why is there such fascination with social media? it is simply another tool for communicating and building relationships, and while that is exciting and fascinating in its own right, there is little more to it. its just a collection of tools.

i often wonder at the number of folks clawing at social media for a chance to mould it into some new career. the reality of course is that there is a limited number of opportunities for folks as a social media specialist as they’re calling themselves. another reality that these folks don’t understand is that “social media” and “social networking” are quickly approaching critical mass.

while these “social media specialists” may applaud that eventuality, i don’t think they fully understand what that means. the number of people who are going to be required to be “specialists” or “experts” in social media are extremely small, and most of those are already doing the work now.

so I wonder, why all the excitement about social media. its true that it is a great development of web 2.0 expansion of the internet, and it does enable a whole new level of communication between people, businesses, customers, and clients. however, as it quickly becomes mainstream, the uniqueness of social media becomes less. it is quickly becoming a component of nearly every service and a target of every marketing department of the enterprise.

i do have to admit the level of passion these folks exhibit is astounding. i have also found a level of commitment and innovation from a number of people on the social media circuit that i wouldn’t have found elsewhere. so the creativity of these really committed folks is amazing.

still, as time goes on social media itself will dissolve from the exciting medium it is today into just another channel that people use. it’s happening right now, and will accelerate as time goes on. i plan to find my niche and work it into a profitable business to support my family. past that i don’t care what the perception of social media becomes.