And the Ages Pass… in Social Media

by Dan Bailey

I am getting quite excited, planning to teach Georgia State University’s first course in Social Media Marketing in Spring 2011. I am gathering current expert sources on the subject, reading materials and exercises. I am also going back, re-reading several-year-old viral marketing articles from my masters in marketing program. These dated sources reveal just how our collective savvy of social media has grown. These sources are also quite humorous to read, appearing antiquated in such short time. Take this excerpt, from a 2004 California Management Review article “Stealth Marketing: How to Reach Consumers Surreptitiously” (Andrew M. Kaikati and Jack G. Kaikati, Summer 2004, p. 9):

“Dr. Pepper took advantage of the exploding popularity of the weblog, also commonly known as a blog. Blogs are diary-like personal web sites and on-line soapboxes that have become one of the Web’s hottest trends, particularly with young web surfers. Unlike old-fashioned personal home pages, blogs are online diaries often written by trendsetting teens. They are typically filled with brief entries that are updated regularly, thereby hooking visitors to come back for the author’s latest ruminations. Essentially, blogs empower individuals to share commentary with like-minded people on issues of their choice, thus establishing interactive dialogues.”

As laughable as this may read, there are still some worthy nuggets in such sources on social media’s “history”:

“The term ‘viral marketing’ was coined by venture capitalist Steve Jurvetson in 1996 when he described the marketing strategy of the free e-mail service Hotmail whereby each e-mail sent arrived with the appended message ‘Get your private, free e-mail from Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com’ along with the sender’s implicit recommendation. Thus, viral stealth marketing is simply ‘word of mouth’ via a digital platform.” (IBID).

Keep tuned, as we uncover and advance the history of social media together…

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