RIP the Age of Social Media 2004 - 2024

Last week I came off the site formerly known as Twitter. My subsequent post here on LinkedIn explaining my decision, got the highest amount of engagement that I've had in a very long time.

Which got me thinking ....

Roughly twenty years ago we saw the emergence of the nascent platforms which we now love (or loathe). MySpace, LinkedIn (set up 2003) and of course Friends Reunited were the precursor to today's plethora of social media and social messaging sites.

They were part of a major revolution, the implications of which we are still trying to process today. For the first time, individuals had the ability to be publishers or broadcasters - and on a global scale. No more did we have to rely on newspapers, magazines, TV or radio to get out messages out. All we needed (back then) was a computer with an internet connection.

In the early days, there were no algorithms, bots, AI software or sophisticated advertising campaigns - just people posting their thoughts into the ether and engaging with human beings they most probably knew at some form of granular level.

You know what?

This media was in fact truly 'social' and was a really exciting way to interact with people in a brand new way. This made it a brilliant tool for micro enterprises, SMEs and individuals alike. Got a coffee shop and want to engage with your loyal customers? Set up a Facebook Page. Want to check out what people are talking about? Search for the appropriate hashtag on Twitter.

The key part of 'old media' was that - for the most part - you had to be skilled in your craft, whether this be writing articles, producing programmes or being a performer. With the 'new media' revolution, everyone had their five minutes of fame and filled newsfeeds with hours and hours of homegrown content - much of which was poor quality or very repetitive.

Just as only a small proportion of footballers play in the Premiership, few musicians end up playing sold-out shows in arenas and most actors don't end up in Hollywood few people or brands had the skills, expertise or creativity to fill their channels with interesting, engaging and regular content.

That's one of the reasons why we got algorithms!

Fast forward to where we are now. I would strongly argue that most of the 'social' elements of media have gone underground onto so-called Dark Social - messaging sites, WhatsApp and Telegram groups - while the pre-eminent social networking sites are no more than ad platforms or content aggregating sites full of AI or Bot-driven rubbish just acting as 'click bait'.

It's back to the future!

In essence, we've progressively moved back to a pre-internet scenario where you need really brilliant content and a decent ad budget to cut through to the masses. Vapidly posting on the 'social' media sites without devoting money to paid media and hoping your AI-driven or cobbled together content will pass muster are just not realistic any more.

You know what?

Marketing is really hard. People have forgotten this. And it's getting harder with so many different variables at play governing who sees what and where. We need to be absolutely realistic about how we communicate with our fellow humans.

Ultimately it's about doing the basics right. Understand your audience(s), where they are, how best to reach them, understand where their pain or desire points are and use the appropriate sales techniques to get them to part with their hard earned cash.

More than likely, this will NOT involve spending hours arguing with strangers on Twitter, doom scrolling through videos of cats on TikTok or reading countless updates from LinkedIn users who want to tell us about their daughter's recent graduation.