Social media has not evolved
Any discussion of the evolution of social media misses the point. It’s the evolution of the user that has been the biggest change in the last three years.
First it was “what is the point?”
Now it’s “we must find the point!”
That’s not a technology thing. That’s people realising the potential that (some but not all) social media platforms have and trying to be among the first to exploit that potential.
The change was slow at first. As is often the case.
Googleplus was the first major new platform that had brand managers and marketers rushing around frantically. Each time Facebook makes a change you see the same thing. That’s to say, I don’t remember the same amount of marcoms clamour around Quora.
But it’s happening with new kids on the social block now in a way that didn’t happen before.
Pinterest and Percolate are two such examples.
Yes, there are people asking “what *is* the point?” of these platforms. But increasingly there are people investigating their potential use in a brand advocacy manner.