On my way to @jeffpulver’s social media breakfast in Manhattan, a few quick reflections on what social media means to me:

- WE are all connected ie our digital IDs help us connect from online to offline as we produce/comment text/video.

- all media is now or on its way to become shareable/mash-able -> viral. Traditional media has started to embrace this in a big way eg with Hulu embeds, understanding that mass dissemination serves their business interests.

- media is inherently social and today’s platforms serve as accelerators.

The big question remains: what role will/should social media play in revenue generation for digital media companies and the brand’s marketing mix. Given the time invested by Internet users on social media platforms, brands have no choice but to be present. The form of that brand presence is still a work in progress.

As for social media revenues, targeted ads seem like the convenient answer, is it the only and appropiate one ? I look forward to hearing Jeff’s thoughts on social media for 2009.