Like any disruptive innovation, social media has come at a time when everything in our lives — online and offline — has changed so dramatically. We could almost document the rise of social media over the past 18 months of turbulence in the US and abroad. So it’s no coincidence that social media will become the marketing be-all as we kick off a new decade: social media will be to 2010 what email was to 2000.

We’re starting this journey and mapping out a new course, making it up as we go along, friending each other — PR and Social Media — until we get it right. There are many lessons to be learned and like anything new, there are bound to be mistakes. Practice, after all, makes perfect. Companies big or small are not immune to public ridicule in having “tweeted” out of line or handled a social media crisis poorly. Corporate Tweeting now comes with a 25-page “how to” manual. PR companies, digital marketers and corporate Tweeters – we are bound to mess up along way. The point is that most of us simply don’t know until we try.

The article as a whole is a good one to read for any PR/Marketing person working at for a brand or at an agency getting into Social Media Marketing.  And, yes I am taking just one of the many points that author, Vanessa Horwell brought up.  But I think it is a valid  thought to bring up the idea that social media is NOT the marketing be-all.

It is not.

It is still just as much about the message as it is about the medium.  Social Media is a buzz worthy word, but it is a tool.  A simple and fun tool, yes.  But still — it is only a tool to get your message across.

As soon as people see them like this, the sooner Social Media won’t seem as scary to brands as it once was.