The "Social Media Tidal Wave"

After a long but enjoyable semester of retweets, @melanders, and #itec335, one thing is certain: social media can boost return on investment in remarkable, inexpensive ways that weren't even fathomable four summers ago. As this may potentially be my final blog post, I will present a final, multifaceted question:

Will businesses soon surpass social networks' carrying-capacities? Are social media networks destined to become oversaturated with 'advertising' like print media and TV? ... Is social media as a marketing platform sustainable?

I am firm believer in the power and potential of social networks. I also believe, though, that there may come a time in the not-so-distant-future where marketing on social networks like Twitter may not yield such impressive results. The number of businesses actively marketing on Twitter and Facebook increases exponentially each week. What happens when this kind of marketing becomes the textbook standard for every new marketing plan? What happens when marketing in this way is not so new and fresh?

Like all things business, companies must always adapt to changing circumstances. Call me a hater or a cynic but I think that social media's marketing potential is not limitless. As the "Social Media Tidal Wave" picks up speed and grows in height and strength, it may eventually hit the shore and what we know now to be quality, impactful marketing may just become the norm. The bubble may burst on socialnomics.

Thoughts please!

The (not so distant) Future of Social Media

No one knows for sure what the social media landscape will look like in the not so distant future. Social media networks are governed by "what's-popular-right-now" principles and its hard to judge what network sites will take off like Facebook and Twitter--and which networks will flunk.

What is clear, though, is that the social media landscape is constantly evolving. Six years ago blogging sites like Livejournal were extremely popular. Livejournal was then replaced by MySpace, which is in turn being phased out by Facebook. Today, sites like Twitter and LinkedIn are digging into Facebook's "market share."

Jonathan Strickland from HowStuffWorks.com believes that social media's continuing evolution will mirror the development of Web 3.0 technologies. Strickland argues that advances in browser and search technologies will allow browsers to compile data and information across a user's entire internet experience.

The Web 3.0 experience may possibly foster the development of one, unified and integrated "profile" to replace the myriad of social networks that users frequent today.

Marshall Sponder (webmetricsguru.com) argues in his online presentation, The Future Of Social Media Monitoring, that social media is evolving everyday. He points to the emergence of free and universally accessible tools like Google Analytics, that empower users with a multitude of important information about their sites and others.

What do you think the social media universe will look like two years from now? How about five years from now?