A recent article by Graeme Hutton of Universal Mc Cann suggests that:
Arguably, the rise of social media has been caused by the synthesis of two opposing forces: the rise of personal communications technologies colliding with increasing consumer resistance to mass media conventions.
Okay, I’ll argue with that. The reason behind the rise is a little deeper than just the contemporary “collision” of “two opposing forces.” But the reason is not so deep that it’s not obvious. Key in on the word “social” in social media. It’s obvious. We’re social beings. We want, we need, to be in contact with each other. We need to express our voices and our opinions. We need to know that we matter and that our time here on this rock is not insignificant.
Those deep driving needs are part of what fuels the resistance to mass media conventions (the other part is that we just hate commercials). Mass media doesn’t allow us to express our inner child. But social media, duh, does. The inner child enables the “social” in social media. The technology enables the “media” in social media. And when you put these two forces, though not opposing, together in an increasingly fragmented society, you get the rise in social media.
So there you have it. Graeme Hutton got it half right. Not bad for a large corporation guy, eh?
