If Social Media Isn’t the Answer, What is?

In a recent article, former BusinessWeek writer Stephen Baker warned his readers about “social media snake oil.” He takes broad swipes at notable figures like Chris Brogan, other industry consultants, and social media in general.

This is not surprising coming from a traditional journalist who lost his job in part because of the effect social media has had on print media across the country. What I find interesting though is that traditionalists such as Baker offer no alternative-they just denounce or belittle the value of social media. With print dying, if social media is not the answer-then what is?

The article questions the returns social media offers, along with the metrics used to measure results. The irony in this, as I noted in the comments section of the article, is that there have been almost 8,000 clicks on bit.ly links pointing to the article, over 100 posts in the comments section of the article, and a ton of Tweets about the article-what is the ROI for BusinessWeek on that? Baker actually responded to that question (although to the wrong person) by saying: 

Lori, excellent point about BW winning clicks with my article on social media. The downside from my point of view? I’m not at BusinessWeek as of last Tuesday’s change in ownership. So the only winner from my scheme is Bloomberg… Perhaps an unexpected dividend for them.

I can taste the sour grapes all the way here in Orange County. And I can’t say I blame him either, I’d probably feel the same way if I, and 130 of my co-workers were laid off.

However, what seems to get lost in all of this is that these article comments are perfect examples of “social media.” Social media isn’t Twitter, or LinkedIn, or Facebook, it is real-time interaction and sharing of ideas and information among people. The promotion of this article and the ongoing conversations and debates about it are all being done using social media. In the past, someone would have to take the time to write a letter to the editor, mail it in, hope it would get published in the next edition, and so on. Today, your letter to the editor is sent instantly and within minutes you could have 20 responses to your response. That is the beauty of social media. 

But if traditional media is correct, and social media does not have any real value or is at least being overestimated, then what is the answer? Because it is not traditional media in its current form.

• Last year 90,000 print jobs were lost.
• Editor & Publisher, Kirkus Reviews, Travel and Leisure Golf, and Gourmet are just the latest magazines to close shop 2009.
• Newsweek is slated as the next to go.
• The Christian Science Monitor and PC Magazine have ceased printing and only are available online.
• The Rocky Mountain News and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer have both closed.
• The Tribune Co., owner of the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune, has filed for bankruptcy as newspaper advertising continues to decline for the 13^th quarter in a row.  
• Our local paper, the Orange County Register, also recently field for bankruptcy.

With figures like these, it is obvious the traditional media model is broken, and as far as we at Maples Communications are concerned, social media is going to pick up the ball and run with it.

If you disagree and think we are way off base, we’d love to know what you see being the “new media” of the next 5-10 years?

Tags: businessweek, maples communications, orange county, public relations, snake oil, social media, traditional media