The Future of Advertising

I am at the computer now at 8:30pm on a Saturday night (no, no sadly I do not have a date - - but I digress) and the TV is playing in the background.  What's on TV?  The shows that I have recorded all week but have not gotten around to viewing.

TIVO, DVR's and other recording devices have made it possible for me to continue to be the TV geek that I am despite having a really hectic work/school schedule.  It has also made it possible for me to skip the commercials.  I am the advertisers worst nightmare!

I am sure that I am not alone in being a serial commercial circumventer.  So how do advertisers now capture the attention of consumers like me who are poised to push a button and skip that very costly advertisement?

If you research how companies are advertising now, how they predict they will be advertising in the future, and factor in my reluctance to give advertisers the time of day, it would seem that traditional media advertising may soon go the way of the dinosaur.
    
Advertisers are now smartly switching to online marketing and advertising.  According to a blog by MDG, How Social Media Changed The Ad Game [Infographic], advertising on traditional media sites such as TV, newspapers, and radio is steadily waning while online advertising is growing.

Not only has web marketing and advertising grown, it has become the top focus of most marketers. 

Facebook is by far the avenue of choice for most advertisers with its large number of subscribers.  Social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, etc also give companies a way to measure the success of their online advertisement through tools such as the "Like" option on Facebook.

With advertisers focusing more and more on online advertising, I "like" the fact that maybe someday I will be able to watch a TV show uninterrupted.  But wait, without the sponsorship and advertising dollars, what is the future of TV?  But again, I digress.

What's Legal On-Line?

While researching topics about social media and law, I came across this great presentation on slide share.

The presentation titled 'Legal Implications of Social Media' really went into detail the rights and wrongs of what to write on your personal social media sites. Also it went into full detail the consequences people face when writing something bad.

They give an example of a high school girl who wrote a poem on MySpace about how she hates her home town, her principal saw it and published to her local paper. Her family was then ruined by the remarks she wrote about the town. The law court found no legal expectation of privacy since it was published on her public MySpace.

I agree with the law, these sites as personable as they may seem they are indeed public unless made other wise. If your settings aren't turned to as private as possible, then what you write is out there for all to see.

Even sites like ratemyprofessor.com are dangerous sites. These public sites allow students to go on and write what ever they want about specific professors. This can really ruin a professors image, and prevent students from signing up to their classes.

The presentation also goes into full detail, job hirings and how what you have on your social media might sway their decision to hire you or not. This again ties into your settings and how private your keep your social media.

People, especially young people just starting out in high school or even beginning their life in the work force, should really consider what they write on their sites. The world is becoming more and more like big brother and someone is always watching and reading up on what your doing.

KAYLA KAPLAN