[consider] The meaning of the social network era

"Just as we saw with the previous internet, PC, and mainframe eras, you have to properly understand the Facebook era to secure a competitive edge for your business. Just as we had to learn over the past decade how to use Google and email, today we must learn how to use Facebook and other social technologies to make our personal and work lives more effective." (p. 40)

(This is a piece of mine published in the June issue of the Maeil Business Newspaper's monthly economy magazine 'Luxmen,' released today.)

 

 

'The era of the social network' is approaching us. A new internet era represented by Facebook and Twitter. It's now time to pay attention to how social networks, beyond the personal level, will impact business and marketing.

The recent shape of social networks feels just like watching the internet of the 1990s. It can't quite be pinned down, but it feels like some new era is coming. We remember how the companies that overlooked the dawn of the internet era then disappeared into the back roads of history.

The author defines the 'social web' as a fourth-generation revolution. Roughly every ten years, a new technology platform emerges and fundamentally changes business as a whole. In the 1970s it was the mainframe computer, in the 1980s the personal computer, in the 1990s the internet. Right now, it's the social web.
 

In fact, the number of Facebook users is rapidly increasing not just in the U.S. but in Korea as well. Many people start their internet sessions at a social networking site. They choose content via Facebook's news feed and Twitter's timeline. People communicate with and manage relationships with many people, including 'weak ties' such as 'friends of friends.' Facebook is establishing itself as a new internet portal.

 

"Why social networks? Social networking sites appeal to the human needs for self-expression, connection between people, and a sense of belonging. These needs work especially strongly online." (p. 37)

 

The social network era began on the personal level like this. As we connected with friends through Facebook, we accepted this new technology. Now the change is reaching business too. 
More than anything, customers are changing. Customers used to be 'beings who waited.' They had to wait for companies to release new products and, when they had a question or complaint, wait until they were connected to a call center agent. But customers in the social network era no longer wait. They've started to raise their voices, and those voices have become important. Once-passive customers have become beings who contribute ideas to new product planning and expect immediate responses when problems arise. Social media has given the customer a 'voice.'
 

Companies must accept these customers who have become so active. If they cannot interact transparently with customers and maintain cooperative relationships, they grow more likely to fall behind in the new era. It's an era when companies can get closer to customers than in any other era — and that's both an opportunity and a crisis.

 

Many companies are already using Facebook in their business. Virgin America lets you see which of your Facebook friends are on the same flight, and goes a step further by letting you send them a drink. You can also use Facebook's 'hyper-targeting' for advertising. Marketers can now specify the characteristics of the people who will see an ad. For example, a golf club manufacturer can choose to show its ads only to people who say in their social network profile that they like golf.

 

"Just as we saw with the previous internet, PC, and mainframe eras, you have to properly understand the Facebook era to secure a competitive edge for your business. Just as we had to learn over the past decade how to use Google and email, today we must learn how to use Facebook and other social technologies to make our personal and work lives more effective." (p. 40)

 

Companies in the social network era must respond and collaborate with customers transparently and instantly. An era where customers are densely connected to people. An era where a single voice, riding the network like a virus, can lead a company to success or drop it into the abyss. We've already entered such an era.