The Sun Sets On Social Media by George Simpson, Friday, August 14, 2009, 5:24 PM

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An annual report on the state of the UK's television, radio and telecoms markets says that social networking has begun to mature "both metaphorically and literally" especially for teens and those in their early twenties. The old farts are still piling in (probably accelerating the rate at which the teens are hitting the exits.) Time wasted on Second Life is down to nine hours a month from a high of 28 hours. It is no secret that more and more folks on this side of the ocean are giving up on Twitter. It is perhaps too soon to say I told you so, but what the hell, "I told you so."

 

While many aspects of social media may well endure, teens are no longer building their lives around Facebook. I can say this because I have three teens in my family and I watch closely how they consume media, even though I realize that their media habits are like an iceberg, with most of it hidden from view. The oldest, soon out the door for college, hasn't sent an e mail in five years; nor, I can confirm, has he answered any. He has gone totally mobile. His whole media world is totally contained in his pocket. For him it is all about texting and less often actually talking on the device. He goes online only to check out a video recommended to him by his friends and to shop. He never reads a newspaper, never sees TV news and so has only a vague sense of what is going on around the world, and is quick to try and validate/defend urban legends.

His little sister is just now starting her Facebook career, but she is much more circumspect about what she puts there, and who she connects with. She is far more about video chat. She has no clue about world events beyond celebrity and entertainment. She has upgraded her mobile so that she can start to text more. She knows more about mobile apps than either of her parents. I predict that she will be all mobile within two years.

The youngest still thinks his PC is a primarily a gaming platform. He hasn't bothered in three months to charge the mobile he so desperately couldn't live without. He knows about Facebook, but hasn't established a page yet. If they would interrupt x-box games with breaking news, he'd be the smartest kid on the block. But they don't.

None of them know much about or care anything about Twitter or My Space or Bebo or any other social media platforms. They don't care about blogs. They've never read this column in nearly a decade that I've written it. Although they WILL complain if I get their ages wrong on my Web site.

They will not depend on desktops the way we did -- in fact, all three have already moved to notebooks so they can walk around the house with them. They would rather watch a download or DVD than they would live TV because they can stop it and resume it at will. All three are heavy DVR users (although the youngest still likes to watch commercials; he thinks they are funny).

They haven't read the magazine subscriptions their parents have foisted on them. But two of the three of them are voracious book readers, the youngest preferring his mom's Kindle to paper.

But I digress. I said early on that I thought social media was overrated -- from the millions of blogs (now long abandoned) that served no useful purpose -- to virtual worlds where people tried to pretend their lives were more interesting than they really are, to networking sites where the under employed set upon those with jobs. Yes, teens will flow in and out of Facebook-like social media for a while, but only until they get their mobile legs. Older folks who set up shop on Facebook need desperately to get a life.

Make you think? It does me.

There's no question in my mind the opportunities for sourcing and collaboration offered by the Internet - quoting Wikinomics - are vast, but the services we're using right now aren't right, somehow.

Search, Real Time Search, Broadcast and Discussions are right it seems to me but this mindless chasing for followers which are never going to listen or be listened to is a complete waste of time.

Like everything else on the Internet, social media is in danger of being suffocated by the Sellerazi and the self-daters.

I'd love to hear from anybody who has a different perspective they can explain to me.