As I was browsing through the articles in the Social Media section of iMedia Connection, I came across a title that made me stop and think: “Why Twitter will soon become obsolete.” The author of this article, Jason Clark, is quick to point out that he is not a Twitter hater, and actually happens to be a Twitter user himself (@clarkster). Nonetheless, he explains his theory of Twitter’s eventual demise by putting it into context with the history of social networking sites from past to present.

Clark explains that, although the term “social networks” is a popular buzzword these days, the concept is not new.  Online bulletin boards, forums, and e-mail paved the way for social media as we know it today. Social media marketing has also been around for a lot longer than we realize. In fact, those annoying e-mails that we now refer to as spam were one of the earliest incarnations.  Speaking of, has anyone noticed the spam-like accounts and messages that have begun to infiltrate the Twitter space? I’m talking about the Auto DMs that promise thousands of followers and plans guaranteed to get you rich quick. Clark asks what I think is a very important question: “How long will it take to wear people down dealing with these kinds of requests?”

Combine the increasing prevalence of Twitter spam with the site’s low retention rate, “limited and obscure nomenclature,” simple functionality, and the upcoming release of Google Wave, and Clark predicts that Twitter won’t stay on top for long.

While I agree with a lot of these points, I also think that Twitter will fare better than some of its predecessors.  I’m definitely not an expert in social media history, but I’ve lived through most of it. I was in middle school at the time when message boards were all the rage and AOL Instant Messenger came into existence, high school when MySpace entered the scene, and a college freshman when Facebook took campuses countrywide by storm. As a self-proclaimed technology nerd, I have to admit that it’s been pretty exciting to watch the Internet develop.

I’ve never seen anything like Twitter, and although I’m pretty sure it can’t keep growing at the rate it has been, I think it will retain popularity for a long time.  Just look at the ages I was when each of these sites came to be, which are coincidentally quite fitting, and you’ll see the difference between Twitter and all of the rest.  Twitter has staying power because it reaches the greatest variety of users: people of different ages, professions, education levels, locations, political parties, and religious beliefs…I could go on and on.

What do you think? Will Twitter soon become obsolete?  What have you witnessed as social media has developed over the years?

• What industry are you in?
• Are your clients and/or customers using social media?
• What will social media help you to accomplish that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to do?
• Are your competitors using social media?
• Do you have someone on your staff who is already capable of managing a social media strategy? Or would you have to train people or hire someone new?

These are only some of the considerations, and the answers will be different for every company. Another question you may be asking is, what’s the point? Again, the answer may vary, but unlike the other questions, this one isn’t all subjective.  According to eMarketer, there will be approximately 88.1 million online social network users in the US this year, and the breakdown of unique visitors to Facebook, MySpace and Twitter is as follows:

That’s a lot of eyeballs. So, if you go by the numbers, social media seems pretty enticing. Once you decide that you want to employ a social media strategy, there are even more questions to answer. Which sites should we use, how many, and why? In a recent poll, LinkedIn asked their users, “What is the most important new platform for brands to master? 30% of respondents said Twitter, followed closely by Facebook at 26%, and LinkedIn itself at 22%.  Blogging has also increased in popularity among companies, and the number of people reading blogs has also increased.

I am the resident social media “expert” at CPX Interactive, and I spend a lot of my time working with our various social media pages.  In addition to company profiles, there are a number of CPXers on Twitter, and our CEO has built up an impressive social media arsenal that includes Twitter, YouTube, and blog posts. I think there will always be differing opinions on the value of social media marketing, but if the numbers are any indication, it won’t be disappearing any time soon.

Does your company incorporate social media into your marketing strategy? What sites do you use? Have you found social media beneficial?  What will be the future of social media marketing?

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Since I started at CPX in January, I’ve spent a good deal of time researching and developing our social media strategy. We have a lot of different pages, and you can find links to all of them on this awesome section of the CPX website. (Shameless plug, I know).

Blogging is a signifcant aspect of CPX’s social media presence. We have three blogs, and I do my best to maintain them all.  So, why, you might be wondering, have I decided to start a fourth blog? Just recently I started tweeting as cpxsam. We have a cpxinteractive Twitter feed, but my boss and I decided it would be great for me to have my own voice as marketing assistant and social media enthusiast. I’ve connected with so many interesting people so far, and I wanted to take it a step further. It’s great to share links on Twitter, but it’s tough to have a real discussion.

I’m not exactly sure where this blog will go, but my hope is that it becomes a place where I can share my thoughts on social media, marketing, advertising, and combinations of the three, and where others come to engage in discussion.  So, without further ado, marketers get social!