Thought Leadership: “Social Media – why has it suddenly become touted as a phenomenon?”

Jacqueline O’Sullivan, head of marketing communications at Microsoft Advertising, looks at the so-called new Social Media phenomenon …

Oh how little the world has changed. We are always so keen on the new that we forget to look behind us and see where we’ve been. In terms of human accomplishment, we’ve invented all manner of new gadgetry, but as far as ‘being human’ goes we’ve hardly evolved at all. When Harold Abrahams won the 100m dash in the 1924 Paris Olympics, he was running on an ash track in a pair of leather spikes. Despite nearly 90 years of improved nutrition, new training methods, better equipment, rubber tracks, and let us not forget, total dedication to the cause, Usain Bolt wasn’t even one second quicker.

So what has this to do with Social Media and the recent ‘phenomenon’ of social networking? It reminds us that the world – and technology – will continue to evolve, but in spite of these changes we cannot forget that ‘being human’ is invariably at the centre of all human endeavour. And ‘being human’ has always included interacting, communicating, and sharing ideas with others, regardless of the venue – be it the running track or an online community.

So Social Media and Social Networking are not new. They’ve been around for tens of thousands of years. Social Networking is what we humans do all the time. Social Media is merely the means through which we do it.

Think of the conversations we have: face to face, over the phone and down the pub. In the pre-internet era, word of mouth took flight and social glue hardened. Social media included a myriad of communication venues and tools such as the village circular, letters, post-cards, newsletters and even cave paintings.

So why has it suddenly become touted as a phenomenon? Because technology has developed so rapidly, communicating with others has never been easier or quicker. If we’ve learned anything in the last 50 years, it is that easy, cheap and mobile activities prevail over those that are complicated, expensive and static.

Microsoft Advertisings’ research concludes that across the entire range of consumer life-stages, the internet has become almost indispensable. ‘Communication’ has overtaken ‘Information’ as our primary use of the web. The Internet allows people to stay connected with friends, family, and a larger community of interests through e-mail, Instant Messenger, social networking sites, blogging, and sharing pictures/videos. Not surprisingly, humans have continued to adapt new technology channels for their timeless need to communicate and share.

Although customers in different life-stages might use online social media differently, our research also indicates that all users similarly value online communication tools. For example, while we tend to think of modern social media as the playthings of the young, this really isn’t the case. Just as teenagers stay in touch with their network of friends via their mobiles, IM, and MySpace pages, the 30’somethings post their photos for relatives and friends to envy. Grandparents too, value these tools; while in retirement overseas, they use IM to stay in touch and use photo-sharing sites to keep in touch with children, and their children.

Interestingly, despite some concerns that the rise of social networking would lead to its decline, use of email continues to grow. Windows Live Hotmail has increased by over 3 million customers to 21 million in the UK in the last year. If anything, e-mail has become more central to people’s internet lives and changing an e-mail address is considered particularly painful, as it is often the biggest constant in our online personas.

Another trend we’ve been tracking is the proliferation of different and varied social services by our users. To help put people’s communications, rather than software, at the centre, our new version of Windows Live, allows consumers to bring their off- and online worlds together into one place. It enables content from their favourite sites and sources to be viewed through one lens, ultimately joining friends, family, hobbies and photos together regardless of preferred tool or service.

And what is the opportunity for advertisers? The opportunity is as it’s always been, but there’s never been a greater need to be relevant as well as appropriate. This world of social media can make or break a reputation much more quickly; these are real people having real conversations and sharing real intimacies. So it’s important to keep in mind that when we bang our ‘Ad’ in the middle of a conversation without due consideration, people will not be happy. Lazy media planning is not well rewarded. Those advertisers that recognize the basic human need to communicate and enhance this experience with relevant, appropriate adverts will be rewarded with increased customer acceptance, engagement, and clicks.

Media Playground: www.media-playground.co.uk