2012 Book Review: "Socialnomics" by Erik Qualman

"Socialnomics"
by Erik Qualman
Reviewed by Joan Carleton

Socialnomics is described by Erik Qualman as "the value created and shared via social media and its efficient influence on outcomes (economic, political, relational, etc.). Or, more simply put, it's Word of Mouth on digital steroids."

"Socialnomics" is a must-read for anyone interested in the impact of social media on society. While it is not a book on social media 101, it instead offers case studies and explanations of social media theories. It creates food for thought on ways to implement this strategy into your own company's marketing model.

Qualman makes arguments that investing time in social media actually makes a person more productive. He recognizes that social media has lent itself to the inability of people to write correctly and speak in public, however, the positives of social media strongly outweigh the negatives. Social media makes sense of excess information on the web. A Nielsen Study concluded that 78 percent of people trust peer recommendations, as found through social media, whereas only 14 percent trust advertisements. Facebook is not just about cultivating relationships with people, but it is a big reason behind why Barack Obama is President and why different companies have created names for themselves.

Qualman concludes that Word of Mouth has become World of Mouth. Qualman states that if Facebook were a country, it would be the third largest in the world only behind China and India. However, some of China's social media are even larger than Facebook. Traditional advertising agencies need to switch over to this new form of marketing to keep up with the consumer base of today.