Social media: we’ve only just begun

In another life I would love to have the ‘futurologist’ gene. I cannot imagine what my children’s lives will be like.

I was at a sales convention some months ago and one of the delegates was excitedly sharing that he could purchase media so cheaply… and “this downturn is fantastic” he said. “If you’ve got some dollars, media advertising has some real bargains to be negotiated.”

It got me thinking – Who’s watching? Maybe the affordability of advertising has nothing to do with the downturn – but more a fundamental shift in media in how we consume information (a restructure of an industry).

Twenty-four out of 25 of the largest newspapers in the world have a significant decline in circulation. My children would never consider going to the library or buying a newspaper to find out what is going on. They simply consume online… and on their mobile devices.

I remember in 1996 I would get about one email a week – I wondered why I’d bothered setting up an account. In 2000 I thought I was too old to understand the internet and would leave it to the young marketers. Lucky I stuck with these mod-cons.

The lesson that I’ve learned is simply to explore – Twitter, Facebook, Flickr might not be here in five years time – but they will definitely play a role in getting us to the next thing. So hang on for the ride – it is a journey… to be enjoyed wherever it takes us.