The words social and media go together like peanut butter and jelly. But as marketers, maybe we\u2019ve gotten a bit lazy in talking about social media as a ubiquitous space made up of a variety of platforms. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Marketers have focused on creating content and getting it noticed on these platforms. We\u2019ve talked about how these platforms have changed their algorithms and about new platforms that are making waves. But it\u2019s time to talk about how social media has changed holistically and how it\u2019s impacted our culture, and, of course, how marketing and PR strategies need to adapt along with social media. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ignoring the changes and operating as status quo is like making a sandwich with the same white bread and store-brand peanut butter and jelly when you have the option of fresh artisan bread, homemade nut butter, and hand-picked strawberry jam. It\u2019s not that PB&J\u2014or social and media\u2014are breaking up entirely; they\u2019re just re-defining the relationship.<\/p>\n\n\nSocial and Media Are Splitting Up: Here's What That Means for Marketers <\/a><\/span>Share on X<\/a><\/span>\n\n\n Social media began as a concept of online public communication platforms for users to interact with one another. But as the idea grew and more platforms popped up, brands got in on the action\u2014and some users became brands themselves. Now the \u201csocial\u201d and \u201cmedia\u201d aspects of social media are splitting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The social of social media goes back to the roots of social media. It\u2019s about users finding their friends, family members, and peers and interacting socially. We still use social media for these purposes, but now much of the social side of social media happens in the dark. We are moving away from public socialization and are taking our conversations to dark social<\/a>\u2014DMs, messenger apps, private groups, and other spheres where we can connect with a select few\u2014often a select few that we know in \u201creal life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the other hand, social media has shifted away, in many ways, from socializing. It\u2019s becoming more about \u201cmedia\u201d consumption. But the media, in this case, isn\u2019t just news outlets\u2014it\u2019s us. People are the media now. When we aren\u2019t socializing via these platforms, we\u2019re consuming the content on the platform. Oftentimes, the content that users are consuming was created by someone they don\u2019t personally know\u2014an influencer, friend of a friend, or just someone random who showed up in their feed because they have a similar interest, hobby, or vocation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The “media” side of social media, much like the traditional media, plays a big part in informing us and influencing our opinions and, ultimately, our decisions. But the \u201csocial\u201d side is where people go to share and evaluate those decisions\u2014Facebook messages with friends, Slack conversations with colleagues, or Discord chats with gaming buddies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Related reading:<\/strong> Discord: What Is It and How Can You Use It For Marketing?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Our CEO and founder Shama Hyder says, \u201cSocial media isn\u2019t just platforms, but it\u2019s this idea that people are now the media.\u201d Let\u2019s explore what that means for marketers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n