What’s Next for Corporate Social Media?

I was at the May Confluence North Network event, at a talk with Jason Falls, who was talking about The Future of Social Media for Corporations, and making predictions about what social media is going to look like in the next few years. (Full disclosure: I’m part of the leadership of Confluence, which hosted Jason, and Pro Blog Service was one of the sponsors).

So what’s next?

Jason said the one of the next big things is that social media is going to be embraced by everyone. (If you want to find out the others, we’ll have the MP3 of the event available for download in a few days.)

Basically, and I’m paraphrasing here, Jason says what is currently the Shiny New Object for all of us in social media will one day be the Shiny New Object for everyone. Then, after a time, it will just become one more tool in the media/entertainment/networking toolbox, like TV, radio, and the phone.

What does that mean for social media professionals?

It means don’t be in such a rush to find the new Next Big Thing. THIS is it. We’re right in the middle of it. The technology we’re using today is still new enough that there’s time to find success (i.e. money) in the social media realm.

Because most people still don’t know about social media. I am still surprised by the number of people who say, “What is blogging? What is Twitter? What’s this FaceSpace?”

The Rogers Curve basically shows how readily and easily people adopt technology. And based on what I’ve been seeing in this industry, the only business blogs are the Early Adopters; the Early Majority are just now thinking about dipping their toes in the water. This means most clients will be found in the Early Majority to Late Majority stages — 68% of the total curve.

So why does it seem like everyone is already doing it?

Simple: I spend most of my day talking to other people who live in the social media world. My friends do social media. People in my networking groups do social media. Our clients do social media. In fact, I’ve met most of my current friends and business associates through social media. So in my worldview, everyone I know is in social media. That means the entire world knows social media, right?

Wrong.

As I talk to people outside my social network, I’m finding more and more people who still don’t know what blogging is, let alone what value it can bring to them.

What’s next for me is not what’s next for them. What I’ve been doing for years is still new to them. Look at the Rogers Curve again. If we’re still waiting for the Early Majority to catch up, only 16% of us are using social media (Facebook might be in the Late Adopter stage, but things like Twitter and blogging are still lagging behind).

Basically, if you’re reading this, you’re already aware of blogs. If you know what “follow me at @edeckers” means, you’re already a Twitter user. But go ask your family, your friends, your neighbors, your bosses if they’re blogging or on Twitter. Chances are, they’re not.

Blogging and Twitter are their Shiny New Objects.

Your friends and family are still in a Web 1.0 world. You and I, as the Innovators and Early Adopters, are in a 2.0 world. Some of us are already talking about Web 3.0 (mostly because we want to look cool), but we’ve got a way to go. Keep in mind that the other 84% of the world is still doing websites, still have an AOL email address, and still think Twitter is the thing in the speakers that produce the high tones.

But that’s good news for the rest of us who do social media professionally. If you start doing it the right way now, you’ll be in great shape when the rest of the world finally catches up. Create your social media presence now, start your business blog now, start learning the “new” technology now, so you’re in a position to succeed when the Early Majority and Late Majority comes to play.