Well said. “social media” has always been valuable. These recent emerging technologies have amplified its usage. With the growth of capabilities, however, expectations have grown exponentially.

Get an umbrella, because the “failure shit” is coming haha.

Thanks for sharing that link. That’s extremely interesting and is pretty much exactly what I had in mind.

I guess this trend could occur on different levels then right? So what will determine the level of negative impact from the “bubble burst” (2= bubble -burst-> 3= results)? I guess while that trend is always going to occur, it could happen at higher or lower slopes. Sometimes these changes can take on a smoother transition, and BOOM!

Right now, I feel like we’re headed toward the latter, but we shall see!

I think where a large percentage of failings, faults, call it what you will, comes from common sense (or lack of it), mixed in with a little dollop of greed. People and companies are seeing dollar signs from early successes (as you rightly mention in the post, David). But early successes don’t always mean long-term survival (I’m looking at you, Betamax and Cuil).

If someone is so greedy that they don’t take an analysis and project whether social media will work for them or not, then I’m sorry but they deserve to fail. This goes for consultants too – if you’re out to snake oil companies because you know some buzzwords, I hope the failure shit lands on you first.

Social media is here to stay for one simple reason – it’s pretty much always been here since the first person said “Hello” to another online.

What needs to change is business mindsets – but hasn’t that always been the case?

Great post, my friend – THIS is why I recommend you so highly any chance I get.

by this model, we are currently in stage (2), where the koolaid flows freely and all the world’s problems can be solved with the new tools. the bursting bubble you describe in your post is the (inevitable) third phase, where users realize not every problem has a sm fix and/or fail to realize they are not using the tools correctly. but all is not lost – the curve does continue.

thanks for the post

Similarly, my career has been focused on public relations; as such, I think all brands could benefit from a proactive PR campaign. But, that doesn’t mean all brands are going to embrace PR. And that’s okay. The bottom line is that companies need to take an integrated approach to communication — incorporating the right mix of tools to achieve their business objectives. There are lots of case studies that illustrate the value of social media in business which shouldn’t be ignored. But, if a business doesn’t have the resources or the desire to interact with various audiences, then social media might not be right for them. Doesn’t make it right … doesn’t make it wrong. It just is what it is.

I still think it’s smart for companies to integrate social media along with their other communication efforts, but that’s just my opinion.

Great post, D.

Heather (@prtini)