Approaching Mid ’09 : 10 Ways Social Media Will Change or Will It?

We are steadily approaching 2009′s mid-point and I recently came across Ravit Lictenberg’s,  Ustrategy Consulting, blog post titled “10 Ways Social Media Will Change in 2009″.

Kudos to her for generating (1021) Diggs and (103) comments which included the ultimate compliment of having people comment on her blog and others’ comments. This is the best example of Web 2.0 in action!

She focuses on ten (10) ways social media is evolving and they are summarized here:

1. “It’s the People”

2. “Creating Meaning and Value”

3. “Enabling Convergence”

4. “Building a Truly Cross-Platform Experience”

5. “Creating Relevant Social Networks”

6. “Innovating in the Advertising Space”

7. “Helping People Organize Their ‘Old’ Social Media Ecosystem”

8. “Connecting with the Rest of the US and the World”

9. “Preparing for New Social Media Jobs”

10. “Making Money”

I resonate with her points (1), (2)  and (5).

My social media wake-up call came in October 2007,  as I was eagerly conducting a career transition campaign to find meaningful work after spending (28) years with one firm in the electrical distribution equipment industry.  My search began to yield the fact, that I was behind in the knowledge and use of the Internet to connect to people, and hence, to market and sell solutions.

Fortunately, living in the San Francisco Bay Area yields many opportunities to attend conferences focused on the Web 2.0 technologies. I began to discover that despite my technical disadvantage, I  could count on my ability to connect with people face-to-face and learn new things.

Being introduced to social media at Online Market World ’07 and baptized at Blog World Expo a month later was a powerful experience.  The game-changer was not only the technology, but the people who use it.  I had the benefit of meeting the blogger, or Twitter user first; before being introduced to their writings.

The memories flood back of meeting Des Walsh (@deswalsh), Barbara Rozgonyi (@wiredprworks) , Rich Brooks (@therichbrooks) and others who made the social media space very attractive and friendly to join. Seth Godin writes about finding your tribe, and I hit a jackpot.

Intertwined with their beings were, of course, their blog posts and tweets, driven by  their passion to create value and the ante to create more.  My corporate riddled self was shocked not only by the emphasis on value creation, but to also give it away to the blogosphere at large for the betterment of others.  Of course the blogger was challenged to make money that clothed, fed and housed them; but an almost pure sense of giving was really evident.

Traditional, or proud to say “old school” values complemented my new found love of social media because I began to make new connections online and then transfer it to a real time connection via the phone or better yet, in person.

So while social media is likely to change and change some more, it seems that the desire to be human and need to connect in meaningful ways will not.

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