Back to Basics: What Is Social Media? Scott Peterson Co-Founder
Back to Basics:What Is Social
Media?Scott Peterson
Co-Founder
What is social media, really? Let’s provide some context.To truly understand it, we
need to go back… way back… to
When a man who wanted to buy some corn…
Met a farmer who wanted to sell some corn.
They talked about it and agreed.…an ancient exampleof a market as a conversation.
Now let’s jump forward in time
to 1510 A.D…
When a gentleman who wanted to buy some jewelry…
Visited the local jeweler.
They talked about it. Made a deal. Again, it was a conversation-based market.
Now let’s speed forward to 1950, when my dear mother was unhappy with her detergent.
Not much she could do.Couldn’t visit the manufacturer. Markets had changed.
Mass communications& markets = top
down
Take it or leave it!
Then in 1999 came theCluetrain Manifesto, declaring personal computertechnology and the Internetwere bringing back markets as conversations.
The power relationship between companies and consumers is changing
back to something it had traditionally been in
human society.
Community
Learning
Social Media
Conversation
Engagement
Sharing
•51% of consumers are more likely to buy a product after “liking” on Facebook
•56% of consumers are likely to recommend a brand to a friend after becoming a fan
(*Hubspot Oct 2011)
Pew Internet, State of Social Media 2011
• 81% of people in the financial sector see Twitter as the most important social network for their organization.
– Ciscero, January 2012