Keeping a intimate connection to our society has become obsolete with the influx of social media communication. THough businesses are able to reach an consumer mass, truly connecting to the consumer needs has become a thing of the past. Social Media has insured, popularity, both on a personal and business marketing level is the utmost important theme regarding “success” in the 21 century.
Communication has lost its emotional flair due to the process of computerized networking. Friends and family are able to greet each other without the connection of a hug, kiss, or simple smile. This new wave of connecting is desensitizing our generation to feeling…emotion. Though it may seem this new wave is a necessity for individuals to keep pace with technological advancements, the truth is as humans, we can not avoid person to person contact. Therefore, the more we eliminate face to face communication from our world…the more complicated traditional communication becomes when we are in fact engaged in it.
“Two studies compared college students’ interpersonal interaction online, face-to-face, and on the telephone. A communication diary assessed the relative amount of social interactions college students conducted online compared to face-to-face conversation and telephone calls. Results indicated that while the internet was integrated into college students’ social lives, face-to-face communication remained the dominant mode of interaction.” (Baym, Zhang)
We have to power to limit our interpersonal relationships. altering such behaviors can result in a imbalanced society. “The rise of social communication via the web marked a significant change in the way that technology aligned and empowered our human instincts. It is the “human” part that makes this paradigm shift different and also the key that drives our motivations.” (Gitomer, 54)
The day when businesses big and small took the time to assess their consumers needs are long gone. The goal now is becoming the most popular image in media. keeping one’s logo consistent in a Facebook, Twitter etc. news feed, will especially assure an increase in audience simply because society is plugged into social media for a majority of their day.
“Consumers are adopting increasingly active roles in co-creating marketing content with companies and their respective brands. In turn, companies and organizations are looking to online social marketing programs and campaigns in an effort to reach consumers where they ‘live’ online. However, the challenge facing many companies is that although they recognize the need to be active in social media, they do not truly understand how to do it effectively, what performance indicators they should be measuring, and how they should measure them.” (Hanna, Rohm)
“Further, as companies develop social media strategies, platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter are too often treated as stand-alone elements rather than part of an integrated system.” (Hanna, Rohm) The need to balance our interpersonal communication is a high need for our generation. I fear we will soon all be brainwashed!
Works Cited:
NK Baym, YB Zhang, MC Lin – “Social interactions across media interpersonal communication on the Internet, telephone and face-to-face”: New Media & Society, 2004 – nms.sagepub.com
J Gitomer. – “Social Boom”. Pearson Education Inc. as FT Press. 2011
R Hanna, A Rohm, “We’re all connected: The power of the social media ecosystem”: VL Crittenden – Business horizons, 2011 – Elsevier
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