Larry D. Lauer

One of the lessons of communication history is that media never completely disappear. How they are used, however,  is likely to change when more dominant media appear, or when using them over time clarifies their weaknesses and strengths. 

Since I have been leading a course about media revolutions at TCU I have been asking colleagues and students if their use of social media has changed since they first began using it. I have been especially interested in probing specifically how they have been using it, as well as what else they have been doing with their time.  What I have been hearing has been somewhat surprising.

The impression one can have from the countless individuals and organizations that tout using Facebook, consult LinkedIn, and tweet all day long is that the entire world now runs on social media. Using it is the only way to get anything accomplished, or so it seems.  But I have been hearing many colleagues, and even some students, say their use is now more clearly defined in their mind. They tell me they are using it primarily for social purposes, and not for more serious ones. The sensation of easily cultivating on-line relationships and feeling connected is its primary attraction, and that is what also can become an addiction for some. 

One colleague commented that he thought social media would continue to be important only for those who desire a large percentage of their time to be spent socially. He did think, however, that use will remain substantial enough for social media advertising to become increasingly more effective.

When I asked a visiting media expert if he tweets, he said, “not any more.” When I asked why, he said, “the novelty wore off.”  When I explored this with others I heard some say that they just didn’t have the time any longer to keep up with it.  They were seriously engaged professionals who didn’t think they had the time for continued and constant interaction with a mostly social medium.

Many explained that Facebook is great for having fun but it has serious limitations for doing substantive business.  Some also suggested that Twitter is too trivial for serious communication and consumes too much of an individual’s time. Some say it can make you better known initially but its effectiveness declines when communication needs  become more serious. Some just put social media in the category of a fad. They suggest it will continue to be a pastime for some but for others it will gradually become less fulfilling.

When LinkedIn was new it promised to be a gathering point for professional people with common interests.  Many now report that they are getting too many requests from people they don’t know, and so they now have no idea how to use it effectively to cull out talent. Apparently many companies still use it to review pools of people in specific job categories, but some tell me the larger the pool the more difficult it is to sort out the lists usefully. 

When it comes to international situations, however, many point out that Twitter has proven to have an incredible  ability to cross borders, especially those of closed societies.  And even in the US, it has been a powerful tool that can quickly assemble like-minded people, sometimes for demonstrations and protests and other times for parties and celebrations.  Indeed, entire countries and their government agencies are now exploring the potential of social media for this very reason. They have found it to be an efficient tool for building virtual relationships and connecting sympathetically with people in foreign cultures. In these cases its simple and social strengths advance a more serious and substantive cause.

All of this is anecdotal at this point. But as I explore the actual use of social media with colleagues and students it seems that its role is already changing for many of us. To be sure, social media will not go away. But as we use it more and more we may merely be confirming that it is indeed mostly social. We may also be confirming that this is both its limitation when it consumes too much of our time, and its strength when we use it purposefully.