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\u201cShe does social media,\u201d is the go-to introduction my friends bestow on me at parties. In 2018, in a world where many of my millennial friends have more captivating Instagram accounts than me, this introduction sound about as impressive as, \u201cShe Googles real good.\u201d<\/p>\n
Who doesn\u2019t?<\/p>\n
Currently, I don\u2019t directly manage any brand\u2019s social media channels, though I have in the past. Instead, I most often consult in overall digital strategies that involve many promotion outlets, be it email, website, social media, and\/or display.<\/p>\n
That said, my friends\u2019 misleading introduction results in some lovely party conversations, the most recent being, \u201cDo you think we\u2019ll always call social media \u2018social media\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n
As the resident social media expert person, I blurted out, \u201cOf course! What else would we call it? We still call TV \u2018TV,\u2019 don\u2019t we?\u201d I chortled. My friends chortled. We all slapped knees (our own, not each other\u2019s). The conversation pivoted.<\/p>\n
I went home, brushed my teeth, changed into\u00a0my egg jammies, and fell asleep. I woke up in the middle of the night\u00a0Don\u2019t Wake Daddy<\/em>-style. We don\u2019t call it \u201cTV\u201d; we call it Netflix, Hulu, or whatever specific show we intend to binge watch. Unless we spent time staring at some reality show we\u2019d rather not admit to watching, we rarely say, \u201cI just watched TV.\u201d<\/p>\n Now that my moment has passed to have this dinner party conversation with man buns (brotrepreneurs) over cheap wine, I ask you: When will we stop calling social media \u201csocial media\u201d?<\/p>\n Don\u2019t get me wrong\u2014this will be a mass effort, a shift of the collective conscious\u2014we will not solve it here. However,\u00a0in the way someone circa 2010 started asking where she left her \u201cphone,\u201d abandoning \u201ccell\u201d as if the specifier was superfluous, someone will start calling social media \u201csocial.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n Oh, no. We already use \u201csocial\u201d in isolation. Has the end begun? Probably.<\/p>\n Facebook bought Instagram<\/a>\u00a0in 2012 (over five years ago?!). Almost immediately, the two began melding into one. Facebook introduced video; then Instagram introduced video. Instagram introduced Stories; then Facebook introduced Stories. Now, ads can be sent through both platforms at the same time, from the same tool, using the same audience parameters.<\/p>\n Will Instagram eventually just become Facebook?\u00a0Will we call all newsfeed-centric social media platforms \u201cFacebook\u201d in the way we colloquially deem all search engines \u201cGoogle\u201d?<\/strong><\/p>\n What happens when\u00a0Facebook overtakes YouTube<\/a>\u00a0once and for all? YouTube, a platform I\u2019ve always struggled to call a \u201csocial media,\u201d had a rocky 2017. With\u00a0ridiculous scandals<\/a>, a\u00a0massive redesign<\/a>, original shows, and\u00a0mixed Red reviews<\/a>, who and what is YouTube anymore?<\/p>\n For one, YouTube is a sibling of Google and therefore, undoubtedly, a powerful ad platform. However, advertising alone social media does not make, young padawan.<\/p>\n What happens if Netflix introduces comments \u00e0 la Youtube? What happens if Snapchat introduces a discovery section \u00e0 la Instagram? Wait, did Snapchat kind of\u00a0already do that<\/a>? What happens if Twitter . . . nah, I\u2019ve all but\u00a0given up on Twitter<\/span>.<\/p>\n Nevertheless, what are we going to call all these social media platforms as they evolve? It seems to me they are outgrowing their terminology.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t know, man. Maybe analyzing terminology just feels like splitting hairs. Still, sometimes you need a silly question like \u201cwhen will we stop calling it social media\u201d to get the brainstorming juices flowing, to tiptoe to\u00a0the questions that really matter to your business as we cruise through 2018<\/strong>, such as:<\/p>\nThe Evidence \u2018Social Media\u2019 Is on Its Way Out<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Does Any of This Really Matter?<\/strong><\/h3>\n