Is Social Media Marketing Here to Stay?

Wait, wait - before you think I'm nuts or before you judge me on the title alone, hear me out.

It's just something I've thought for a while now, and I think it's time I put in down in words. Or, at least, tried to. I tried once before, with the title 'Social Media Marketing; the New Dot Com Bust?' but ended up with such a confusing and ultimately weak post, that I got annoyed with myself and just erased it.

But today I read this post from BBC dot.life, and it made me think that maybe I should try again. So, here we go.

The post, for those of you who can't be bothered to read it, is based on the recent Bill Gates/Martha Stewart discussions. Bill Gates left Facebook due to the immense amout of friend requests he gets, and thinks that some technology can turn out to be a time-waster. Martha Stewart then went and backed him up somewhat, by saying that she prefers Twitter over Facebook, and that Twitter is the 'Wal-Mart' of the Internet.

Great analogy, Martha. I know that so far this isn't about marketing, but it does, rather abstractly, sum up the all-encompassing might of social media. In a nutshell; everyone is using it, and it's here to stay.

But what I love about Martha's analogy is that it, to me, accurately sums up what could become of Twitter, or indeed, any social media site. With everyone jumping on the bandwagon, how long before social media sites are drowning in the kind of spam we, as consumers, drown in every day through traditional media channels?

Yes, social media gives businesses the chance to build relationships with consumers, to reach out and ask them directly what they want, what they need, what they don't want, and what they hate, but how can this message get through when it's outnumbered by spam, 100,000 to 1? There do exist fantastic adverts in traditional media, unique, interesting, engaging adverts, but what are the chances that we notice them? Not so great.

Just as with virtually everything, once everyone does it, it loses it's umpfh. I know that Wal-Mart is hugely successful, but it's hardly the most.....intimate and personal supermarket. It's massive, it's....all-encompassing, it's.....cheap, it's noisy, it's cluttered, it's just everyday.

Am I the only one who thinks this is coming? Is this, possibly, the reason why some advertising is getting old?

Well, it's a thought. It's not a very well researched thought, but I'd love to hear other opinions.