There seems to be this war raging out here in LaLaLand over the issue of whether the internet is for social use only or for commercial use only.

On one side are the people who feel the internet is a school yard sandbox only to be used to post high school reunion notices along with using the ‘F’ word in every other sentence or to update every minute their latest conquest on Ingress.

Then on the other side are the businesses who see the internet as a high definition billboard to post they non-stop keyword loaded promotions without any regard to the need for social interaction.

The question becomes…which is it for You?

The one thing people do not understanding is the internet is equally for both social and commercial.

I realize there are somedays where it looks like the marketing group for some of the big brands are winning and there are other days where a little lady with the 20 year old cat wins.  So who has the upper hand over this battle?

Who is Winning?

Spoiler Alert: The consumers have the upper-hand.

If consumer left the internet,..which many already have.., there would be nobody for the businesses to pitch.  This would result in the revenue streams drying up for the big dog social networks many of the ‘social only’ use which will eventually result in those once fun places to be folding.

Without the nerve centers for social networking there really is no place for either consumers or businesses to interact.

There is no doubt about it.. the internet, and the social networks residing within the internet, would not be here today if it was not for the money making potential the internet presents business.

It is also easy to counter with, if it was not for the trillions of people,…at least we are told they are people…,who use the internet for one reason or another, there would be no interest for businesses to want to be on the internet.

Thus..the battle continues on what sometimes seems to be an entitlement issue.

The first claim comes from the business moguls who says..I spend trillions of dollars each year buying online advertisement and search engine placement, I am entitled to spam the social spaces until the consumer pukes.

The counter comes from consumers who say… If the social networkers want to keep me on their social platform they need to block businesses from posting promotional material until I puke.

Consumers Win Every Time

Every once in awhile the battle will end in the consumer’s favor.

That is until one of war weary marketing directors of a large marketing firm resigns and their replacement moves in with another plan to present to the board of directors that forces an ROI out their digital marketing by blitzing the internet with worthless, unsocial advertisements.

Then the war heats up again.

The one major thing the businesses loose sight of is they are not going to enjoy any of the benefits of the internet until they learn how to be both social and professional.

Fortunately, the internet offers great opportunities for people to start a business.  Yes, even the little lady with the old cat will one day see an opportunity to make a few bucks by starting her hairball removal service.  However, what will kill her business is she she blatantly began posting ads in her fan’s social stream.

Change Has to Be Made

One day the business world will finally see that ‘Billboard Marketing’ never was going to work and will start employing people or digital marketing businesses to represent them socially.

It’s been proven over and over digital marketing done at the grassroots level has the greatest ROI..so why do businesses still feel spamming is an effective marketing plan?

The answer to that is the same for the question..why do people feel dropping the ‘F’ word is acceptable behavior?

Because they can is the answer today..but will there be a war begun over the acceptance of street language on the internet?..probably, but that is a battle for another day.

Let me know how I can help.