The Impact of Social Media

    I would like to start by the basics: how social media has revolutionized our Modus Vivendi. What if I told you I have an older half-brother that I hadn’t met until 3 years ago? And what if I also told you that I got in contact with that brother via the most popular social network: Facebook?

Photo from http://www.inarkansas.com

  It happened the first week of December 2010. It was 4:00 am in the morning when my sister woke me up abruptly. She walked into my room, turned on the lights, and screamed my name as loud as she could. I thought an Earth Quake was happening and that I would have to get out of the house running like the leading character in a scary movie just before the end. Thank God her enthusiasm was running high and her ear-to-ear smile made me realize that what she was about to tell me was going to be really good.

     She started telling the story. She always knew the existence of this brother named Aris Taveras. It was a baby my father conceived before marrying my mother, and had lost contact with him. My sister had scared people through Facebook for months, she had sent messages to every facebook-user she found with the same first and last name of my brother, until that night, she finally found the right one. My sister sent him a message and he answered immediately.

    Our relationship grew stronger, and that New Year’s Eve, my sister and I took a flight to New Jersey to meet him, his wife Vanessa, and their 4 year old daughter, Brianna.

   This was truly a life changing experience. This example represents the biggest impact of social media. It has allowed us to be more human; it has fulfilled our need to be in immediate contact with others; it has brought to the palm of our hands the possibility to share our experiences with thousands of people.

     Our job as marketers is to keep our marketing efforts in that track; to touch the most sensitive keys of our customers and develop an engaging relationship with them. Let them know we are not robotic enterprises, but humanized organizations interested in their dreams, goals, fears, and hope. We must motivate them to talk about us amongst themselves- user-generated content is trustworthy and instantaneous. 

I can only say: Thank you social media for existing!!!

Until next post guys,

@FiordalizaTM