How the recession has fueled the social media fire

We live in a revolutionary time. There are some large, fundamental shifts taking place. This fast-paced change is driven in large part by technology.

The news cycle is continuous. We’re all on information overload. And there are increasingly segmented sections of society, or unique niches with which to communicate.

A downturn in the global economy has caused businesses everywhere to look at efficiencies of scale. Like individuals, businesses have had to get by with less, and even do more with less.

This so-called Great Recession, I believe, has led to an increase in the adoption of social media tools, or new media, to do what companies have traditionally done with other media.

Traditional media, with its entrenched conglomerates and high-paid advertising executives has struggled.

Old media isn’t about to give up and die. But their approach and business model has changed, and will continue to change.

Just like the Gutenburg Press changed civilization, the Internet Press is fundamentally changing our culture. People expect corporate forthrightness, transparency and empathy.

It’s not enough for companies to tell you how great they are. They need to be actively listening to their constituents, even participating with them in experiences and being responsive to requests, criticism and praise.

If you’re a corporate communicator who is “unauthorized” to speak on behalf of your employer in new media circles, the least you should do is monitor and report to executives on what’s being said about the company. Because like it or not, people are talking about you on social networks and using new media tools like Twitter.

It’s interesting that in 2009 we have experienced this convergence of a halting economy and proliferation of new communication tools. It’s like the perfect storm, where budgets are trimmed and people are forced to look elsewhere to get their message out. Perhaps 2009 will be known as social media and social networking’s golden year.

Given new media’s accessibility and wide adoption, I don’t think increased budgets and overflowing coffers will return us to pre-2009 ways of communicating. I think we have witnessed a fundamental shift in the way companies communicate. And it happened quickly, like the way the music industry embraced digital media, not like the slow painful decline of printed newspapers.