Social Media is a Communications Technology Platform

Remember the nice Wi-Fi Adapters we used to buy so we could connect our laptops? They came in various forms like a Card Slot type or a USB Adpater. They came from various brands like Netgear and Linksys and the Electronics Stores included them in the Sunday Circulars. They were a stand alone device that we bought and added to our computing Ecosystem. Then one day when electronics got small enough and adaption wide enough, you started seeing them included inside the hi end Laptops and eventually all Laptops and now even my Motorola Droid2 has Wi-Fi included in my little phone.

Think of the Laptop as the Media/Communication ecosystem. 

Right now we have Facebook, Twitter, etc. They are Add Ons right now. None of them are integrated into our Laptop or Phone. We have to go to a website, download an App. Just like with early Wi-Fi some of the first movers didn't pan out. They had clumsy solutions, but smart people eventually caught on and took the early work and ran with it. Think today of Motorola Blur, Google Wave as stabs at this.

Within 10 years there will not be a Twitter or Facebook Network as we know them today. The technology will exist. But not as stand alone businesses. We will be integrating Social in every device, and it will be technology to be bought and sold. The winners will be able to craft strategies that cross all platforms and technologies.

Creative's will not just be people who craft messages and make Advertising. Creative's will also include people who dream up new Strategies and Campaigns for their clients to reach their target demographics in ways that reduce wastage/over spend, but make the activity of that engagement much more rewarding and enjoyable for Consumers.

At our finger tips we will have choices. 

And all these choices will have privacy levels that we decide with a voice command or a simple touch stroke who we want to share what with. We can group together in anyway with anyone at any time. And only those we choose will see what we wish to share or participate with. We can include anyone in any communication, to any level of involvement we desire. I know I just scared the shit out of you Marketers but your job will get easier. Trust me. (I have Space Daiquiris if you need to calm your nerves).

Imagine conditioning people with this technology to enhance their buying and sharing experience. 

That they know they can go into a store and opt in with a simple action to see if they have special offers? Maybe a deal that with a simple electronic tag if I share a purchase with my network I get rewarded. And we will all have filters for everything so we only receive relevant communications. These filters get built over time by us blocking similar communications when we receive something we don't care for. So technically a Store or Brand could customize all offers based on an Individual's filters.

Maybe I will ask my friends for help deciding on whether to buy something by sending a digital 3-D image/avatar of me wearing a new shirt and ask if they like it? And the ones I send it too possibly get a rider offer from the Store or Brand?

There will be a two way bargaining of information between Brands and Consumers.

All of this across all Networks and all Providers. It will be woven seamlessly into our Mobile Devices and Networks. And the real players not being Facebook or Twitter, but they will be the Communication Device Manufacturers (CDM's) and Communication Network Providers (CNP's) who make these tasks easy for People, for Marketers, and for Brands. 360 Deg Communications in every way we can imagine. 

This will be the convergence of Social, Digital and Mobile. And it is coming. If you don't think so...what if Motorola Blur was so slick it handled every one of our Social Networks without us every being on a specific network? It would of succeeded right? They were first movers. But don't think they won't be the last. Get ready.