It’s week two for me here at MS&L’s Chicago office as the VP, Director of Digital and I have to say I’m loving it. I’ve been doing the digital thing for over twelve years, from content to media – there’s not much I haven’t had my hands in. But I wanted to focus on what I feel is the most transformative revolution in marketing since the 30 second TV spot was invented; social media.
Reading Jeff Bodzewski’s previous post “Social Media is Dying” got me excited to be here among like-minds. I love a bold statement like that, even if it is just designed to get a reaction. But beyond that – there was more than a grain of truth to it.
Pretty soon, social media is going to fade into the background and simply become plumbing; surrounding us but rarely thought about. All media will be social. The recent evolution of Facebook Connect into Open Graph gives a glimpse of how the world will begin to look in a few years. Facebook Connect allowed sites to pull in Facebook data, and do rudimentary status updates but Open Graph takes that even further and allows for true 3rd party integration.
By placing a “like” button on content across the web, Open Graph extends the reach of Facebook beyond the confines of its site. Now users can be away from Facebook, but still update their profile with places they’ve been, music they like, food they’ve eaten and more. And the like button is just the first small step - people are capable of much more sophisticated interactions beyond “like” and so is the Facebook platform.
Now, consider that all media is quickly gaining a social component. TV, music and movies have always been the fodder for chatter – in other words, the social currency that fuels our conversations. Soon (now?), our entertainment devices will allow us to not just get ammo for the water cooler, but facilitate our sharing, rating, manipulation and interactions.
Televisions are getting socialized through Yahoo! TV, Hulu and products like Boxee, music services like Pandora, iMeem (rolled into MySpace), Grooveshark , and Last.fm have long allowed these types of interactions. Even out of home advertising is getting into the game with digital out of home activations that incorporate user interactions and feedback.
With a bit of technological wizardry, we can expect our entertainment to become aware of what we like based not only our own behavior but the behavior of our social networks. Even better, our own preferences will be incorporated into the programming itself. This could end the dominance of search engines for delivering digital content and yield new formats where users at home play along in Jeopardy, dictate the story arches of sitcoms and get custom product placements in their shows (Remeber the iPad in Modern Family?).
As with many new technologies, there’s a lot of trepidation. In the long run, I believe we’ll come to love our media “knowing” more about us, what we like and what our social graph likes. I often think of how much I appreciate Tivo making recommendations for programs that I would like to watch. It’s surprising how well it knows me – and it doesn’t have the benefit of knowing what my friends are watching too.
Like a conversation with a friend – content will be personal, it will be recommended to me rather than me searching for it, it won’t interrupt me and will become integrated with the natural rhythms of my life… in theory.
