A recent Mashable article about Ashton Kutcher's race to reach 1 million viewers before CNN got me thinking.
From Oprah to Ashton Kutcher, there's no doubt that social media has hit mainstream consciousness. But, I wonder if is this a good or a bad thing.
On one hand, one could say that it 'legitimizes' the growing role of social media properties like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube as real communication, marketing and/or news-delivery tools. On the other, at least in the case of Twitter, it almost makes it look more like a toy or a fad -- not a serious communications tool.
Granted, Kutcher used his recent bid for 1 million followers as a fundraiser for charity (donating bed nets to help fight malaria), which is a good thing and clearly demonstrates the value of Twitter.
But, at the end of the day, will all of this new-found attention help or hurt Twitter? I guess time will tell. I just hope that the mass influx of new, consumer Twitter users -- most of whom clearly are joining because it is the latest 'thing,' not because they are genuinely looking to network and share information -- doesn't dilute and further fragment an already fragmented, yet valuable, tool.
I don't know, but I see tremendous value and potential in Twitter as a business tool, and I'd hate to see that ruined.
What do you think?
Geo2
