Undeniable Wave of Social Media Set to Change Consumer Behavior

Social Media looks like an undeniable force in the marketplace of today.

I am a newbie on Twitter, currently exploring, growing my following list and constantly amazed and gratified at the same time on the amount of knowledge which finds me, rather than I go googling, wikiing or binging.  I am also reading a book Twitterville by @shelisrael, a prominent social media journalist and speaker - in easy converational twitter style, provides you with case studies and reasons why Twitter is hot and relevant to individuals, small businesses as well as large enterprises in their respective personal, customer service, special promotions as well as knowledge transfers in this new information age.

[added 6-JAN-2010]: My blog is always WIP ... here is a great slide deck on "Twitter for Business" which I found from a Tweet and could not resist sharing from the http://www.viralnetworkers.com/

Ogilvy On: Twitter for Business

View more documents from 360digitalinfluence.

I search and buy books from Amazon.com - largely trusting the rating there more before I buy from Amazon.com or the bookstore (if I need to get the book like right now and not having to wait for the logistics US to Singapore).  Well for one thing, especially during these recessionary times, and discretionary spending and extremely crowded out schedules we live in, online sites like Amazon.com have been doing well - you can see from AMZN stock performance.

To add to the pudding, my wife shops for her clothing online - despite what many have disclaimed that shopping for clothes or accessories online is a big no-no.  And my son, since he was 4, has been googling, you-tubing (for his fix of cartoons, movie trailers) and playing online flash games -> he keeps going on his hyper-linking (and comes to me of course with a suggestive, "Daddy, did you know that there is this interesting Transformers game coming to the stores"  or "Avatar is so nice ... how about catching it this ... "  And of course, I turned to the Cloud crowd in Twitter to ensure I am booking online for a good show - never regretted the decision.

Take a look at this Social Media video which I found via a tweet from @promedia - certainly gives one a or rather several good reasons why social media is not a fad but rather a wave giving rise to a a fundamental shift in consumer behavior.

My following this journey in social media continues to evolve and I suspect will ramp up in an even more frantic pace in 2010 ... how is your journey?

Happy 2010 everyone!
Nelson Wee
@nelsonwee

Photo credit: Intersection Consulting / Foter.com / CC BY-NC

Kids nowadays multi-task more and more

Have you ever noticed kids these days? How they are able (claim to be able) to "multi-task" - TV switched on, using the laptop to browse the Internet or browse a book, toy cars in the other hand being moved here and there and all these happening whilst he is having his lunch. Well, this is the activity profile of my son, Elijah, 6 years of age this month, for the last 1.5 years or so.

The term "DIGITAL NATIVE" comes to mind. Wikipedia states that the term digital native, which was coined by Marc Prensky and also used by Gartner in their presentations, refers to a person who has grown up with digital technology such as computers, the Internet, mobile phones and MP3 - it pertains to a new breed of student entering educational establishments. The term draws an analogy to a country's natives, for whom the local religion, language, and folkways are natural and indigenous, over against immigrants to a country who often are expected to adapt and assimilate to their newly adopted home. A number of parents or some grandparents are probably more akin to Digital Immigrants. I try to find comfort to be more associated to a "Digital Settler", being in the industry, immersing myself and keeping up to this new fast-paced, solution-driven, and attention-lacking mental model our kids (tweens, teens) are capable of and yet at the same time, be able to absorb information, and regurgitate when the need arises!

Marc Prensky's article also mentions the following from a student, "School didn't teach me to read—I learned from my games." Familiar? I see that in my son who talks about (and recognized off the road) Ferraris, Lombourginis, asks me about little geography like Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo - all these by playing the Game Asphalt in his portable gaming device.

I also hear from others that their children do not read newspapers any more - their teenagers claim that they are not out of touch; on the contrary, the teenagers get their own dose of news they find relevant to their lives from the Internet.

Used to the old adage from my parents (I am) on the need to focus on 1 thing at time (though nowdays I also tend to read a few books, magazines at a time, at times during the news on TV). What I am now trying to do, is to learn how to address my old mental model, adapt to the new trends in how kids today behave - these digital natives, who are so comfortable with technology and browsing multiple information at a go.

Most interested to hear (I would be) from the observations and learnings from all parents out there - do you observe the same in your children and how are you coping in your conversations and guidance to your children in their studies and everyday life with regards to this fast-track dizzying skimming from 1 activity to another syndrome. Do help comment to this post.


cheers,
Nelson

More notes on the term "Digital Native" can be found here in this link from Marc Prensky.