Are you embracing this change?

Social media is changing communication globally. Traditional media is losing it’s dominance as  social media allows ordinary people to spread information quickly across the Internet. The death of Michael Jackson illustrates this fact.

On June 25, 2009 the death of Michael Jackson’s sent ripples of shock and disbelief across the world. This tragic event revealed a very significant change in worldwide communication. Traditionally news such as this has been broadcast on television and radio. In June 22th social media led the way in informing the world of the news. Michael Jackson’s name appeared in the third and sixth positions on Google’s list of top 100 trending topics 55 minutes after the first tweet on Twitter trended the same topic.

It was a social media site that broke the news of his death when up till then CNN and the LA Times were citing stories of his hospitalization. It was 40 minutes later before main media sites caught up with the story and most media used two blogs as a source of information. 4.2 million global visitors per minute visited online news sites. I first heard the news on on Facebook. How many of you first heard the news through some form of Social Media?

On the day of Michael Jackson’s Memorial the social Web was prepared. Facebook partnered with CNN, Ustream partnered with CBC. offering live streams combined with the ability for viewers to post their comments and responses to the event in live time. 1 million Facebook users posted status updates related to that online broadcast.. CNN received 72 million page views ,14 million viewers watched the event through live streaming video,People inside the Staples Center shared recorded video and tweets to the world from their iPhone’s.

Social media unlike TV allows people to connect and see the story from multiple perspectives.

Facebook has a Michael Jackson page. In one week the fans grew from 800,000 to over 8 million due to the popularity of Michael Jackson and the viral nature of Facebook. Michael Jackson’s heirs and Sony who produces his music now have a highly targeted list of over 8 million fans to market and sell to in the future.

The Obama presidential campaign is a highly successful example of how planned social marketing strategies can create massive exposure and engagement. This was different from the results created by Michael Jackson’s death, as it was planned out and built up over time. The inaugural ceremony has  set the record so far for the largest Web event in terms of numbers and exposures there were almost 27,000,000 live video streams on that day. Barack Obama’s Facebook page drew millions of supporters that are now regularly connected with updates by the Obama  administration. The president keeps his followers updated on what he is doing via Twitter.

For the younger generations who have grown up with technology, communicating through social media channels seems as natural as breathing. However, what about the Baby Boomers and older?

Can we catch this wave or we will be left behind?