After a few glasses of wine, my dearest friend leaned over to me and said, "I read this article that said social media is going to be the next dot-com bust. I didn't want to tell you but I thought you should know."For a second I panicked. After all, I just started a business centered around social media, but then, two breaths later I regrouped. People may overpay for Facebook stock, Twitter may never successfully make money and all the location based networks could be scooped by the next best thing, but I don't think people are going to give up social quite yet. And it dawned on me, perhaps a bit late in the game, that it really isn't about the network you are on, but rather about what social allows:
- A quick and easy way to spread information.
- A voice that businesses/government/organizations will listen too.
- An easy way to maintain connections. The lazy man's friend.
- An easy way to meet new people and get new ideas.
I can't see people giving any of that up anytime soon. Facebook may fall, but social as a form of communication is here to stay, and companies are going to need help figuring out the best way to leverage social and how they are going to support their social efforts.
Phew, indeed.