Hey! Didn't I just log onto LinkedIn??

Birthdays,  wedding updates,
new born announcements,
quotes, inspirational stories, selfies,
whistles & wows for selfies,
political opinions & commentaries...

No, this is not just your standard fare on Facebook.

It's what one increasingly gets to see on LinkedIn as well.

Slowly, but surely,
LinkedIn seems to be morphing
into a  Facebook look-alike.

Switch now to Facebook. More than 95% of people I know have professional acquaintances, peers and colleagues also as 'Friends' on Facebook. The 'Friends' list runs anywhere between 400 to 1,000+. These are Facebook users between 25 and 45 years, who are happy to share personal updates, photographs and job-related announcements not just with friends, but also distant acquaintances, ex-colleagues, people perhaps they have never met in 3 to 5 years.

Question then:
If LinkedIn is the new Facebook;
and if Facebook socialising extends to  colleagues, ex-colleagues & acquaintances,
why have two different accounts?

Personally, I find it tiresome to see personal updates, selfies and marriage announcements on LinkedIn. (Anyone seen movie reviews yet?). 

However, the answers are not easy.

• How does one regulate content?
• While it is okay to have political leaders or those with strong political affiliations having LinkedIn accounts & publishing political updates, posts, commentaries and opinions - obviously all related to their 'profession', how can we stop political wars creeping into LinkedIn as well?
• If Twitter serves as a platform to discuss any topic and no dissonance there, why not on LinkedIn?

With everyone being everywhere,
can the walls of social media be
clearly demarcated?

May be in the next five years, there will emerge one social media platform with bright coloured buttons for different topics, groups of people and conversations. Power of One? 

That's what happened to the camera,
the DVD player, the digital diary,
the calendar, the PC,
the MP3 device and the alarm clock.

It's called the mobile phone now.

Thoughts?

What's life without Facebook?

Social Media - of the people, by the people, for the people...

Karthik Srinivasan, a fellow member on CMO Roundtable (on LinkedIn) wrote an interesting blog recently - 'How would you do an elevator pitch about social media to a cynic' - http://bit.ly/g1SVn1

Here's my 30-second elevator pitch (to the cynic & the uninitiated):

“Social Media – finally media of the people, by the people, for the people – a great leveller - empowering and enabling people to reach out, stay connected, establish a viewpoint, engage, communicate and share – instantly and easily.”

How would you do it?

In the age of social media, can marketing really own the brand?

In today’s cacophonic age of social media, the customer seems to have taken over the brand. Much like the South African Vuvuzelas, the voice (and noise?) of the customer on the Net is deafening.

Everyone has a say and the word spreads so fast (with Tweets, blogs, comments, photographs and videos) that the brand gets created, destroyed, worshipped and hated all at once.

• How can marketing play a consistent proactive brand management program to beat the lightning speed of the Voice on the Net?
• If ultimately customer experience is giving way to customer voice, how can marketing influence what’s being said and won’t it still be a reactive program?