We are a world of, “Let’s create this and see where it takes us”, many times not knowing or even thinking about the consequences. The wheel, atomic bomb, cigarettes, guns, TV, planes, government, the internet, I could go on but I hope to have illustrated this point. We do this out of necessity and at times possibly out of boredom so the future of some endeavors can depend on it’s uniqueness and longevity only to the current population, sometimes…ML-S 2016…lol…
Coca-Cola commercial 1971
I think for me this was the first attempt at social media and how advertisers were just cracking the code to get consumers to shop, without them thinking about it. I was thirteen when I saw that commercial for the first time it really did two things to me. It made me see the power this melody could have on people and how if you find the right notes and combine them properly one can create some pretty universal music that could transcend language, religious, cultural and color barriers instantly. Secondly, it showed my how powerful the advertisers were becoming.
Memories of 1971 ? Where Were You ?
I’d like to thank Johnnyboy792 for that. So at thirteen I had issues with James Bond, they were trying to retire Sean for a newer version and some were just not buying the change. Drugs were an issue even more so with Nixon in the White House and the war had polarized people as Muhammad Ali gets out of jail; The fight though good was not Ali’s best. TV movies something the networks were trying gave us Brian’s Song, which like all good tear jerkers has been redone a couple times. If I’m not certain I think I saw a remake on Netflix.
In continuing with the 70’s theme to show how basic the communication systems were and how communications satellites were second to spy satellites. This was the era of radio, the Walkman 1978, MTV was still years away so vinyl, turn tables and BIG stereos, BIG motion pictures, matinees at the movies were you would spend the afternoon watching movies at the local cinema for five bucks. Big motion pictures like Patton 1971, One flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest 1976, Rocky 1977 and The Godfather parts one and two, 1973 and 1975 respectively.
At the beginning of this I was reminded of Marshal McLuhan and his “media is the message” statement. I think his light bulb analogy is still relevant today. The notion that the bulb has no content like TV or newspapers but provides a media for social interaction to take place by providing lightness were darkness was. I’m not going to get into a drawn out discussion of his views suffice to say many marketing firms see his doctrines as such and use them to their clients advantage.
Wikipedia Marshall McLuhan
I would like to take the light bulb analogy further and relate it too the internet, where the internet is void without content much as the light has no content but the internet provides the venue to allow social interaction as does bringing light to dark areas. The various websites also prove another of McLuhan’s theories that
” individualistic print culture would soon be brought to an end by what he called “electronic interdependence”: when electronic media replace visual culture with aural/oral culture. ” from Wikipedia.
I am reminded that he was speaking more than 40 years ago when he coined “The Global Village” phrase that I’m sure could be the mantra of social “mediaites” today. In studying McLuhan’s writings the word visionary comes to mind as he made assumptions based on his study of print media and it’s evolution as well as the effect it has had on the culture of the societies that embraced the “new” at the time, technology.
Just like today with the internet we have a vast wasteland that is constantly being filled with content some useful some really no very useful non the less it has impact on people thus it has ben deemed social in content. People make the decision as top how social something can become and cat videos are an example of how something cute can get one million views quickly.
Funny Cat Jump Fail 2015
The “Jump Fail” videos I enjoy more than the cutesy pie kitten ones, but then again it’s my choice right. So this one has over 600,000 views and has good music some nice editing and doesn’t go for too long so the boss can’t get too upset with you watching it at work because isn’t that where most social media is consumed…at work. I won’t get into the stats on porn or how that industry has developed thanks to social media but the smart money goes to the industries that can change their perception in the marketplace and turn their naysayers into their loyal consumers and they are doing via very well crafted social media campaigns.
So where am I going with all this and my ADD mind, I’m not sure but I will try to get this to make sense. Social media is not new to the internet but the internet is new to social media. By that I mean to say we have always had social media right from the caveman drawings to the creation of music to the written word to the printing press and so on right up to today’s interweb way of communicating through and with the various devices we have today.
It wasn’t until my mid fifties that I decided to embrace a smart phone. I resisted the notion that my step-daughters needed such devices in school or to make them popular. Hindsight being 20/20 has allowed them to agree that may not have been the best approach to go through high school continually NEEDING the newest phones just to make friends. I held my tongue and watched as the whole “experiment” went sideways and that was very hard to do. I see this happening today with various “friends” on Facebook as they “put it all out there”. Now it can be said that there is a lot of honesty and humility needed to do this and do it correctly but human being humans and perception being perception some think the post is attacking them. How bizarre…??…So one person’s social media becomes another person’s “perceived” problem all based whether they were having a bad day.
One behavior and very basic human trait that I have noticed from my seven pages on Facebook is that people have very steadfast ideas surrounding certain issues and can’t take advice nor even the slight smell of advice: which is very normal reaction to a perceived loss of self. I can’t agree because I am……..???? whatever they label themselves they can’t and won’t see any other opposing view. This is one of the reason for multiple pages, right wing, left wing, religious, non religious, police lovers, non police lovers it’s a gauntlet of opinions and they are attached to pockets with money that businesses need to access. To do it can be dangerous to say the least and without a strategy maybe even suicide in the social media arena.
So I embraced the cell phone and then the smart phone and then I got a Facebook page but not just one…I have seven pages I manage now and I created a website too, so I could show off all my social media and hopefully make some money. I have a Goolge Plus page and a YouTube channel where I post my fishing videos. I have also done some podcasts and they appear on Spreaker. So I still have some to investigate like Instagram and Pinterest but soon they will have my presence. The ability to network all the various media outlets is something I am learning.
The future of social media, if I maybe so bold to extrapolate, will mean the demise of the big marketing firms, I believe unless they see a way to utilize personal social media at a national level to their own advantage. The market place is now moving into an area of each business taking their own marketing in house. With the advance of user friendly software and cloud services their need to out source marketing I think is waning and will be able to be done by a group of dynamic individuals who have analyzed the market place and can develop a plan to met their specific groups needs. Much like us in this course after we pass…LOL…..