The internet became two way
February 14th, 2010
The internet became two way
but I’m not sure that everyone noticed yet….
Back in 1997, I was working for Nigel Dixon & Co. Estate Agents in Witney in Oxfordshire. Around that time, prospective clients were starting to ask “are you on the Internet?”. Enough of them asked that we took the plunge, got ourselves a website up on that there Internet and the whole world could now read about us and see details of the houses we had for sale.
That was in 1997, when the Internet was still being used as a broadcast medium by most. You put your advert up there and hoped people saw it. You gave your website address out all over the place and, after a few years, people called SEO specialists came and showed you how to get more people to find your website.
But that was 13 years ago. The Internet has changed, massively. Some people are still treating their website as their presence on the Internet, simply broadcasting their stuff out there and hoping that enough people will find it and respond to it to make it worth their while. A lot like putting a postcard in the newsagent’s window.
The Internet became two way though, the Internet became a conversation. It is no longer enough to just broadcast. The opportunity to engage, talk to the people who connect with you on Twitter, Facebook, Buzz, wherever it happens to be is immense. The opportunity to actually engage with other human beings is there and yet too many people are still using all of the tools available just to broadcast. Too many people think that we’re actually interested in hearing a constant and probably automated stream of adverts for them and their business.
I’m not the king of the Internet, everybody is free to use it however they want to. But ignoring that it has become two way, ignoring the conversation, ignoring the opportunity to engage, talk to, care about, the other people around you is missing the point and missing the massive potential that the Internet in 2010 gives us.
Time for another cup of tea. Got any comments on what I’ve got to say? I’m happy to hear them @NoRedBraces
Posted in Business Networking, Social Media | 
Tags: 4networking, bni, Business Networking, ecademy, facebook, Google Buzz, linkedin, referral marketing, twitter
6 Responses to “The internet became two way”
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Hi Stef,
A really good point, thank you. Would that make it a bit like a succesuful sales person then? Engages in conversation, not just proclaiming loudly with pre-programmed “stuff”. We oiften hear about convergance of technology and think of HiFi, TV, PC etc; but it’s a lot more like convergance of marketing “technology”.
Now I’ll make some more tea too,
@divingjon
Some very good points here and as a relative newcomer to the whole social media arena, I have been amazed at how easy it is engage with others and build positive business relationships. But it also hacks me off beyond belief when I am bombarded with constant selling messages. I like the last point about actually caring for the people we engage with – as opposed to viewing them with £ signs over their heads.
You deliberately change the case to caps in the name, mail and website fields??? Weird.
Anyway, yes. Blog post correct. I think it is because most people are conditioned by TV, mostly a one-way medium apart from scammy phone-in competitions.
Ling
LINGsCARS.com
Web2.0 Or Web2.way as I like to call it.
I agree, the two-way stuff really works on and offline. The other day I saw a tweet from someone I didn’t know. They are in Edinburgh, where I’m based, and they looked like a really important contact for my PR biz.
Their tweet was on a subject I’d just read about in a really good article. I replied with a link to the piece, and got a swift DM invite to meet.
We chatted happily for over an hour over a list of people we shared on Linked-In. I felt I’d known him for ages and have just had a lovely recommendation from him. Brilliant!
We chatted happily for over an hour over a list of people we shared on Linked-In. I felt I’d known him for ages and have just had a lovely recommendation from him. Brilliant!