Looking back upon my middle school years of Xanga and Myspace, it's mind blowing to examine how greatly social media has evolved in the past ten years. The rapid evolution of the social web has brought new brand leaders and businesses to the forefront, while leaving some well-established Fortune 500 companies in the dust. Many successful companies wonder why they should adapt to new practices and use social media for business. Social media research conducted by the Harvard Business Review found that 79 percent of companies surveyed are using or plan to use social media in the future. So what happens to that other 21 percent? Are they affected by the changing dynamic of reputation management and online business practices?
The answer is yes.
My advice? Get social or get lost.
Establishing thought-leadership in the social stratosphere is critical in the survival of brands this upcoming year. Whether companies choose to make strides in developing and maintaining a social presence will determine whether their business models sink or swim. International speaker and acclaimed author of Socialnomics, Erik Qualman, shares his intriguing ideas about the importance of social media in this video.
According to Socialnomics, the business world no longer has a choice in whether it will participate in social media. Every industry, business, brand and individual will be affected by the evolution of the social web. How well you do business will now be codependent on how well you can do social.