaches kids how to create content at an early age. The University of Southern California’s Annenberg Innovation Lab has created a social platform named “Playground” which educates kids on privacy, the permanent nature of web footprint, brand building, and online etiquette. Similarly, a social network site called FashionPlaytes.com is a social community for girls ages 5 to 12 who are interested in designing clothes and Viddy is a video sharing website that is becoming popular with kids and even teenagers. Many parents have found out that they cannot keep their children away from mainstream social media such as Facebook and YouTube due to the ever growing influence of technology, thus, they have warmed up to the idea of social media site aimed at children that provide learning tools and also parental monitoring(Rosman).

Most companies now post job openings on their online job board and similarly, a substantial number of job hunters now find jobs on the internet. But internet has so far primarily served as a medium through which companies advertise their openings and hope their ideal candidate will respond to it. But social media will help companies reach their ideal candidates directly even if the candidates in question may not have formally applied for any job opening. Social media allows companies to collect rich amount of data on users and the companies may soon develop “employer-specific” database of potential future employees. Recruiters and agencies will also directly advertise to potential candidates to attract candidates’ interest in particular clients (Braund).

Social media will also lead to more efficient personalized marketing in the future. Before internet, TV, radio, newspapers, and magazines were the primary channels to reach targeted market segments. The communication was one-way and the approach was shot-gun under which the marketers hoped that the advertisements will reach a significant proportion of targeted market segments. One of the reasons, advertisers have been moving to the internet is that it allows for targeted marketing efforts due to marketers ability to collect personal data on individual customers. Social media has only increased the amount of personal data available to marketers which will further promote the use of personalized marketing.

The rise in popularity of smart phones means users are now connected to internet round-the-clock. This means that users and brand are always interacting with each other. In addition, social media allows two-way interaction with consumers that was not possible in the pre-internet days at such a widespread level. It is not uncommon for consumer complaints to go viral, thanks to the power of user-sharing, thus, social media will continue to transfer more marketing power to consumers. Social media sites will also become important shopping destinations for consumers since they will allow users to both purchase products as well as engage with the brands. The companies may also respond by providing more product information and research sources on social media sites (Rice).

Social media will also change the face of journalism and public activism. We have already seen the rise of citizen journalists, especially in regions with political instability such as Egypt, Syria, and Tunisia. Social media has been credited with bringing regime changes in Egypt and Libya and has made it more difficult for global powers to ignore violations of human rights in other countries such as Syria. Even in the U.S., social media has emerged as a powerful driver of social change including better rights for gays and bullied children. President Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential win has been largely credited to his flawless social media campaign and the upcoming presidential elections are also being shaped by active social media campaigns by both President Obama and Governor Romney.

Social media will shape our future on both personal and professional levels. It will make businesses more efficient at marketing and consumer intelligence among other things and it will also give consumers more marketing power due to the possibility of two-way communication with brands. Social media will completely transform entire industries such as print media and will continue promoting citizen journalism. It will also remain a major force in politics and social activism.

References

Braund, Mark. “Social media’s slow-burn approach has an eye on the future.” Financial Times 1 March 2012: 3.

Dumenco, Simon. “Mark Zuckerberg: the post-content king as future of media.” Advertising Age 24 August 2009: 13.

Mukherjee, Writankar. “10,000+ social media experts required as UB Group, LG Electronics, Canon, Future Group and.” The Economic Times 1 October 2011.

Nutley, Michael. “TV needs to plan ahead when using social media.” New Media Age 22 April 2010: 5.

Rice, Brian. The Future of Social Media: 38 Experts Share Their Predictions For 2012. 1 November 2011. 27 October 2012 <http://www.business2community.com/social-media/the-future-of-social-media-38-experts-share-their-predictions-for-2012-085874>.

Rosman, Katherine. “Tweens’ Secret Lives Online; Social Media Sites Have a Growth Spurt; Trying to Avoid Mom on.” Wall Street Journal 2 May 2012.

Smith, Aaron, Laurie Segall and Stacy Cowley. Facebook reaches one billion users. 4 October 2012. 27 October 2012 <http://money.cnn.com/2012/10/04/technology/facebook-billion-users/index.html>.

Snabe, Jim Hagemann. Social Networking and the Future of Business. 16 May 2012. 27 October 2012 <http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/d9b331e0-9f7e-11e1-a255-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2AYM8YkkE>.