Social media: Is it a revolution or a fad?

You might have seen the video. It's called Social Media Revolution and it's already gotten over 400,000 hits on YouTube since its release only a few weeks ago. It tells a story through numbers about the furious growth of social media around the world. Facts appear on the screen in rapid succession with haunting music in the background: "If Facebook were a country, it would be the world's 4th largest." "By 2010 Gen Y will outnumber Baby Boomers. . . 96% of them have joined a social network." "Social media has overtaken porn as the #1 activity on the Web."

It spews its facts so fast you can barely digest them, which is how many people feel about the pace of virtual updates on sites like Facebook and Twitter. Will it ever stop coming at us and demanding our attention, fractured as it is because we're sifting through emails, texts, all while uploading our latest photos to Flickr?

According to Erik Qualman, who created the video to promote his new book, Socialnomics, it won't be stopping any time soon. And if you don't want to be left behind, you'll embrace the social media revolution:

I had a chat with Qualman about what all this means for us and our careers. Following is a condensed version of our conversation.

Just as we have mastered one social media tool, it seems like there's another getting all the buzz. How can they decide which social networks to join. Is it essential to explore every new thing?

Not at all. I'm in this space 24/7, and I can't even keep up. The key is to use the stuff you're comfortable with and that could provide value. Let's say you're a cook and you want to stay abreast of what's popular and trendy, then you might want to use Delicious and see what are the most tagged articles and recipes on French cooking. Companies also ask me this question. I say it's all dependent on the business model. If you're promoting a band, you'll want to start on MySpace. If you're trying to improve customer service, then Twitter is the tool for you.

Do you see different age groups using social networks differently?

It's a fallacy that social media is just for kids. Look at the recent New York Times article citing comScore's research that just 11 percent of Twitter users are between ages of 12--17 (with the huge growth in the service being fueled by older users). Social bookmarking tools, like Digg and Delicious are mostly used by people for business reasons to tag items to go to later. And when different generations use the same social media tool, they tend to use them differently. On Facebook, GenX and GenY users log on several times a day. Yet the fastest growing group on Facebook is women over 55 and a lot of those are going online to stay connected to kids or grandchildren. They may only hop on a couple of times a week, treating it more like email.

Younger people have a willing acceptance that what is in Wikipedia is factual. Older generations are a bit more skeptical on that. My YouTube video has been most popular with males and females between 45-55. I think they are trying to get a handle on what all this means, for their lives and for business reasons. They are saying, "Everyone seems to be talking about this in my company, so I want to make sure I'm not behind the eight ball." Younger people are living it.

Do you see any jobs/careers for which social networking will not have a large impact.

I believe that every sector is going to be impacted in some way. But some items are somewhat taboo to broadcast in social media. Say you're in the funeral business as a mortician. Social media might not be the way to drive casket sales. There are also suppliers of items with large price tags and few buyers. In those instances, and for products with secrecy attached to them, there are fewer opportunities. The makers of the stealth bomber probably won't be selling more to the government because of social media.

What about those who just want to say, "Enough of this online chatter. I just want to connect with people in the real world and I don't care about anyone's updates."

It's a huge misnomer that this is a zero sum game. Just because you stay connected with your daughter in college, that doesn't mean there's less need to meet face-to-face. Social media can keep people connected when distance or time is a hurdle or limiter. That's for existing relationships. The other side of it is that new friendships can foster online. One out of eight couples who married in the US last year met online. Mashable has been running Tweetups where people who met on Twitter can meet in person.

You focus on the positive effects of social networking. Do you see any negatives?
It's not all positive. GenY is struggling with interpersonal communication, especially at work. When you get used to having these 140 character conversations, face-to-face communication can suffer. People break up by text when it used to be taboo to break up by phone. Another downside is that you have to live an almost-perfect life. As if you're mother is watching. I like to say that what happens in Vegas stays on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Sometimes you just want to have things private. And I think we're getting close to the point that if you're doing something not right, it will be found out one way or another. Look at what happened to Michael Phelps.