You see band-aid commercials on television all the time and from the looks of it band-aids are better than sliced bread. The manufacturers claim that band-aids heal cuts faster, have no-ouchie removal, etc.

Seriously, when was the last time you bought band-aids? Did they really heal your cut faster? At least for me they still pull skin and hair when removed and I swear my cuts heal faster if I don’t cover them up.

What does this have to do with social media?

From an advertising standpoint, social media is not a cure-all that will fix the current sorry state that online advertising is. I don’t think will ever be as such. Sure social media is bright and shiny and many people are using it. Problem is advertising companies believe they can jump in and commercialize social media. While they may get a toe in the door, that is about as far as it will go in my opinion. That is of course until they begin annoying with motion video ads and audio like as they currently do on many websites.

It is a sad state of affairs when I read a web page that has an aggravatingly annoying dancing woman on an insurance advertisement. All I have to do it click and go somewhere else. Guess what Mr. website owner, you just lost me as a reader. Same thing for those half page or full page wait 15 seconds ads. I can find my news on other sites and never return to your website.

However, I digress. One of the nicest things about social media such as Twitter, FriendFeed, Mashable,StumbleUpon, Iminta, My Blog Log, Mixx and the other flavors of social media out there, is primarily there are no in your face annoying advertising and I can participate. It is simply as that. There is no need for a band-aid solution, no real pain involved, just enjoyable interaction with my peers.

The point I am trying to make is that there is no quick advertising fix with social media, the old methods *are not* going to work. And it is probably going to hurt advertisers a lot trying to figure this out.

Don’t get me wrong, advertising is necessary evil on the Internet. The problem is advertising and marketing executives across the planet still thing pestering users is the best answer. You go ahead and keep thinking that, scratch that head a while. Meanwhile I will be enjoying social media without your ilk annoying me. Sorry advertisers there are no band-aids for you in social media.

Add Comment