Television and social media are two mediums that share some remarkable similarities, and at least one major difference. Looking back at the evolution of the television networks may give you some insights into where the social media networks are going, and how you can plan now for the inevitable.
Free Never Lasts
In the '50's and '60's, the early days of television, everything was free. Advertisers paid for the programming that you received for free. Then, in the '70's, cable television gained greater acceptance. There was no advertising, but you had to pay for the programming. And we all gladly paid for it because it was a dream to be able to watch commercial-free programming.
We are still in the stage of free programming with the social media networks. However, there is a shift in the social media winds that tells me we cannot expect this party to last forever. We are already seeing Rupert Murdoch pushing back on free access to The Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. These are the pure news sites. But don't be surprised if some entertainment sites such as ESPN.com follow suit.
What about the social sites that provide you with news, entertainment, and education. These include monsters like Facebook, YouTube, and even Twitter. Do you think they are going to be free forever? I don't. The better they get, the more likely there will be a charge to use their service.
Facebook now has 400 million users. Let's say they start charging $1/month – and in the process lose 50% of their user base – which is unlikely. They just picked up $200,000,000/month, or 2.4 BILLION dollars a year. You have to see that coming, don't you think?
The People Difference
Social media is quickly becoming the medium of choice for many of us. The news is better, the entertainment is better, and the flexibility is better. Television is very inflexible. It's one feed that you cannot adjust. You can only turn it off or on, like an RSS feed. And depending upon how deep your pockets are, you have only so many channels you can switch to.
Human beings love interaction, connectivity, and engagement. For this reason, I believe some of the social media networks will be able to pull off much more than the television networks were able to. Nevertheless, it is a slippery slope to start charging for what has "traditionally" been free.
I keep coming back to the human connection that social media gives us. That's powerful, and I believe will be the critical factor in how the social media networks charge for their services. You should consider the same. You should think about what you plan to give away and what you should (or can) charge for. Even if you never charge, this is a good exercise to get a better handle on your true value.
I guarantee you that the investors in the social networks are searching for lessons from television. Look at your own behavior. When the programming on TV sucks, don't you jump on Facebook or Twitter? Social media is a powerful medium. It gives us choices we didn't have before, and that raises its value.
And You
Will you start charging for readership of your blog? Let me rephrase that. Would you like to get paid for the wisdom and hard work that goes into building a blog that delivers value to your readers? Or is it better to repurpose that information into other formats that you can profit from?
I subscribe to about 20 blogs that I receive a great deal of value – and enjoyment from. The more traditional looking they become, and the larger that subscriber base gets, the more I suspect they will start mining that subscriber base. And those massive numbers are what will make this possible, because that will allow them to charge a reasonable rate that will still generate some serious income.
As for the rest of us, we'll have to continue making our income elsewhere.
For me, my work as a professional speaker is my paid-for-programming. And just like the better social networks, my speaking is part news, part entertainment, and part education, which is one reason I get paid for it. Another reason is it is extremely targeted for a specific audience.
Nevertheless, be advised that the major players in the social networks are sending signals that they will soon be getting serious about monetizing.
Just in case, maybe you should consider how you can do the same.
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Photo Credit: Luke Redmond
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