Today, we are on the verge of a massive shift in the way we communicate and inspire action. Social media is creating a new kind of communications fluidity, a fully immersive experience enabling conversations to be hijacked in ways unimaginable in decades past.
Up until the 1980s, totalitarian governments, superpowers, media cartels, and leading brands had dominant control over national and even global dialogues because of superior resources and a monopoly over communications channels. A message could be easily disseminated through one-way communications processes without any competition from an opposing product or viewpoint.
By the 1990s, computer power and the Internet were inundating people with more information than ever before, ending communications monopolies and monologues. Communications strategists quickly switched to two-way communications processes and began relying on dialogues with audience segments (about their opinions, feelings, needs, and wants as well as the benefits or barriers they perceived to change) to identify ways to influence and motivate them.
Today, a self-directed communications swarm flowing in infinite directions and loops—but in a synchronized way—is emerging as a new communications paradigm.
Thanks to Web 2.0, ideas are now swarming in patterns similar to bees. Bees use their “humming” to instinctively move in coordinated synchronous swarms when they are building a new nest or hive. These self-organized swarms use a bottom-up approach where very simple interactions between individuals develop into complex group movements.
Mobile technology combined with real-time web applications, such as Twitter, Facebook, and Foursquare, creates a buzz similar to the humming of these swarms. This buzz empowers people to align around a common interest, become inspired, and take action—nearly instantaneously and in unison without prior planning or forethought.
Here’s a telling quote out of an article on Twitter’s role in the Bangkok conflict in The Globe and Mail:
Never before has a social media website played the kind of role in a conflict that Twitter has played in Thailand’s nine-week-old anti-government uprising, keeping people informed even as it amplified the hate on both sides of the country’s divide.
Some say Twitter—or rather its users—may have even saved lives as fighting consumed the streets of Bangkok.
More clearly, it was used by propagandists on both sides to get their message out, and by ordinary Thais to express their frustrations at the situation and to warn each other about which areas of Bangkok to avoid as the city descended into urban warfare.
With many websites censored and Thailand’s traditional media deeply divided into pro- and anti-government camps, it arguably became the only forum where you could get a clear picture of what was really going on.
The use of communications swarms is only in its infancy, and it will be fascinating to watch it evolve. Its powerful impact appears to be both beneficial and destructive. Swarms have been used to organize peaceful political rallies, pressure companies to change their policies, report election fraud, and orchestrate disaster relief services. But as The Globe and Mail article points out, social media’s cloak of near-anonymity can lead to vitriolic, often hateful, speech and actions:
Each hateful comment seemed to provoke an even nastier response, and by the time the nine-week-old protest came to an end, each side was cheering acts of violence against the other.
Indeed, Web 2.0 is ushering in an exciting—but sometimes scary—new communications order. Since we can’t bury our heads in the sand and stop technological progess, our only choice is to embrace the chaos and prepare to adapt along with it.
What do you think? Are you tracking or joining swarms? Are you excited or scared? Let us hear from you.
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Thanks for taking the time to comment on my blog. Why are you boycotting Facebook? Are you part of a “swarm” trying to get the company to change its policies?
Check out Is the social web heading for a meltdown? blog post from Grow Practical Marketing Solutions.
I like to be happy and dance in the rain. Your post is a little too depressing for me, especially the line: “Mobile technology combined with web applications, such as Twitter and Foursquare, enable users to create a buzz that replicates these swarms, allowing people to receive instructions, move in unison, nearly instantaneously, without prior planning or forethought.” Too scary if you think about it too much.
Thanks for commenting. Didn’t mean to be too scary!
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Hi there this is somewhat of off topic but I was wanting to know if blogs use WYSIWYG editors or if you have to manually code with HTML. I’m starting a blog soon but have no coding know-how so I wanted to get advice from someone with experience. Any help would be enormously appreciated!
This website was created using WordPress, a free content management system available for download at http://wordpress.org/. WordPress has both a WYSIWYG and HTML editing window. You don’t need to know HTML to use it, but it definitely helps!
Wow!, this was a top quality post. In theory I’d like to write like this too – taking time and real effort to make a good article… but what can I say… I procrastinate a lot and never seem to achieve anything
REMEMBERthis is the man who removed the American flag from his airplane during the campaign nd replaced it with a Pepsi-type flag of his own. That was the first warning to us.
Thanks, Margarito, for taking the time to comment on my blog. I’m not sure I am following your comment, however. My post wasn’t about President Obama.
I urge you to get involved, stand up and speak out. Make the phone calls, send the e-mails, make the phone calls. Dont let the liberal left silence you! The future of our country and our children and grandchildren is at stake. The ugly name calling shows that your voices are being heard. Please keep it up!
Thanks for taking the time to comment on my post! Interesting nom de plume by the way!