The Sociability of Not Being Social

I just read an interesting article in AdAge from March 6, by Ian Spalter, the creative director for mobile and emerging platforms at R/GA.

First off, let me start by saying that I've had many discussions with people about the increasingly computerized, less personally social path that more advanced forms of technology are leading us towards. With the advancement of the Internet, the increasing amount of social networking sites, social videogames, instant messengers, etc., people have less and less of a need to be social in person. Already, we've graduated from calling potential employers to ask about job or internship opportunities to e-mailing them, and I think we can all agree that e-mail is less personal, if more convenient. And while all these forms of communication are incredibly easy, convenient, and helpful to people who want to stay in touch, we nevertheless have to keep in mind the old proverb, "easy come, easy go."

The article discussed the ways in which social media is increasing, and the fact that it is headed towards becoming available in almost every aspect of our lives. Looking for a new digital camera? Just go online and look at all the recommendations from your friends. Made a bet about the outcome of that football game? The second it is decided, a message pops up from your friend saying you owe him $50. From an advertising perspective, this growth of social media provides a whole new opportunity for brand expansion and community. Companies will no longer have to create their own online communities; instead, merely set up a forum, or have key people do it for you, and you've got a whole nest of people who love your brand right there. In the future, it will become so easy for companies to set up discussions about their products, to find ways to make them better, more efficient, more appealing to everyone remotely interested in them. This phenomenon will make communicating with others, even people you don't know, so much more available to everyone. Who knows, maybe it will even help people make more friends. A whole new world of bonding over brands that only some companies today (like Harley Davidson and Saturn) have begun to realize.

This will be amazing for advertising. It will open up so many new opportunities, and may even be cheaper and more efficient for clients and agencies alike. Advertising will become more digitalized, and even traditional advertisements like TV and print will have links you can click on with your remote control, or a link to a website with the same print ad that has an animated flash version of it. There will be more advertainment rather than just advertising. Companies will have access to social research that they will not even have to do themselves. Social networking sites already have databases available for businesses to tap into in order to define strategic approaches to marketing their products, and already it's working for them in unprecendented ways.

As Mr. Spalter warns in his article though, companies should not be quick to delve into the realm of social networking in places such as Twitter and Facebook. Instead, they should strategically identify the ways in which they want to reach consumers, and make sure they have the capacity - on websites such as Twitter - to reach individuals and accommodate those needs. Products and brands marketed in this way need the same care, attention, and insight that are prevalent in traditional campaigns, for this networking will soon become the "traditional" form of campaigning. How can it not, at the rate with which it is progressing?

But what's the trade-off?
With the advent of multiple ways of social networking, will we forget how to truly be social? With everyone becoming so busy that they don't have time in their days for person-to-person socializing, will talking over the computer become the standard way to maintain friendships? Will it even become the main way to make friendships? Now that we have the option to put ourselves in several different places at once, all while remaining at home, will we start to take that for granted? Is there a way that advertising can help to maintain or even enhance person-to-person relationships while gaining their presence on the social networking sphere?

These questions and more are all things that must be considered when thinking about the progress of social networking. It provides an amazing opportunity, but just like anything else, can have a dark side.

And, of course, I say all this in my social-networking blog while I could be out meeting people at the beach...or on Facebook. Deep down, we're all consumers, aren't we?