Hundreds of millions use them, billions are invested in them and no profits are to be found.  Am I talking about General Motors?  Nope.

Amtrak?  Nope.

How about the Pet Rock?  Nope.  I am of course talking about communication mediums where the intent is designed to help people find and communicate with more friends (a.k.a. Social Media).

The techno-geeks sold us a line built on the traditional marketing model, where there is traffic there is profit.  Eight years ago that falsehood was exposed at the cost of hundreds of billions of dollars and millions of jobs.

Paul Benjou wrote on MediaLifeMagazine.com, “The fact is, it’s a good bet these social networking sites will never figure out a workable business model because there may not be one.”

Why then do hundreds of millions of people flock to them and very smart investors drop billions of hard earned dollars on the hope?

Do people really seek hundreds, if not thousands, of new friends?  Do humans spend countless hours behind the computer screen sending messages to the thousands of followers they have on Twitter, Facebook or My Space?  Do we crave attention so much yet lack the basic ability to find that companionship in face-to-face interactions?  Nope, nope, and nope.  The reason comes down to one word: Money.

Social networking has been around for as long as humans interacted.  As soon as a monetary system was established, I bet someone was trying to make a buck by selling the ability to reach more people.  Herein lies the reason why millions try and billions are invested.

Small Business runs America.  70% of the jobs are created by small business, 50% of the GDP is generated by small business; but small business can nary afford the expensive “traditional media” air time.  We seek alternative methods and when something seems to work, we use it!

Twitter, Facebook and MySpace will probably go the way of the pet rock, but in the mean time, many small business owners will use social media to reach new customers and earn a living.  When it ends, will it be a bubble or a fad?

I only hope social media sites don’t go the way of GM or Amtrack.

Ed Bejarana
Zenith Exhibits, Inc.

Zenith Exhibits, Inc. is a marketing firm that specializes in face-to-face and internet marketing that is affordable for small business people.  To learn more about our tradeshow displays or internet marketing service, please call (503) 709-1454.