I was reading a blog post from 2011 about the social media revolution and thought it would be interesting to revisit my thoughts and see how things have changed.
Since 2011, social media has become even more prevalent. It’s commonplace for social media feeds to be played on the news, and popular TV shows display hashtags at the bottom of the screen. Second Life didn’t catch on, but the Metaverse sees the ideas get a new life (a Second Life, if you will).
LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter (now known as X) remain part of our culture, with some changes to how we post. For example, Twitter allows for longer posts, the option to re-post, and a list of top trending stories.
Advertising is such an integral part of the social media world that it’s hard to imagine a time before it. This presents unique opportunities to marcomms, where we can now ‘boost’ a post with the click of a button or target the audience we want to reach. Social media spending is projected to reach $17 billion by 2027.
We can’t talk about the social media revolution without mentioning the #MeToo movement. Since the hashtag rose to fame in 2016, the campaign brought monumental changes to the entertainment sector and how we speak about women’s rights. It goes to show that change can start with just one post at a time.
But it’s not just social media. Our lives have become more digitised with video calls and AI integrations. Marcomms now navigate the technical and ethical challenges of AI in particular. You can read more about this in our white paper.
I ended my previous blog saying that nothing is quite as a good as a natter over the coffee machine. I still stand by that.
Below is my original post from 2011:
My email inbox is full. Not of the usual press releases, ideas for articles and spam but of invitations to connect on LinkedIn, comments on my Facebook status and the news that more people are following me on Twitter.
After erring on the side of technophobia, last year I started to embrace social media. I rejuvenated my dormant LinkedIn account and set myself up on Twitter tweeting mini reports from facilities management and workplace events and links to interesting blogs and articles.
Without over-dramatising it, social media has revolutionised the way I work. LinkedIn is one massive database of contacts. If I’m looking to find a specific person, they’re easy to track down on LinkedIn. And it’s a great way to get some background info on someone you’re about to meet or have met in the flesh. LinkedIn, like all similar sites, allows you to get in touch with people you might not otherwise have the opportunity (or the nerve) to meet or say hello to in the flesh.
In the Twittersphere, I’ve had the opportunity to be in touch with people I already know and get snippets of news and links to articles and blogs that they find interesting – and often I do too. But more interestingly, I’ve also developed relationships with people I didn’t know before. At several FM events recently which I’ve been tweeting using the event hash tag (see #wtrends or #worktech on Twitter) I’ve met other people also tweeting the same event and we’ve developed a conversation through Twitter about the event. Another member of the Twitterati described this as the same as passing notes around the classroom, but with the health warning that these ‘notes’ are in the public domain. Some of these people I’ve been lucky enough to meet afterwards and it’s a great springboard to a relationship if you’ve already been discussing ideas online first.
Recently I’ve also had a go at virtual worlds such as Second Life, and from initially being very suspicious, have realised that there are numerous opportunities for the facilities management sector. It’s like an advanced Twitter or LinkedIn, where you get to meet and discuss ideas, but in an almost real environment. Although the technology still has some way to go, I think Second Life will be as big, if not bigger, than Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Which brings me on to a problem with social media. With all this time spent online, will we lose the ability to talk face-to-face? Will the idea of actually having a random chat with someone in the flesh become anathema to some people and will we hide behind our screens? Already people email across offices rather than pick up the phone or walk a few paces.
As Neil Usher from Rio Tinto said at the Workplace Trends conference (#wtrends) we need to “respect the encounters which may be inconclusive” and introduce a bit of chaos into our lives. Nothing is quite as a good as a natter over the coffee machine. We need to remember how to chat.
