There is no question-social media has changed the way that we interact with our fellow human beings.   The potential for communicating with others, and finding groups of people with similar interests, no matter how obscure, has increased exponentially.  It has also affected the way we write.  (To my great consternation, students of mine will occasionally submit a paper that includes “text message English.”  In such cases I am not LOL.) It has also altered the way that we identify ourselves by giving use the ability to create a fresh persona in the communities in which we interact, as well as a new name. For example, I get my wine buying advice from a guy that goes by @garyvee, and I just read a blog post on marketing psychology by @psychodude.   

While I am steadfast in my belief that social media, in all its forms, is just an addition to the myriad of ways that we interact and sell to each other, I also believe that its terms and traditions have imbued themselves into our culture.  To support this hypothesis, I’d like to introduce you all to Survival of the Hippest.  They make custom jewelry with your Twitter handle or hashtag on it. This is to make it easier for people to put a tweet with a face when meeting in the real, non-virtual world.   As co-founder Phoebe Jonas told me:

“Survival of The Hippest began when my co-founder, Ashley, realized that many of her 7000+ followers on Twitter knew her as @pluckypea, and not as her proper name. What better way to signal her virtual self in the real-world at Tweetups and conferences than a piece of Twittername Jewelry! (as the front-woman and mastermind behind the critically acclaimed rock band for kids, the Jimmies, Ashley is out and about a LOT!)  As a social-media enthusiast with a fine-jewelry background and a hankering to Twitter, I was the perfect partner for our venture. Survival of The Hippest launched in Sept '09 --we're the original Twitter Jewelry company--and we've been adorning hundreds of Twitterfriends ever since.”

I speak about the importance of creating content as well as community when planning a social media presence.  When real and virtual communities begin to blend and symbolism is brought into that mix I am confident that we can declare social media an enduring cultural phenomenon.

Oh, by the way, I am not getting compensated by Survival of the Hippest in any way.  I found them while searching for best practices in social media/ word-of-mouth to write about, and I think they are cool.

You’re invited to join the Marketing Public Relations community and read this blog on the MPR Facebook fan page.  See you there.
 


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