The Social Media Wormhole and where it's leading - Mari Cochran ...

August 28th, 2012 // 5:52 pm @ admin

In?physics, a?wormhole?is a hypothetical?topological?feature of?spacetime?that would be, fundamentally, a ?shortcut? through?spacetime. ?Wikipedia

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We had no social media life back in 2004 when Facebook launched. Back then there were only a handful of social media sites (Friendster, MySpace, etc.). ?Google?s Orkut launched in 2004 but as we see from history has pretty much gone away, just like MySpace.

In the last 5 years social media has really gained traction; appearing to be the lost Internet wormhole into online marketing for many small businesses. Wow. It didn?t cost a lot and yet with a little effort your brand could be seen. Social media was almost an equalizer to the big marketing budgets of large corporations. ?That was then. This is now.

The wormhole has gotten smaller as the space has gotten crowded. ?As of today, there are over 6,000 social networking sites (All Things Digital, August 27, 2012, ?Big Years for Instagram and Pinterest Bust Up the Social Networking Charts?. ?Popularity position is switching so fast you?ll get whiplash trying to keep up. ?According to the All Things Digital article, Google Plus was no. 56 a year ago. Today it?s no. 4. ?A year ago Pinterest was no. 188 and today?s it?s no. 3. ?Things change quickly.

Given the crowded space and proliferation of social networks where will all of this lead? ?Given the biggest IPO flop in history, where does that leave Facebook? Given the complete confusion about Google Plus (do we, don?t we, what is it?) how do you measure or define a social network as popular or successful? ?Have you arrived to the party late and gotten stuck with the bill? ?Let?s hope not.

From a small town girl living in small town America, I see social media taking two main roads ? one is the path to ownership and the other is the path to growth of niche sites.

The Path to Ownership ? if you?re large enough (and how do you define that) the path to ownership means creating your own social media network, some kind of hybrid conglomeration of other social media networks. ?Lady Gaga recently achieved this with the launch of LittleMonsters.com ? a combination of Pinterest, online discussion form, events and news. ?You have to join to get access. (Click here for Article).

Growth of Niche Sites ? There is a rise in niche social sites. ?These sites appeal to a very narrowly defined group of people. ? This is taking the same path as online dating sites. ?The 3rd largest growing dating site (after Match.com and Eharmony) is OurTime.com, an online dating site only for men and women over 50. ?Remember, sometimes you get more attention in a smaller room. ?Not every small business needs to get the attention of 900 million people ? 100,000 will do just nicely.

So, whether you create your own or join a niche, this social media wormhole is leading us to a whole new world. ?Check back with you in a year!

Category : Mari Cochran Services &Non Sequitors &Social Media News

Source: http://www.maricochran.com/the-social-media-wormhole/

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