My Social Media Tipping Point

Malcolm Gladwell wrote The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make A Big Difference to illustrate how change happens as new ideas or technologies spread and gain momentum. He published Tipping Point in 2000, and at the time couldn't possibly have predicted the explosion of innovation and energy around social media.

Reflecting on the past week, I couldn't help but think that we're either at or past the tipping point for social media. It's beginning to feel like traditional media begins to take it's place with land lines and video stores as businesses whose best days are clearly behind them. Here are a few of the things I saw this week that convinced me:

• The Haitian relief efforts were led by Twitter and mobile texting, which raised $5 million in 12 or so hours, and continues today
• The embarrassing conclusion to NBC's Jay Leno experiment, as the once-proud peacock crumbled under the pressure of desperate local affiliates
  
• At our New North Social Media Breakfast Tuesday, we listened to panelists representing fine dining, a country western bar, and a business class hotel all describe how they were using social media as their new primary media to drive their brand message and promotional offers
• We started working with both a Canadian fishing camp and a country club to create social media plans to drive prospects
• Google is going eyeball-to-eyeball with China on issues of censorship, as the Chinese government tries to jam the social media genie back in the bottle.

Enough evidence? Tell me what you think---are we way paste the tipping point, or is it still to come? And how do you judge when we're there?