Mom & pop shown the door: Can social media remain social?

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http://adage.com/article/news/wake-call-news-youtube-h-m/311957/

As social media becomes mainstream, mom and pop publishers are forced to go out of business. The Awl and The Harpin, two niche publishers are the latest victim. The inevitable truth is that social media platforms have to monetize their investments. But is throwing out the mom & pop publishers the right strategy? Can social media be social without original contents from main street?

With traditional channels like TV and Radio going obsolete, it makes sense that big brand advertisers like P&G want to monopolize the channels (Social Media) where the masses are. But how they do it matters. Can they expect the same reach and awareness by simply running picture perfect, studio edited ads on social media. Or should they create localized, social contents targeted towards each town and county? Given that masses are digitaly savvy and have a different taste than the previous generation, it makes sense that advertisers publish contents that are genuinely interesting to the millennials.

Partnering with small publishers like The Awl and The Harpin may be a viable option that should be explored by big brand names. Additionally, the social media platforms can risk alienating customers if it monetizes too quickly. The real challenge is to find ways to keep social media social.

There are many tools that are geared towards distribution and management of contents across different platforms. However, there are few that focuses on making contents social. Maybe that is the next wave of innovation waiting to happen in digital marketing.