I would like you to share your understanding in response to the following:
a) Why sites like mystarbucksidea.force cannot be counted under social media? Even if such stakeholder engagement platforms are owned by companies that market directly, they can be spun off tomorrow to make them largely independent and broadbase themselves as general purpose social media.
Isn't there too much at stake for big companies to leave social media to few outside players like facebook and google+?
b) If social media continues to be increasingly powerful, it may eclipse or even subsume traditional media (print, broadcast etc.) that is mainstream media today. In such an event, it may no longer be possible to tell social media apart from other media and as a consequence; social media marketing apart from rest of marketing. It'll just be part of integrated marketing like what happened in the case of Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC).
Do you foresee a scenario in which almost all media shall be subsumed under social media?
In think that's a good question Raj.
'Old' Marketing Communications text books (only about 5 years or so ago) used to label 'Internet' as a separate channel to Advertising, Public Relations, Personal Selling, Sales Promotion, and Direct Marketing - but that seems so outdated. For example, if we consider 'Haulers' [see: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e2de858e-e9e5-11e0-a149-00144feab49a.html#axzz2bFTZBHwp ], user generated content, and content placed on YouTube by companies, they are look, smell, and perform like advertising - but that classical textbook defining factor of advertising being 'paid for' according to the media cost of placing your promotion in a defined and designated space is missing. This makes it tricky to in the classroom when students are trying to grasp what this thing is called advertising - especially when Ad. agencies are looking to make their media spend go further and actually do all of these things - therefore, by their job title it must be advertising, right?
Comparably, I think industry has already moved towards Social Media being at the heart of all media - due to cost, effectiveness, impact, speed, context and timeliness. However, I think it will take academic circles a little longer to catch up.
I've also considered the implications of Social Media on university education. Here's an extract from an article that you can download from Research Gate:
"The music and media industries have had to change their business models to accommodate new consumption patterns and how they generate revenue. Following this trend, even ‘ancient’ institutions like universities may have to make similar seismic shifts. Whilst there have been recent rises in tuition fees, the argument being that university qualifications are a must-have and differentiating factor, will students still be prepared to plunge themselves into debt for an education, which they could gain through other channels like iTunesU, MOOCs, YouTube, TED, Creative Commons, and SlideShare? Therefore, will having a degree move from being an affordable luxury to being an unaffordable and less desirable luxury?
Furthermore, if industry begins to favour experience and networks to an even greater degree over paper qualifications, or offers their own programmes and qualifications; then universities will need to respond fast, or they run the risk of being viewed as dinosaurs. Strong university brands will be those that provide cross-media platforms of free knowledge sharing, with open networks. Could we see an age where Google uses personal data indicating our habits and activity as evidence of academic and professional vocational excellence – which could then be rewarded as part of an official qualification in conjunction with academic institutions?
Perhaps this is the zenith of nomadic branded consumption and the signal that humanity has arrived back at square one – where education was once a social obligation and free. Will it mean more to have a PhD, or for example a branded book which is available to all – to read, check, comment on, challenge, like, and add to?"
Wilson, J.A.J. (2013), “Tracing the fingerprints of Branded and Tribal Youth”, The Marketeers, May, Indonesia: MarkPlus Inc., pp.50-53.
This 2012 question came up in my feed in June 2017, and the intervening five years have clarified some of the answers.
Because marketing benefits greatly from interactivity, functions common in social media are found on many other kinds of websites today. But there is also benefit in using the social media platforms that have the most people participating, so advertising placements in major social media sites is much more common than it was in 2012.
The so called “new media” is the expression applied to social media and other online information networks which have turned into a major interactive resource dominating all aspects of the modern society. In particular, the amazing expansion of social media has evoked a number of positive and negative reactions on the part of those affected by its widespread applications. Like you, many consider social media as a serious threat to traditional media perceiving an imminent eclipse. The main reasoning is that there is a tremendous demand for global communication and social media platforms have been able to alter communities and decision making bodies due to their ease of accessibility, quick interactivity, and fantastic opportunities. While not denying the importance of social media in creating and strengthening relationships, there are individuals who strongly believe that information sharing space is not the best place for confiding to others private information disclosing personal thoughts . Exemplifying this is the case of cyber threats in social networking , which have questioned social media credibility and honest communication. However, dramatic advances in social media applications from politics to commerce, to academic circles ,to news reading and advertising reveal that future prospects all herald a scenario in which almost all media would be subsumed under social media.
Best regards,
R. Biria
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Social Psychology
- Attitude