Let’s face it, everything matures. It’s a fact of life we must all accept. Such is the case with Social Media.
I remember when I started out, playing around on the web, at Digg. I made a lot of good friends on that site. At the time, it was just a bunch of us, sharing things we found on the web.
We accidentally became “Internet Hipsters”. It was evident to me when my family or friends that weren’t on Digg would show me something they found on the web, something I had seen 3 months earlier.
During this time I met a lot of interesting people, from reporters with the BBC, New York Post, Huffington Post, and Chicago Tribune. Also well known tech bloggers and some Tech TV alumni. To us this was a time of fun, learning and growing. We tested out things that hit the web. Most of us got BETA invites to things like Twitter, Plurk, and Seesmic. We knew where to get these invites, and yet again, were internet hipsters. We tried out all the new stuff, had a blast and some of us grew our Social hobby into a business.
As the Social Media space grew, larger companies began to take notice. Some of our friends were hired by these bigger companies (you know who you are) and helped shape their online presence the right way. Others became successful in taking on smaller clients and building up from there. Then there were other users like myself, who kept the day job, and continued on with the hobby.
We began to see something we all hated. Big business began to shape Social Media. It invaded our turf, and in some places robbed Social Media of it’s innocence. Twitter became an advertising platform, Facebook was bloated with ads and pay apps, and Digg sold out it’s users. (I think we’ve covered the Digg thing enough). Other sharing sites began to take a nose dive, save one.
Some hard core users may not like this analogy but, try to go with it. Reddit was the Forrest Gump of the Social Web. It was simple, and simply easy. It was a bit slow at first, but just like Forrest Gump, when it ran, IT RAN HARD! Reddit took off after the fall of Digg, and yet, Reddit has kept one important aspect that a lot of Social sites didn’t, it’s dedication to it’s user base.
Just like any product or idea Social Media has been pirated. Yes pirated. If you go over seas you can buy cheap knock offs of high end products and cheap labor. Somewhere down the line the power players and old Social Media guard were sold up the river. The cheap labor and “Social Pirates” start up these really terrible advertising loaded websites, then send out mass e-mails asking you for votes. So there you have it. Social Media has gained the attention of the cheap cyber labor overseas.
When a product or idea reaches maturity, it is copied, pirated, and incorrectly dumped on the mainstream. Those of us that were here in the beginning watch the rise and fall of what used to be fun, but to me has been tainted. My good friend Greg Davies once said “Social Media is a Myth”. Greg was right, and just like every myth or legend, people will always put a different spin on it, be it good or bad.
To my friends that were there as we watched Social Media grow up, I wish to raise my glass as mainstream media is waiting at the end of the isle, and we hand off our Social Media daughter in marriage. It wasn’t our choice for her, but then again, children don’t always make the choices we agree with.
