The social media phase of the Internet is far from over

My team and I have a pretty good investment in social media, with LexBlog and LXBN, so it took me aback to read a Business Insider headline yesterday that “The ‘Social Media Phase Of The Internet’ Is Over.”

Jay Yarow (@jyarow) was quoting a post from venture capitalist, Fred Wilson (@fredwilson), in which Wilson took a look back on 2014. The top two on Wilson’s list:

1/ the social media phase of the Internet ended. this may have happened a few years ago actually but i felt it strongly this year. entrepreneurs and developers still build social applications. we still use them. but there isn’t much innovation here anymore. the big platforms are mature. their place is secure.

2/ messaging is the new social media. this may be part of what is going on in 1/. families use whatsapp groups instead of facebook. kids use snapchat instead of instagram. facebook’s acquisition of whatsapp in february of this year was the transaction that defined this trend.

Though Wilson’s statement generated some buzz, I’m not sure he meant that the social media was actually coming to an end. Wilson’s not trying to grab headlinNes either.

Perhaps social media as a disruptor ripe for early investment was coming to an end. After all, social media such as blogging (WordPress), Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are darn near utilities — they are indeed secure in their place. And messaging is taking off – look at the uptake of Facebook’s Messager app this year.

But social media has become part of the fabric of our lives. Social media is increasingly how news, information and journalism is delivered to viewers (see New York Times Innovation Report 2014). Entrepreneurs and emerging growth media companies, like LexBlog and LXBN, are making significant investments in technology and solutions to serve the growing social media market. I see a fair amount of innovation in the space.

Let alone that social media, through networking online, has become the lifeblood of business development for the professional services industry, including the legal vertical.

I’ve been following Wilson for a long time and have a ton of respect for him. I have learned a lot from his insight on digital media, social media, publishing and more. I found him spot on on his early support of Twitter and Disqus. I just don’t think he meant to throw us a curve ball like the Business Insider and follow on tweets played it to be, especially when he wrote bullishly about Twitter earlier this week. Perhaps I’m even throwing up a straw man to knock it down.

I scanned the lengthy comments on Wilson’s post and did not see any clarification from him on the ‘social media phase’ being over.

Social media and techno-media companies will continue to innovate in all aspects of social from the development of production platforms, the creation of media, the distribution of media and the search/discovery of social interaction. Feels like we’re just getting started.

I suggest to lawyers and other professionals that you continue to put your time, energy and money into social media. It’s critical in building relationships and word of mouth in business today.

Fred, if you can clarify what you meant or point me to where you did, we’d appreciate it.

Image courtesy of Flickr by Iliyan Yankov