The New Corner Store
I’ve written a lot about social networking lately; both my skepticism and how I finally broke down and joined the surge. Just a little while ago I came to a realization: none of this is new. We’ve all heard the phrase “there’s nothing new under the sun” but when it comes to services like Facebook and Twitter, isn’t that something new? Let me explain.
Time for a trip in the “wayback” machine
One of the biggest complaints about social networking is the loss of privacy. I’m right there trying to limit my exposure to the outside world. Social networking is still a form of voyeurism, but let’s be clear, privacy is a new concept.
Go back 100 years. If you lived in any kind of city or town you knew everyone around you. Even in a large metropolis you would know about the personal lives of the butcher and grocer in the corner shops. In small and medium sized towns there were no secrets. It wasn’t until after World War II that we started to isolate ourselves and felt that we had a right to privacy.
60 years ago saw the expansion of the suburb and the rise of the box store. We could travel and do our shopping without anyone knowing who we were. That brought about mail order and then e-commerce. Today, I can sit at the side of a lake and order a new hard drive on my phone – never talking to anyone. We have the capacity, with our advanced communications, to be more disconnected than ever before.
You can’t stop human nature
So, what happened? We don’t want privacy! Millennia of human culture have created a social beast. We found a way to be heard. By creating virtual neighborhoods we reaffirm our humanity. We set boundaries for ourselves and establish cultural expectations.
So what have I learned?
From a business standpoint, creating a connection with your clients creates loyalty. Not only does it hold you responsible to your clients but they have a greater sense of responsibility to you. It’s not a bad thing to share a personal side in your business. We are creating the new corner store. Mom and Pop haven’t been driven away, they have just gone virtual.
Some of you have been putting the social business in practice for many years and some of you may just be stepping up to the plate, but now more than ever, we need to embrace our social side to survive. It’s a new day in the old world.
July 29, 2010