Emerging Media: There's no Such Thing

By Aaron Kahlow

While at ERA's Annual Convention in Las Vegas, I heard a lot about "emerging media." I even moderated a panel titled "Mobile and Emerging Media." With so much focus on this topic lately, I've been thinking about what "emerging media" really means and how I'll approach the topic at my own conference, the Online Marketing Summit (www.onlinemarketingsummit.com), to make sure we properly educate marketers on social media and the like.

"NOW MEDIA"
First, I believe the term is misleading. "Emerging" means "coming out" or "new" to most people. So, as marketers try to determine where to focus their budgets and time, anything that is "emerging" won't get more than passing attention. So, the "emerging media" of social networking, blogs, forums, video and even, for some, search will be labeled as "emerging" and be relegated to lower importance. The reality is that this media has emerged. It is mainstream. It is being leveraged by all ages and demographics and is preferred, in many cases, over the traditional. For example, KnowledgeStorm learned that 63 percent of users found blogs to be a more reputable source of information than news outlets. So, I'd like to take a stab at re-naming these online marketing elements the "now media."

To make sure I was not just off on a rant, I called one of the more well-known social media experts, Dan Morrison, CEO of the phenomenally successful social network, ITToolbox. I asked Morrison a few questions about his success in creating a community of 100,000-plus IT professionals to see if I could relay some of the lessons learned. I'd like to pass along two interesting responses:

Kahlow: What are the components of a successful social network?

Morrison: It's both art and science. The community must have a well-articulated purpose and tools and processes that allow that purpose to be realized. For example, allow users to set up a profile to create their own persona; provide interactive tools--blogs, messaging, forums. Then, have moderation practices in place to ensure the community remains focused.

Kahlow: What's your take on balancing advertising with usability?

Morrison: Take care of users and create an excellent environment for them, and ultimately advertisers will benefit.

In other words, creating a community works and works well if properly executed with the focus on the user (as opposed to the advertiser). I encourage everyone to find a blog, forum or social network to join. Then, actively participate in the communication so you can truly understand the psychology of the now media. And if you can't find any, just go to FaceBook.com and type my name in; I'll be happy to be the springboard for your first foray into the now media.

Aaron Kahlow is managing partner of BusinessOnLine, a complete website optimization company. He can be reached via e-mail at aaron@businessol.com.