Social Media Nightmares

By Susan Kuchinskas

February 18, 2009

Just as marketers were getting a handle on blogging, social media blew up. Facebook surpassed MySpace with more than 150 million active users, who spend more than 3 billion minutes on it each day. Twitter's 700 percent growth in 2008 left it with more than 4 million users and counting. Brands have more ways than ever to start that hotly desired "consumer engagement" process, but the rule book gets rewritten faster than they can read it.

Sure, there are some obvious lessons that need to be reiterated:

• Content on the internet never goes away.
• Anything you say can and will be used against you.
• Companies need to listen to consumers and respond to their concerns.
• Viral media spread faster than trans-fat-free margarine.

There are some more subtle lessons that are worth examining. These nuances are genetic markers on the evolutionary path of media from one-to-many paid placements to the virally mutated amorphous monster of digital conversation.

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