I once attended a work event where someone explained how he knew the so-called “tech bubble” of the early 90’s was over and done. It was Christmas Eve, he said, and his retired, conservative mother-in-law asked if she should own shares of Amazon.com. As he told it, at that very moment he turned to his wife and said: “That’s it, tech’s done.”
If we go by that logic social media is done. Yes, if that is the correct indicator the social media bubble is about to pop. How do I know? Simple, at a mother’s day brunch earlier today my grandma opined, “The kids today, they don’t realize what goes on the internet is forever, but it’s all there on Twitter.” Here’s the thing: MY GRANDMA DOES NOT EVEN OWN A COMPUTER! (In fact, I’m pretty sure if you handed her one she’d hand it right back and then go fry up some potato pancakes.) If grandma is dropping Twitter references with ease, it has clearly hit a critical mass. And not necessarily in a good way.
Now, whether it means social media is overhyped or not is debatable. Honestly, she probably knows what Twitter is just from watching the nightly news and I don’t think it’s completely mainstream yet. How do I know THAT? Simple, I was the only person at the table who immediately whipped out a phone to tweet about it!