To say Facebook has been under siege by Google would be an understatement. Google has been attacking social harder than ever over the last few months, culminating in the launch of Google+ to the world earlier this week. Facebook has 800,000,000 users. Google has less than 30,000,000. But does that number really matter? For those that think this is a zero sum game pitting two goliaths against each other, you are missing the big picture. Social Media is about to become a part of everything we do within the next two years. That’s the real story.

When Mark Zuckerberg walked out on stage today and announced Timeline and the new Open Graph, there were many reasons for people to get excited. It’s a new beautiful profile. There are new actions you can tell people about, and heck, it’s a beautiful way of looking back at your past! It’s like scrapbooking 2.0. I’ve been playing with it since this morning and plan on spending the next few days becoming an expert in what Timeline means to Social Media. However, rather than re-hashing what you can read about on almost every technical news site out there, I wanted to give you my thoughts as to why there has never been a better time to embrace social media, and get socially naked. Things you do on a daily basis that don’t involve Social Media, are about to feel “broken”.

Social Media will be Everywhere

Social media is now ubiquitous. Let me repeat that. Social Media is now ubiquitous. Everything you do, from going to the mall, to buying a television at Best Buy is about to only happen after you engage in social media. Let me give you a few examples if you don’t believe what I’m saying:

• Would you buy a television because you saw a $10,000,000 super bowl add, or would you buy it because 20 of your friends bought that same television and love it.
• Would you read that newspaper article people it was on the cover of a newspaper you barely read, or would you read it because 30 of your friends read that article.

Imagine for a second a world where you walk into Best Buy, and your phone buzzes. It tells you that 100 of your friends have bought something from Best Buy in the last month. Care to know what? Absolutely. You click in. Then you find out that they bought a new camera that was on sale, a video game, and the new Star Wars Blue-Ray Trilogy (even though it has all the edited scenes). Guess what? You are about to walk out of Best Buy with a few items you probably didn’t think of buying.

Facebook’s goal isn’t to connect you with friends anymore. They’ve already done that. Facebook’s goal is to connect you, with everything! Your television, your favourite foods, the movies you watch, the video games you play, and the music you listen to. Facebook’s goal is to build the platform on which all your social media activities occur. And if you believe that everything you do will feel “broken” without social media integration, that’s pretty much everything.

Media Will Be Transformed

How do you read newspapers today? You read articles, and press “like” in some rare cases where the newspaper has created some social media integration. Now imagine a world where you read an article, and automatically tell all your friends what article you just read.

How do you watch movies today? You rent them on your PVR or at the local video store if you still have one nearby. You don’t watch them with friends. Then you run to facebook or the phone or text messaging or the water cooler to tell people how the movie was. What if you could just watch the movies together?

How do you listen to music today? You download music from iTunes, your rip CD’s to your iPod, you make cd’s to listen to in the car.  When people get in the car you want to share the music you listen to (don’t lie). Music is a social experience that isn’t social. Now imagine a world where you can listen to music with your friends. Imagine seeing what your friends are listening to, and just listening right along with them.

The World Is Changing

In two years, any screen that doesn’t have touch will be considered broken. In two years, the most powerful computer you can buy today will be considered mediocre at best. In two years, your smartphone will be more powerful than your current computer. In two years, anything that doesn’t have Social Media, will feel completely broken.