Social Media

Gauravonomics TV Episode 3: Three Reasons Why I Am Passionate About Social Media

Comments 22 August 2008

Welcome back to Gauravonomics Blog! If you still haven't subscribed to my feed, subscribe now in a feed reader or by e-mail and you'll never miss a single post!

People often ask me why I am so passionate about social media.

I became interested in social media because of my need to reconcile the two halves I was split into

As an individual, I was tired of being targeted by commercial messages from the brands-media-retail triumvirate. As a marketer, I loved the art and science of marketing, adored brands, and was hardwired into the idea of capitalist free markets driven by consumerism.

My endeavor to reconcile these two parts… led to my interest in social media, because, at its best, social media allows brands and consumers to connect as equals, even as people (and brands are people too).

– but that’s not the full story.

At its best, social media enables us to transform ourselves as individuals, transform marketplaces and transform society.

Social media gives us the tools to create meaning (via both content and relationships) in ways that was not possible before, allows us to realize our full potential both as creative individuals and social beings.

Social media also enables brands and consumers to engage as equals, even connect as people (because, as I have said before, brands are people too).

Finally, social media allows citizens to organize in a bottom-up manner around important issues, organize in a manner that can change society.

If you are reading my blog, you are probably interested in social media too. So, let me ask you — why are you so passionate a bout social media?

(Another nudge to my Indian social media consultant friends Rajesh, Dina, Chhavi, Rajiv and Kiruba.)

Related posts:

  1. Gauravonomics TV Episode 4: How to Use Social Media for Social Change
  2. Gauravonomics TV Episode 5: There Can Never Be Too Much Content
  3. Three Reasons Why Storytelling is the Key to Social Media Marketing Success
  4. Gauravonomics TV: My Daily Vidcast on Marketing, Technology and Social Media
  5. Gauravonomics TV Episode 2: Maybe, You Already Have Everything You Need

Author

Gaurav Mishra

Gaurav Mishra - who has written 746 posts on Gauravonomics Blog on Social Media and Social Change.

As CEO of 2020 Social, I build and nurture online communities for Indian and international clients, connect their customers, partners and employees, and help them achieve their business objectives. Ask us how we can help you.

Contact the author

  • Im fascinated by the idea of proliferation of media 'power' - going from the hands of the few into the hands of the many. In terms of a media eco - system, social media works beautifully. The added benefit of tools to enhance communication and aptly organise content for purposes beyond what we can imagine is great. With respect to brands - social media actually allows the brand to be a friend and add some value beyond a message that annoys people.

    The downside is too much of junk - a natural human tendency - and from a strictly utilitarian 'i think about the greater good' pov - people are re creating too much of stuff that's already been created without too much value add. Social media is making a lot of us into poor listeners.

    Check out this post - http://theconstantobserver.blogspot.com/2008/07... (my rant [i think] on social media)
  • @Harshil: Your post deserves a full post in response, but here are three aspects of social media you have overlooked --

    - Wisdom of crowds: The more people link to/ vote on/ tag/ share a piece of content, the more visible it becomes. So, every click does count.

    - The Value of Mashups: There is as much value in creating connections between existing pieces of content, mashing them up, as in creating totally original content.

    - Personalized News Feeds: Since you can't read/ watch all the content available in the world, you learn to read/ watch only what is truly relevant to you. As a result, instead of superficial "awareness", you build deep "knowledge".
blog comments powered by Disqus

Subscribe

About Me

Gaurav Mishra
I build and nurture online communities as CEO of 2020 Social. In my previous avatars, I have studied at IIM Bangalore, held senior marketing roles at the Tata Group, taught social media at Georgetown University as the 2008-09 Yahoo! Fellow, and co-founded Vote Report India. You can contact me at gauravonomics@gmail.com or +91-9999856940.

Connect With Me

Twitter Facebook LinkedIn YouTube Slideshare

Ask 2020 Social How

2020-social
2020 Social builds and nurtures online communities for Indian and international clients, connects their customers, partners and employees, and helps them achieve their business objectives. Ask us how we can help you.

Vote Report India

I'm a Co-founder of Vote Report India

Vote Report India is a citizen-driven election monitoring platform powered by Ushahidi.

Join the Gauravonomics Community on Facebook

Gauravonomics on Facebook

Browse by Category

Browse by Month

© 2010 Gauravonomics Blog on Social Media and Social Change. Powered by Wordpress.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.