Social Media Converegence: One Ring To Rule Them All?
Creating and occupying my own online space, interacting with new and old friends across the globe through virtual communities, as well as personal and professional development, this is what the social web means to me. That definition, however, will vary from one person to another, as each user has their very own set of priorities, obligations and expectations.
We all differ both terms of what we’re willing to invest in social networking and the expected outcomes of our efforts, add to that countless new channels and forms of expression and you have a true recipe for creativity and individuality. In an attempt to capitalize/monopolize on the immense amount of traffic generated by social networks such as Facebook and/or Twitter, Google and Microsoft, amongst others, are trying to converge every aspect of the social web under one roof or “network.” Google Buzz being the latest example of this trend towards social media convergence.
The question I ask myself is this: Which approach better serves users, a central authority for all things social or individual networks specializing in a certain aspect of the social web? I don’t believe there’s a straight answer. We must take into consideration that there seems to be a certain level of social media fatigue amongst established users who’ve found a permanent “home” online and are no longer willing to be slaves to emerging trends or networks. Conversely, there will always be waves of new generations looking to differentiate from the past and jump on what’s new and hot.
The only thing we can be certain of is that users will choose which social network is right for them and find the best way to express themselves.
