While we as kids of today may embrace new technology–email, text, Twitter, Flickr, Facebook, whatever social network is hot; we can do it all from our cell phones–the real facts are society has not.  The people who matter now, right at this instant are in their late 30′s, 40′s, 50′s and above.  These are all the people who have equity, these are the people that–for lack of a better word–yuppies will be come.  Those who are in their late teens and early 20′s challenging the brands will eventually mature and move their business plans in a more conservative direction.  Playing as if you have nothing to lose is fun when your young, you can bounce back.  Playing with everything at 50 is a scarier concept.

My point is, society has not accepted the Twitters and the Facebook.  The phone is still in, have you heard of it?  That is, or was, the primary function of the device you hold in your hand.  Not to surf the web, not to send text, not to check out what your girlfriend is doing on Facebook; it is to call people.  When some one who is influential wants answers, and wants them now, they call.  Kids today have a problem interacting with people over the phone; I know I do or did.  I am slowly coming to terms that the way to get things done in this society is to call.  Pick up the phone, make the call, you will have an answer in seconds, not minutes, not hours, not days.  You just need to learn to talk to people, interact, adjust to the new social skill that has been around for 100 years.  Kids can’t be so scared to do anything that doesn’t involve the typed word.

To jump back to what Gary said about being patient, waiting and developing your brand takes time.  I feel that it only takes this time because we have become complacent.  Complacent with the time it takes.  We have adapted to a society that comes to us.  To develop ourselves, we need to put ourselves out there in the real world.  Not just through social networks.  We need to live them, make the contacts, establish the connection in real life.  That’s how they did it before SMS.  That’s how companies were started and brands were made.  They did it then, and I bet it took a lot less time via word of mouth.