A report from eMarketer says ad spending on social networks like Facebook and MySpace will hit the $4 billion mark by 2011. As marketers, I guess we should be excited. If that’s true, then why am I not?

I guess it’s because I believed the message of the Cluetrain that simply states “markets are conversations.” How silly of me.

Or, maybe it was something Internet pioneer Dave Winer said a little over a year ago, “When they finish the process of better and better targeted advertising, that’s when the whole idea of advertising will go poof, will disappear. If it’s perfectly targeted, it isn’t advertising, it’s information.”

Somehow, I don’t think that’s what the eMarketer report portends. It all depends on what they mean when they say “social media advertising.” If it works something like Beacon, count me out. Or, rather, opt me out. I don’t want the machine doing my word-of-mouth recommending for me. I can handle that myself, thank you very much.

Every marketing book I read lately echoes the same message: Advertising is dead. Markets are conversations. Participation is marketing. If that’s true, what will advertising look like in 2011? What will be its place?

We’ll see. The money’s on the table, and it’s circulating social media’s way, that’s for certain. I suspect many surprises await. Uncertainty is the order of the day.

Filed under: Industry News, Marketing Trends, Personal Opinions