5 Ways Social Media Reminds Me of 1995
The saying goes, “Those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it.” I’m not sure about history repeating, but it sure does rhyme. I’ve had countless deja vu moments lately as I discuss social media co-workers and clients. I’m finding 2009 to be eerily reminiscent of 1995 when I began my career in web development and internet marketing.
Here are 5 THEN vs. NOW Observations
1 – Hesitation to Give Employees Access to Customers
(1995) “We can’t let our employees use email — it’s not considered official and we can’t control what they say. They’ll just gossip all day with their friends and relatives. Plus, our customers prefer telephone to email anyway.”
(2009) “We can’t control what people say about our company/brand in social media. We discourage our employees from talking about our company on Facebook and Twitter as they’re not part of our official communications department. Plus, our customers aren’t using social media anyway.”
2 – Only Young People Use It
(1995) “Email and the Web are only for academics, engineers and teenage boys searching for porn. Normal business people don’t use it, especially if they’re over 40 years old.”
(2009) “Social media is only for college kids and recent graduates. Normal business people don’t use it, especially if they’re over 40 years old.”
3 – I Don’t Have Enough Time
(1995) “People waste hours of time online talking to strangers they’ll never meet. They get addicted and ignore the real people in their life. I have real work to do and can’t be bothered.”
(2009) “I don’t care about what you had for lunch. Why should I Twitter with strangers and read blog comments? I don’t have enough time in the real world let alone the virtual one.”
4 – I Can’t Make Enough Money On It
(1995) “I’m not wasting my agency/organizations time learning about the Internet when there’s so little money to be made. I’m going to wait until a clear path to revenue has been established.”
(2009) “I can’t justify investing in a social media program unless you can prove an ROI. I’m going to wait until industry standard success metrics and money making formulas are established so I can sell this to my boss.”
5 – I Don’t Know How to Measure It
(1995) “I have no idea who is visiting my website and what they’re doing. Visits? Hits? Time on Site? And how does any of this help me improve my business?”
(2009) “Who is watching my YouTube videos? How can I get more Twitter followers? What’s the value of a view, comment, re-tweets and friend? And how does all this activity improve my business?”
Mind you, there’s a degree of truth to every comment – both then and now. My takeaway lesson is that when it comes to change, it’s good to not only reflect on where we’ve been, but also the vibe/climate that existed at that time. It might feel strangely familiar which gives you perspective on the challenges of today and the opportunities of tomorrow.
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Comments
I see a lot of the same similarities, especially when it comes to giving employees email/internet access. I also see similarities to the dot com bubble with some of the ROI questions which, of course, wound up with very much the opposite history as the original email/web questions. Social media could still go either way though as time goes on, it’s becoming more and more a part of people’s lives and communication the same way email did.
Mike: Thanks for the note. I think the big difference between the dot-com bubble days (daze?) and today’s social media craze is the cost of entry. In 1998, you needed to invest hundreds of thousands (if not millions) into custom building some dot-com enterprise. Today, most social media tools are “free” with the primary investment being time and sweat. In the “old days” it was all about creating something with the highest projected valuation and flipping it. Now, it’s about investing time into relationships over the long haul. While less exciting than then mid 1990’s, I’m a lot more comfortable with the direction things are going today.
Brian: Amen. But don’t hold your breath 
Gary, I agree the price of entry for individuals is free, but the risk of any one social network tool going belly up and disappearing, a la the dot com days, is still out there. That’s where I see the similarities. As large as Twitter and Facebook are, they could still turn into a dot com bust 2.0
Mike: Ah, yes…I agree. We take for granted that these “free” social media sites are utilities. YouTube loses $1.5 million/day which Google says is inconsequential, but *still* — that’s a lot of cabbage. Facebook is notorious for saying they’re not focused on monetization yet. So who knows about their long term viability. THAT SAID, I do believe that engaging in social media is more of a cultural change in organizations vs. learning a particular tool. So while Twitter may some day go bye-bye (be still my heart), the idea of online networking for customer service, market research, PR, etc. will persist. It’ll just be via the newest tool in the toybox.
You made me feel very old. I was one of those kids in the 90s who thought I knew everything and loved to play with all the new toys. I love twitter, and can’t imagine what will come next. I guess what your post is saying is embrace change.
As one of the old-timers, I see a lot of similarities between then and now as some folks struggle with changes that threaten to throw their paradigm out of whack. For some, social media has been a logical next step in the progression of technology. Others (even some technology veterans) seem to struggle to connect the dots. If a behavior is something they don’t care to do personally (Facebook, Twitter, etc), they tend to dismiss it and underestimate the significance of the behavioral shift. It’s fascinating (and a little scary) to think about how my kids will be using technology on a daily basis 10 years from now.
John: Thanks for the note. I think one of the few perks of getting older is perspective. If I line up a trend line from where things were in 1995 thru today, I at least have a hint where things are going tomorrow. G$
1995 was around the time the website for my business was created. I remember back then that the mentality was “Put up a website, thousands of people will come visit it and you’ll get lots of orders”
Today I see many companies jumping on the Social Media band wagon as a strategy to get “Buzz” and as a P.R. panacea.
Then & Now: Social Media (Internet) should be the hammer in your company’s toolbox; never a stand-alone strategy.
Brian Link on May 16, 2009 @ 12:19 pm
Dead on, Gary. All too true. Now if only the early adopters got to be filthy rich in a new Internet bubble, I’d be OK with it all.