The social media hype: Do you believe?

This is a video by Erik Qualman, author of "socialnomics." I have not read the book, but to be sure, the video is a stunning piece of work. But do you believe it? At least its ideology, I mean. Which is that the world has changed because of Facebook. And: If you refuse to jump on board with the cult-like fervor of the rest of us, you are missing out.

I am not there yet. For me, the evidence at this point shows it is in fact the Internet that has changed because of its users rush to social media. The leap from the Internet to the world is a big one.

Here is where Qualman stands, in his summation to a blog post that catalogs the video's laundry list of claims, italics added by me: "The above statistics and 'Social Media Revolution' video tell the story, social media isn’t a fad, it’s a fundamental shift in the way we communicate. Please feel free to share with any non-believers!"

I will be following this line in the weeks ahead. What do you think? Does the extreme hype and religiosity of the social media saints match the reality?

Comments

[Scott Bryan]

I think its only a matter of time before a meta-government emerges from a social networking site that is so good at focusing and harvesting the will and insight of literally billions of people that it completely overwhelms all governments and leaves them cornered into following its recommendations.

Social networking will ultimately make our political capital more tangible, allow us to delegate it secretly to the people we find who seem best suited to represent us, and may even evolve into a fully conscious collective mind that is very much like our own brains--made up from the connections between us and leaving us startled at the way it can so effortlessly find, analyze, and resolve our most challenging problems.

Should we really be surprised that the internet, arguably nothing but a metaphysical neuron generator, is beginning to link us in ways that most effectively empowers us to outwit our challenges? Isn't this nothing but the same process that created us in the first place? Little more than a consequence of Murphy's Law--that given enough time, and an environment that permits it, the infrastructure that most effectively links us in empowering ways is simply unavoidable.