This Mashable headline suggests, as devotees understand viscerally, that the Internet’s current social networking phenomenon is radically changing communications modes on the Net. Not only is email on the way out, but now the very existence of “static” Web sites is being questioned.

This is more than a question of style, I suggest. The real-time, one-to-many nature of social media communications, including the near-instantaneous (and highly personalized) responses generated by Facebook, Twitter and the like, is revolutionizing business. In my legal practice, there are already clients and potential clients who message me almost entirely via social media. Yes, there are risks involved, like privacy, but the time spent on social media sites rewards users by giving them a mode for interaction that is intergrated with their digital lifestyles.

So the answer to Mashable’s question is almost certainly “yes,” as far as brand-protection and CRM are involved. Obviously, Web sites will still be important for software updates, product downloads and the like. But more and more, business interactions with customers and vendors will likely be by status update or “social stream.”

Which raises perhaps an even more important question. Is “social media” plural? If so, the headline should read “Are social media….”

Posted via email from glenn’s posterous