Social media is like a vacuum sucking us all into "content containers" all disconnected and fragmented, not very social. A day doesn't go by when someone else starts a community, a new platform or an aggregated topical content container. We jump from one to the other as marketers use everything to pull us to their "content containers". This game of chase and catch will evolve into a new kind of game where we will be enabled to be the ones "pulling" markets to us and we will decide whom we catch.
Real Commerce Comes From Buyers
Historically markets have been driven by suppliers pushing out goods and services aimed at catching consumers in a transaction. The commerce of markets were built around old marketing and advertising models designed around push and catch. A new model will emerge where commerce is driven by buyers whom are enabled to to be served based on their intentions.
Doc Searls writes in a post titled "Beyond Social Media: Markets are built on the individuals we call customers. They're where the ideas, the conversations, the intentions (to buy, to converse, to relate) and the money all start. Each of us, as individuals, are the natural points of integration of our own data â€" and of origination about what gets done with it.
Individually-empowered customers are the ultimate greenfield for business and culture. Starting with the social keeps us from working on empowering individuals natively. That most of the social action is in silos and pipes of hot and/or giant companies slows things down even more. They may look impressive now, but they are a drag on the future.
Doc uses the word drag implying inefficient and ineffective. The better model for the future is built around effective and efficient "systems" that enable commerce to flow from buyers rather than sellers. A marketplace is only effective and efficient if buyers are empowered to fulfill their intents without constraints on their time and attention. Jumping from one "social silo" to another with each having its own container of our "intents" isn't very social.
While being fascinated with "all things social" the reality is our fascination will move to frustration. Like the old days of Web 1.0 the marketplace of sellers want to contain us in their "social silos" being disguised as "Web 2.0″ and our intents are contained in technological wrappers called Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin and the host of vertical communities that attract our interest. The "hype cycle" will peak and builders of tomorrows technology will unleash the power of a marketplace fueled and controlled by buyers intents rather than sellers.
When that day arrives we will be the ones with intentional silos and the marketplace will have to learn a new trick. The new trick will no longer be centric to advertising, marketing or more "containers" rather it will be all about serving buyer intents. This model will create new kind of marketplace fuled by the buyers conversations rather than the sellers creative ads.
The arrival of this model will be at a destination near and close to you.