ETC@USC: Social Media, Coming Into its Own - Bryan Gonzalez

According to a study by Edicon Research 51 of Americans over the age of 12 are on Facebook Does this mean that social networks should still be considered just a fad We39ve reached the point where social networking is accepted as a legitimate platform that people use to connect with one another Methods for connecting people have evolved from hand written messages to the telephone to email and even texting These have all been technological steps allowing people to reach each other in an instantSocial media represents the next evolution in connecting people moving beyond the simple message allowing people to connect on a more personal and present way Moving beyond the onetoone message social media allows people to share and learn from their circle of friends with little effort The evolution of communication in our personal lives greatly influences how we see the world around usMany of us first learned about the earthquake in Japan or the death of Osama Bin Laden not through traditional news channels but through a friend39s Facebook wall post or Tweet This shift in how we discover new information has a profound impact on how we consume everything from news to entertainment to physical productsThe real strength of social media lies in discovery and influence A person39s close social circle behaves as a filter that presents them with the best news content and ideas Entertainment is a great example of what will thrive in the future social media landscape ShareThis a company that created a web plugin that allows for easy sharing says that 65 of Facebook shared content is entertainment related The watercooler conversation about TV shows and movies has moved to the online world inviting a large group of people to participate in the dialogueSoftware developers are hard at work exploring the best way to leverage the social media conversations and turn them into entertainment opportunities By using the trust people have with their social media circle an entertainment experience can be enhanced by allowing a person39s social network to participate A friend39s recommendation of an obscure movie will travel faster and have more weight than a critic39s review that may or may not have been readInfluence generated through social media has become a valuable tool to combat the noise on the web But how do you trust anything or anyone on the web At the Entertainment Technology Center we are constantly polling college students about how they use social media The one constant we have observed is the increased value students place on the people from whom they accept friend requests The days of people accepting a friend request from a stranger or even a passing acquaintance are quickly vanishing Changing attitudes towards who you let into your online social circle have increased the value derived from the opinions of online friendsThere is a bright future ahead for social media Our social media experiences may not always take place on Facebook or Twitter but social media will evolve letting people share beyond a status update Social media has and will continue to be interwoven into our daily lives helping us discover new things about our friends families and ourselvesBryan Gonzalez is the director of the social entertainment lab at the Entertainment Technology Center USC ETCUSC Bryan can be reached at bgonzalezetcenterorg Read all Bryan39s MediaBizBloggers commentaries at ETC USCCheck us out on Facebook at MediaBizBloggerscomFollow our Twitter updates MediaBizBloggerMediaBizBloggers is an openthought leadership blog platform for media marketing and advertising professionals companies and organizations To contribute contact Jackmediadvisorygroupcom The opinions expressed in MediaBizBloggerscom are not those of Media Advisory Group its employees or other MediaBizBloggerscom contributors Media Advisory Group accepts no responsibility for the views of MediaBizBloggers authors

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ETC@USC: Social Media, Coming Into its Own - Bryan Gonzalez

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