Social Media Summary - 4/20/09

Twitter has been in the news constantly lately, as Kristen reviewed last week in her latest blog post. It appears that Twitter is hitting a defining period that will change its audience and user demographics. Now that major celebrities are bringing in a whole new scale of publicity, the site will have to redefine its business in a way that takes advantage of more widespread and high profile usage. In other words, the micro-blogging site is becoming more mainstream- it is no longer a niche community that consists mostly of early technology adopters. In fact, microblogging itself is fast becoming an expectation from audiences and consumers who expect to have that direct connection to a person or brand. Twitter’s newfound mainstream status will also herald a transformation in the way advertisers use the site to make money; with so many new high profile users and exposure through established mass media (even Barbara Walters has joined the fray while broadcasting it through The View), Twitter must make additional changes to its interface that manage large numbers of followers as well as sponsorships and advertisements.

A great deal of commentary on the recent Twitter news raises concerns over what the hype of celebrities joining Twitter will bring. Both C K at Marketing Profs and Mack Collier at The Viral Garden have made very good points about the hype. However, I see it as an opportunity for traditional mass media to integrate itself with highly individualized media, creating a level of consideration for any single person’s voice (celebrity figure or not) that is unprecedented. Jeremiah Owyang has some more thoughts on the significance of Twitter’s rapid growth in this blog post.

Another high profile piece of news that came out of the social media world this past week or so is the story of the intensely viral spread of the Susan Boyle video on Youtube. Mashable put together a brief analysis of the video’s popularity, which has reportedly surpassed many of the top “viral videos” in recent memory. As far as significance goes, this video has not advanced social media’s profile so much as it has shown exactly how meteoric someone’s rise in popularity can be when fueled through multiple social media channels. Additionally, a great deal of commentary on the Boyle video has focused on studying how it spread online - a fascinating example of how a compact and emotional clip can resonate with millions. The response this online popularity has provoked in the music industry as well as broadcast and print media also brings to light how online communities can now deliver a fast judgement on general popularity and worth, leading to a frenzy of activity and attention from other media.