The Socialisation of the Internet is Bogus

"The whole web is now socialised..." said Alex Butler in a pharmaphorum interview ("Psoriasis 360: How pharma can do social media").

Alex does NOT mean that socialists have taken over the Internet, although, if you think about it ... hmmm. I digress...

"We live in a post-advertising age where messages no longer resonate without dialogue, and where information is best exchanged through community," said Butler (see "Social media doesn't really exist" and listen to this Pharma Marketing Talk podcast interview of Alex Butler: "Is 'Social Media' a Distinction Without Meaning in Today's World?"). "But although it is tempting to think that contact is now king, in fact high value dynamic content, valued by the consumer, has never been more important...there is little of value on the internet that is not socialised in some form, even if it is just the capacity to comment and share. So how as an industry can we influence the exchange of ideas and information if we are not prepared to be where our audience and communities exist?"

When all is said and done, what Alex is really saying is that commenting, sharing, and all that community stuff really is second fiddle to content. Throughout his comments to pharmaphorum, Alex refers to Facebook, Twitter, etc. as "channels" through which he reaches his audience to deliver valuable content.

Some agencies and consultants are telling their pharma clients that social media is NOT a channel -- it's a different way of interacting with people online. Frankly, I think that is bogus.

First, VERY FEW PEOPLE on the Internet -- and that includes Facebook and Twitter -- are social. I mean VERY FEW are socializing with entities like brands and corporations or even real people from companies, publications, and other corporate entities.

For example, there are about 20,000 individuals that VISIT (and presumably READ) this blog every month. Maybe 12 or so submit comments and perhaps a few dozen tweet (share) the content with their friends online. I suspect the ratios are similar at publications that receive a lot more comments and shares. That is, at least 98% of visitors to blogs, Facebook, or Twitter followers are "lurkers" -- they don't socialize, they read.

Which is just fine with me! I don't have time to socialize with 20,000 visitors to this blog and I'm sure you don't have time for that either! (Which is the #2 reason why the Internet is NOT social. Or is that part of reason #1? Whatever!)