社交媒体泡沫破裂之后

    而社交媒体也正大举进军企业应用领域。全球按需CRM解决方案领导者Salesforce.com刚刚以7亿美元竞购了Buddy Media这家社交媒体营销领域的领先公司。而此前微软公司（Microsoft）以近两倍的价格收购了Yammer，后者是一家专攻商业领域的社交网络。最近，谷歌则收购了Buddy Media的竞争对手Wildfire。同时，麦肯锡全球研究院（McKinsey Global Institute）7月发布的研究报告称，社交媒体能为企业带来效益，主要是提升生产效率。这一点让社交媒体给娱乐、媒体和商业等面对消费者的行业带来的好处显得相形见绌。

    因此，现在人人喜欢拿商务社交网站LinkedIn非凡的成功说事也就不足为奇了。LinkedIn刚好处于消费者领域和企业领域的交叉地带。多年来，这家略显沉闷、刻板保守的商业人际网络始终在Facebook的阴影下默默成长。它从未经历过Facebook、Twitter或Pinterest那样火箭般的飞速增长。与Facebook、Zynga或面对消费者的行业如不同，它在IPO时似乎并未溢价发行。自15个月前上市以来，它每个季度都能交出可靠的财务数据。结果，它现在已是一家市值100亿美元的社交媒体巨擘了，它的员工和投资者都没有什么可抱怨的。也许，它的成功最好地证明，目前社交媒体之所以出现危机，很大程度上来自于大多数人不切实际的期望。Thrillist.com这家网站主要服务于那些依靠社交媒体获得受众的人。 “每个人都想脱离实际，一步登天，”网站首席执行官本•勒若说。“不过从根本上说，社交媒体还是有价值的。”换句话说，泡沫已经破裂，但天并没有塌下来。

    译者：清远

    And social media is also making major inroads in the enterprise. Salesforce.com (CRM) just competed its acquisition of Buddy Media, the social media marketing pioneer, for nearly $700 million. The deal follows Microsoft's acquisition of Yammer, the business-focuses social network, for nearly twice that much. More recently, Google bought Wildfire, a Buddy Media rival. Meanwhile, a study published in July by the McKinsey Global Institute suggests that social media could deliver gains in the enterprise, mostly in productivity, that could dwarf the benefits of social in consumer-facing businesses like entertainment, media and commerce.

    Perhaps its no surprise then that the one, untarnished mega-success that everyone likes to point to -- LinkedIn (LNKD) -- lives at the intersection of the consumer and enterprise worlds. For years, the boring, buttoned-down, business network grew in Facebook's shadow. It never experienced the kind of rocket ship ride that lifted Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest. Unlike Facebook or Zynga or Groupon, it didn't seem to overprice its IPO. Since going public 15 months ago, it has delivered solid financial results quarter after quarter. As a result, LinkedIn is now a $10 billion social media juggernaut, whose employees and investors have few reasons to gripe. It is perhaps the best illustration that the current social media crisis is largely one of massively overblown expectations. "Everyone got out over their skis," says Ben Lerer, the CEO of Thrillist.com, a Web site targeted at men that relies on social media to build its audience. "But there is still fundamental value here." In other words, the bubble has popped, but the sky isn't falling.