Social Networking Growth To Settle

“I think the socialisation of media absolutely is here to stay – including the sharing, contributing, spreading the word – how we make sense of that commercially is the task that’s facing us,” said Adam Freeman, commercial director at Guardian News and Media.

“Individual brands will come and go.”

Freeman pointed out that in the States, comScore was reporting user declines across social networking sites, such as Facebook and MySpace, adding that time spent with the sites was also falling.

However, he cautioned: “I wish they’d charge more for advertising because quite frankly they’re ripping the value out of the market, and I think it’s disgusting.”

Sheryl Norman, digital director, UK, at Omnicom Media Group, agreed that the format would remain, but also felt that the “dramatic growth” would settle.

She expressed a view that there are more avenues to explore from a marketing and advertising point of view, adding that it can be an area that’s “quite tricky”.

“Some advertisers have done fantastic things in there and some haven’t,” she said. “Again [as in mobile] we have to advise our clients about what they do in that space quite carefully.”

Louise Ainsworth, MD EMEA at Nielsen Online, added: “Word of mouth, consumer recommendation, we’re only beginning to tap into that and the implications for advertisers, and brands need to be better at listening to what their advertisers are saying about them online.”

Fellow panellist, Richard Firminger, the outgoing regional sales director, northern Europe, at Yahoo!, was more cautious.

In regards to last year’s success story, Facebook, he felt it was naïve “thinking that they can take user data and commercialise that without being open and without being transparent… possibly because they’re being led by a 24-year-old who has no experience in commercials and advertising. There is a danger there.”

He added: “User generated content is going to be a nerve-wracking area for most advertisers and marketers, although I think there are some really good examples of great partnerships where you are adding value to the consumer experience rather than straight push advertising.”

He said he was concerned “about the bubbly nature of the social networking businesses themselves”, adding that a lot of them were trends one year and not the next, with the change coming “almost overnight”.

Media journalist Ray Snoddy was even more sceptical, with a view that social networks were “highly fashion” items.

“For me the big thing this year is not going to be social networking, though that will be part of it,” he said. “It will be behavioural targeted advertising – that’s the one all of you should be watching.”

He warned: “It could be yet another disruptive technology that takes more revenue towards the online world.”