Is This the Cable TV Era of Social Media?

I'm writing this while celebrating my alma mater Ithaca College 's victory in the 63rd Annual Cortaca Jug over SUNY Cortland in front of 40,000 fans at Yankee Stadium! Way to cap an undefeated season!

Aside: Twenty years ago, I was producing the radio broadcast of the game and giving sideline reports. This year, I streamed the game on my phone while shopping at Costco. Life comes at you pretty fast :)

This week, the intersection of Communications x Leadership was dominated by the continued transformation around Twitter. I won't recap it all here, but there are three major things to focus on:

1) Social Media Platforms are NOT Owned Channels.

I mean, duh. My friend Gini Dietrich has been saying this for years ! But it bears repeating on what this actually means for communicators and marketers.

• Yes, you get to write the content and upload the images, videos, links, etc. You get to press "Publish."
• However, you do not control the functionality of the platform. The platform can make changes without notifying you. They are not in the business of your business, they're in the business of their business - and they will always prioritize their needs.

The sometimes-harsh reality is that platforms are dynamic and will continue to be so.

2) Expect More Change

It's clear that Elon Musk and his team have a different vision for the business model of Twitter. The boss said so himself:

3) The Cable TV** Era of Social Media

The media landscape changed with the advent of cable TV. And no moment in time captures that shift than the launch of MTV - with "Video Killed the Radio Star" by the Buggles as the prophetic first video:

Within an instant (not literally, but it felt that way), TV viewers went from a handful of broadcast network giants to dozens, then hundreds, of niche-channels that focus on unique audiences or specializations.

It feels like social media is going through the same growth period right now. We went from the major channels - like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter - and now have many platforms we can join. As the technical and financial parameters around creating and maintaining a platform become lower, we will see increased fragmentation.

Will Twitter completely fall? Unlikely.

Will another platform rise to be as ubiquitous as Twitter? Also unlikely.

What is most likely is that there will be more platforms for communicators to consider with critical masses of targeted audiences. As fascinating as the Twitter tailspin may be, where we go from here is even more important for strategists.

My former colleague Tom Cochran mused on the networks that have come and gone. (I voted YES, by the way.)

**High-Five to Morgan O'Leary for seeing how this also applies to the evolution of TV from linear to streaming, as well. More options, less Buggles. And I'm sure Phil Gomes and Joe Scannell could connect this to blockchain and decentralized finance. But also...less Buggles.

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Meme of the Week

I think this sums up this week on Twitter, quite the unforgettable run.

Work-Related Tweet of the Week

Maybe it's just my crew, but it feels like I've been seeing more dogs on virtual meetings in recent weeks. I. AM. HERE. FOR. IT.

Work from home is not going anywhere, so make sure that you bring your whole self - and your pets!!! - to the "office" with you. In short, I 100% support this "puppy tax" proposed by Andrew (Drew) Smith :