Hello good people!
I think I’m going to set out to create a social network, make it popular, wait for an election so I can gulp the dollars, and then retire at 30.
So if you have the skills to code, to market, to innovate, and figure out what people want in a future social network before they even know they want it, raise your hand. I want to hire you. Name your price and consider it done.
… Except I think my social network might never go places.
Doom!
And I think money isn’t everything I want. If it were, creating a social media channel – whether it fails or not – would certainly be a way to go.
Here’s why:
The election is over 15 months away but politicians are already in action with dollars to bulk up their campaign war chests.
And one of the biggest beneficiaries of this dollar spree are… wait for it… social media companies. Twitter, Facebook and YouTube are all making a push for a large cut of the politicians’ marketing budgets.
Presidential candidates are set to spend almost $1bn on online advertisements, 6 times the $159m they spent during the last presidential campaign, according to Borrell Associates.
That’s not a typo. $1bn! See the report.
And you know how much of that will go to social media companies in ads spendings? Nearly 60 percent! In 2002, it was just about 33 percent.
These media giants know a lot is at stake. And they’re not taking chances. Each of them wants to have the biggest bite of the cake. Facebook, YouTube and Twitter have gone ahead to build teams to sell political marketing to lure people to contribute, get involved and eventually vote in the run up to the November 2016 election.
These social media companies are in luck. Or maybe the politicians are. Or maybe both. Or maybe even more. But me? No so!
I think the rise in the adoption and profitability of social media is hinged on at least two factors. One, social media provides a great way to reach mobile users – a feat that’s beyond the limit of traditional media. Two – and this is groundbreaking – they allow advertisers use incredibly precise filters to reach only their right audience while avoiding wastage.
Daily, many of us participate in some sort of political activities online, from signing petitions, joining discussion groups on social networks, sharing a post or writing about our own opinions.
While we have fun and exercise our civil rights these ways, these social media companies busy themselves gathering behavioral data about our political inclinations and interests, and use these to help big corporations and politicians reach their targets – us.
So I want to bite into this industry that’s soon to go multi billion. I’m starting my own social network soon. I can't code. No! I dread it. But I've started learning how to make a blog, how to create forums, how social networks work and the psychology of human interaction.
And you know it too well: it’s all for the money.
Yes, I’ll create value first, and create meaningful conversations. But it’s still for the money. That’s honesty, right?
Will you work with me? Will you be my first user? Or do you think I’m just silly?