I find myself debating with people about the business relevance of New Media tools. For the last two years (and probably for the next two years) I have dealt with sceptics who question the validity of blogs, podcasts, wiki’s, forums and online social networks (LinkedIn) as a viable communication medium.
Lately I have been fielding the same questions about communities like Twitter, Ning and Second Life. In my last post I wrote about the problems with e-mail: The channel is clogged.
The same problem exists with radio, TV, newspapers, magazines, junk mail, spam, and telephone marketers. The channels are clogged. When users no longer find a particular channel useful will they use less channels? No, they will find or make new channels.
This is what Twitter, Second Life, MySpace, blogs, etc, are: new channels of communication. Ironically, this is what TV, radio and the printed press started off as: channels of communication. Then people started asking what the business application was. Now these channels are so clogged with ‘business applications’ (ie marketing) that we have to find new channels of communication in order to talk to each other.
In a previous post I talked about what New Media could learn from the “demise” of old media. My recommendation to Marketers: Tread lightly, don’t yell, don’t interrupt, engage, add value, participate.
The same is happening in our workplace. We don’t have enough channels for the amount of information we have (and we haven’t seen anything yet). All of our old channels were designed in a different world; a world of limited information. This is why I blogged about the death of e-mail. As we have created more information we have crammed it in the same channels: e-mail, TV, radio, etc.
New Media is a channel, how we use it is what makes it powerful or just another annoyance.
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Malcolm Gladwell talks about the problems with email in his book ‘The Tipping Point’. He references a concept coined the fax effect. The first fax machine was expensive and useless. With every additional fax machine sold the network became more valuable, and the cost of the device less so (relative to the value), until they are plagued with overuse (ie - reach a tipping point). Same think has happened in the past with phones and is happening with email. It the price of success and is bound to happen to other new media types given enough time. I think the same could happen with large social networks as well.
I agree Kevin, I think that MySpace is already suffering from this. I rarely respond to friend requests anymore because they are almost always spam. I’m sure more Social Networks will also fall prey to this.
I’m a huge fan of Gladwell’s Tipping Point and I remember the passage Kevin is referencing quite fondly.
Tac, you say New Media is a channel encompassing blogs, forums, podcasts, etc. I’d say that each are a channel in and of themselves in this new era of the information age.
People can use one or a mix mediums to relay their message. You see this now in the traditional media. Look at Idaho Business Review and how they incorporated blogs into the way they do business and present the news.
It will be interesting to see how things shape up for them by the end of the year. Personally, I think the way they changed their approach to their publication will be very successful for them.
Justin,
I totally agree. Each application is its own channel.
My question for the Idaho Business Review is “what’s next”. John Foster has made some great changes in the right direction, but I think that they need to strike while the iron’s hot. One blog is a great *start* but is not even the tip of the iceburg.
The “what’s next” question for John and IBR should be - How do we keep subscribers to the paper and how do we get new subscribers?
Here’s the problem: I just got my renewal notice for my subscription. I asked myself, “Do I want to pay the renewal? I get more from their website and their blog than I do the actual paper.”
Don’t get me wrong. I love the IBR, but they might loose me as a subscriber because I’m finding greater value in the new medium, or channel, they are using — and using quite well I might add.
Justin,
I totally disagree. I think that newspapers (and all media industries) have to get out of their traditional revenue generating models. Because as you point out, people are going to quit subscribing and there’s nothing they can do to stop it.
There are so many more ways to monetize content other than through subscriptions. There are so many more opportunities on line. They just need to think creatively. They need to think about how they can add value that people are willing to pay for. “News” is a commodity, we won’t pay for it anymore.