Embracing Transition

A lot of things have changed since the past decade. Teenagers on the present decade are innocently amused how a Walkman works compared to their high-end music players. But that doesn’t mean that music went out of trend. It never did.

Beyond the Box Communication

The birth of social networking sites paved a way for rapid growth of online users. More people are now inclined in creatively exchanging information across the globe. Even the baby boomers, who still love using their vinyl record, have ventured into the world of online socialization. Facebook, one of the largest social networking sites, tops a population of 300 million users. It’s almost as large as the U.S. population.

People nowadays can be connected whenever and wherever. Whether they maybe traveling around town or simply sitting down at the office, social networking sites allow individuals to communicate and even share information through various forms of media. They may be in status updates, photos, videos, audio, blogs, etc. What percent of the online population are addicted to ‘Facebook-ery?’ or ‘Twitter-ey?’ In an article from SocialNetworkingWatch.com, it reports, "Internet users in August spent 17% of their surfing time on social network and blogging sites, nearly triple the percentage of time spent on such sites a year ago, according to Nielsen". People are now often checking their mobile phones for updates and information on their social networking site accounts. We just could not get enough of staying connected. Social networking sites seemed to become a web of thread that further expands endlessly.

Online Key

Radicti.com reported that the number of worldwide email users is projected to increase from over 1.4 billion in 2009 to almost 1.9 billion by 2013. Now that’s a lot of email subscribers. Apart from email being the classic channel for communication, we must admit that email accounts are our passes to engage in the cyber world. It is through our email accounts that we create our profile as an online user. Our email accounts serve as our identity when we interact online. It’s the key to unlocking optimum internet utilization. A proactive online user could not disregard the importance of acquiring and maintaining email accounts. After all, personal and business communications are done through emails.

Email vs Social Networking

Just recently, an article from Wall Street Journal claimed that email no longer rules, and its rank is replaced by social networking sites. The article garnered attention, and flourished into various and a series of article rebuttals from all over the internet. The topic grabbed attention and totally sparked interest to millions of users. It delved on the subject on whether or not email was still the king of online communication. Although it created different kinds of insights, discussions were able to evaluate how communication was repackaged, and how it affects the way we live. This only proves that the way we communicate is as important as communication.

Online Marketing

For book marketers, it does not have to be debatable. It doesn’t matter on which of the two, email or social networking, actually makes it on top. Social networking and email communications complement each other—both co-exist. "While the global reach, rapid adoption and high engagement found in social media have email marketers salivating at the potential these environments offer to engage with customers and prospects, the real challenge is how best to facilitate meaningful interactions," quoted from the article Integrating Social Media with Email Marketing by Chris Crum.

Email marketing is a proven efficient tool in promoting books. It boasts in having to target demographically, reaching the right consumers. Social networking sites on the other hand boosts on building and expanding online relationships. It can further cultivate connections that would add competence to any book campaign. However, one would have to properly invest a huge chunk of time in building online social rapport. When properly used, email and social networking is a powerful combination in multiplying the echoes of book campaigns.

Utilizing Transitions

As the years will pass, we will continue to experience rapid developments in technology that can either have the best or the worst. The evolution on the way we communicate is endless. But developments in technology on the way we communicate can be best utilized when we exert efforts to learn and assess towards effective communication.