Social Media????

There has suddenly been an increased awareness of the impact of social media websites like Twitter and Facebook in the past couple of years. I know this is an old topic, and that it has been discussed by a lot of people. But I just felt like penning down my thoughts on the topic, especially now, because I have understood the real value of social media after working in a couple of Advertising and PR firms this summer.

So let’s start with the basics. What is the definition of social media?

so·cial me·di·a

Social media is media designed to be disseminated through social interaction, created using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques.

According to me, the main channels of social media today are, Facebook, Twitter and Blogs (Kind of like this one). I always wonder with this huge emphasis on social media these days, are we getting closer to the customer or further away. I agree, it is a great platform for the business to give out information about them and create a buzz, but sometimes this overload of information gets annoying. Apart from the annoying bit, I feel people are so enamored by this new concept that the old values of face to face advertising are slowly diminishing.  How did the world of advertising function before this whole buzz created my social media? TV, Print and Radio ads were at their peak. They were funny, creative, and sometimes over the top. But most of all they were memorable. I still remember so many of those old ad jingles from radio and TV, but today, with such a huge emphasis on social media, I don’t see the same wittiness in ads anymore. Everyone wants to update their business’s Twitter status or Facebook! The only time I actually recollect a good ad is when we watch the Super bowl ads or any other campaign, in our advertising classes in university.

Although as the definition of social media says that it uses social interaction, I question myself, is this social interaction personal or impersonal. I mean, yes, It is personal because you choose to “follow” or “like” a page, but what you get from a tweet or a Facebook page is what everyone else can see. Nothing personal in that. However, and people might disagree, watching an advertisement on TV or listening to one on the Radio, according to me is more personal. I know, people will disagree by saying, well, so many people around the world see the same ad as you. My counter argument to that is, yes, that ad is watched or listened to or seen by so many people around the world, but, each person will relate to that ad differently. While I might like a Johnson and Johnson ad that shows a baby with its mother, because I absolutely love kids and see myself as a loving mother someday, someone older might like it because they might relate to it in a different way. Maybe a grandmother for her grandchild or a little kid might like it and think about it for their baby sibling. So while these forms of advertising might me impersonal, they really are personal according to me. It is just how one looks at it. I am not saying people should listen to me or agree with me, as I keep repeating, a person’s opinion depends on their perception, and everyone perceives things differently. As far as I am concerned, I want this focus on social media to reduce, and I’m not saying it shouldn’t be a focus anymore or that it shouldn’t be used, but I feel that businesses should bring back the focus on the older forms and get back all the creativity and over-the-top ads back! Yes, no one is saying these are cheap and social media is definitely cheaper for those who own small business, but for the big companies that can afford it, I’d much rather remember and reminisce  a good print, radio or TV ad than a social media campaign.