In his closing rant at this year’s South by Southwest Interactive Festival, futurist and author Bruce Sterling made a comment that struck me.
It was along the lines of:
People love social… and they love media… just not social media.
To the consumer, the medium is of less concern.
People still want to connect with each-other.
People still want to consumer media.
They just aren’t as excited about the concept of social media. I suspect that there isn’t a desire to move away from social media, it has just become such a seamless part of consumers lives that they just don’t give it a second thought.
Increasingly social channels (think snapchat… messaging) are moving away from personal publication, and more towards private, disposable connection.
As a media brand… I need to:
- Provide more opportunities for consumers to connect with each other and their community.
- Still continue to provide an authoritative and curated voice, and not worry about becoming a friend.