Tα social media την Ευρώπη, το 2008. Οργασμός!

Με τον Wolfgang Lünenbürger βρεθήκαμε σε ευρωπαϊκές πόλεις για δουλειά, όπου και το videocast για τα social media στην Ευρώπη. Τελειώνοντας η χρονιά κάνει ένα απολογισμό, για το πώς πήγαν τα social media στην ήπειρό μας, το 2008.

«There are times for everything. For me, this year was a year of travel and educating. As you might know I'm coming around in Europe a lot, talking to clients, colleagues and fellow social media activists. And as I did a lot of workshops and meetings in several countries, this is what I learned:

-There is no such country as Europe. I know, I said this before. And so does our European CEO. But it can't be said enough: in nearly every country I visited this year social media is different to any other country. Similar in a way, but different in another. Just like the leading social network or the most popular social tool - often these are local services or clones. Or when it comes to culture of engagement...

-But there are interesting things across Europe. Broadband internet access is one. Most European countries are far ahead e.g. the US in broadband, what means that video, rich media, always on aso is much easier over here.

-Social media has reached mainstream. This looks to be true for most countries I visited this year. In a lot of markets internet is now more relevant for younger audiences than even TV when it comes to time spent with a medium. The leading social network is the most visited website in all countries, everywhere my colleagues have been doing great engagement programs for their clients within these networks - and most of them with well documented success.

-User generated content is becoming more and more relevant. Not only because it's so relevant to search engines (what means in latin writing Europe Google with a market share above 80%). But, because it's working for brands and others. The second generation of user review sites has established a real force this year over here.

-More and more brands and corporations get it! That's good. In previous years I often evangelized clients and brand managers and spokes people about the "new" interweb, about the rise of social media, about the upcoming changes. This year most of the folks I talked to and had meetings and brainstorming with were already there. They already knew that this is a new arena they need to tap into. It was more often the question of what to do -and not why to do anymore.

All in all - I think for social media it was a good year in Europe. And for me it was great to see so many ideas how to act as a brand or a company in this space».