Okay.. so we’re obviously using Twitter and Facebook profusely… but it’s certainly not the end.  We’ve just stepped on the first few yellow bricks at this point and there is quite a way to go.. .

So, what’s it going to take to get to Emerald City?

I think we need to realize that there is just WAY too much information passing by us on Twitter and Facebook. Yes it’s nice that we’re all connected now and we can share information, but sifting through the unreal amount of posts and new info is becoming increasingly difficult.  I think Twitter and Facebook opened up the web for us, it allows us to connect to anyone, any time, and now the next step is organizing it.

I’m a big fan of Ning, and although Ning has been sitting quietly in the corner working on its technology, I think they’ve got the right idea and will be adopted more (again) in the near future.  They are simply providing a technology for conversation to take over… while Twitter is growing, the need to sort these #hashedideas into threadable conversation becomes significant.  Integrate Ning and Twitter, and voila, you’ve got a network completely around any given #hashtag.  The difficult Ning faces is integrating it so quietly into Twitter, that you never notice you left the public conversation.   It’s essentially like finding the long tail of twitter conversations…

Lists were a great start for Twitter, and certainly a step in the right direction, but there needs to be more. I used to wake up, check email, and then go to sites and google reader.  Now I wake up, I check Twitter for updates I want, @ replies, and DMs, and THEN check email.  This might not seem significant, but obviously my interest has changed to joining a new conversation more than waiting for one to get to me via email.  I want it to get to the point where I ONLY need to check Twitter, or one app, and everything works together to deliver me the information I want, allow me to jump into new conversations, and most importantly, connect with new people and find new opportunities.

My other wishes for social media?

I wish I could let a business know I’m coming on minutes before I arrive there, have the things I want waiting when I get there..  I wish it was easier to find any given business on Twitter, and immediately reply to them about my recent experience.  I definitely want deals offered mainly thru Twitter, because of the urgency that can be created…  I want location-based tweeting to be more ubiquitous and have it be a way to meet new people locally… I want to pay for things via twitter and have receipts automatically emailed to me and archived… I want to be able to find a job easily using predefined hashtags that tie into “related” tags…   and really? I want businesses to really listen to Twitter and stop being so stubborn.  It’s not a “fad” – its the way society is shifting… we’re more into doing things for people, then finding the money trail.  Give people what they want, and the money will follow.

We’ll get there, but this is only the beginning… this “new” media is now old… and it’s time for the next stages to develop.  The grand plan is the same – customers control the world… but the tools need to be used more effectively to make that happen.

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