You see it all around us.  Twitter.  Facebook.  Blogs and an infinite line of commentary from readers becoming the new producers of ideas.  We have come a long way since the first real paradigm shift in media when print became a way of communication which was soon followed by the invention of the telephone.  Soon after, the creation of film changed the world.  And now we have the world wide web.  We have gone from "one to one", to "one to many", to "many to many" communication.  

Until quite recently, many countries believed that information could be controlled and filtered.  This was based on the fact that information was usually generated by professionals, came in slowly and through predictable channels.  During the 1917 Russian Revolution, the Bolsheviks' first steps were to seize the telephone exchange, the railway stations and the main bridges going in and out of Petrograd, the capital of the Russian Empire. This allowed them to control the message about the revolution and to prevent counter-revolutionary propaganda. They then used the wireless room of a loyal warship to broadcast messages appealing to the Russian people to support the revolution. 

Even countries such as the "great firewall of China" using cyber tactics to control the likes of Google, can't control the power of the social community as  was evidenced when the earthquake hit their country in 2010.  People became aware of the earthquake via Twitter even before it was detected by authorities.  Social media has started to play an incredibly important role in on-ground reporting, relief effort coordination and fundraising as seen with recent natural disasters like the South East Asia Tsunami and Hurricane Katrina.

And the most recent example of the power of social media is the "Million Man March" in Egypt that erupted on Feb 1 2011.  The revolution and coordinated efforts to demonstrate and congregate at the Tahrir Square was something that evolved through organizers on Twitter and Facebook.  The power of social media has penetrated through the usual dividers of society such as status and wealth.  It has become the great equalizer of men and is a powerful force that needs to be respected and harnessed.  

Pharma needs to learn the lessons from society on the natural power of this new paradigm.  All of the regulations and compliance guidelines in the world will not stop the natural proclivity for people to congregate around a cause or a disease or a new medication that could save their life.  People will talk about their products, rate their patient programs, promote their diagnostics and rally against the high cost of co-pays.  People will create foundations to raise money for surgical interventions and create media frenzies around non reimbursed medications.  It is up to pharma to responsibly participate in the conversation that is already occuring.  Not to control it, but to find intelligent, respectful and creative ways to engage in the open dialogue.  

The people are the new journalists, the patients and consumers are the new publicists.  Expert opinion lies in the collective wisdom.  Truth can ebb and flow and could waver more erratically then it has ever done so in the past.  But individuals are no longer the final recipients of information that has been synthesized by "experts"-they have become part of the aggregating process and have gained power in creating and responding to information. We are connected to everyone now.  We are now, all literally, connected by 6 pixels of separation.

At one time, manufactured products like automobiles and televisions were very expensive to purchase.  Once the products became commoditized, they became cheaper and accessible to almost everyone.  This used to be the case with knowledge.  It used to be that only scholars or priests would be educated and that individuals with less stature were left uneducated.  Knowledge was power and if you were on the less fortunate end, you were not given access to information or connections.  Now, technology is more accessible than ever and almost everyone has access to the intangibles via the internet.  Knowledge has become commoditized and people, regardless of stature or rank in society, can be "touchable" through social networks.  Everything is cheap to create.  Whatever you need, you can find on the internet.  For free.

The fuel and new currency for the economy of tomorrow will be based on your social networks.  The power of the people-- the collective wisdom-will generate the drive for your brands.  No longer should pharmaceutical companies feel that they need to develop their marketing plans in a vacuum and hope to generate interest through traditional promotional channels.  Your cloud of stakeholders are your holders of success, they will become your brand ambassadors or foes.  Tap into that.  Carefully and prudently.  But don'tignore it.  It is going on all around you as we speak. 

Be cognizant of the world around us now.  Of the controls that organizations like the CRTC have been trying to put on the wave of the future.  By raising costs associated with downloads through internet connections, they are trying to control the rate of new entrants coming into the new media space and hence prevent the rapid decline of the traditional media moguls.  But like a dam being built to stop the flow of water, it won't take long before the powerful force of the current will eventually break through the blockade. 

The regulators that create controls around the pharmaceutical industry need to be reminded of this important analogy.  No legislation to prevent pharma from speaking to patients about their products is going to prevent the surge of conversation that is already taking place on the internet.  All protectionism strategies to foster the traditional models and systems will be illuminated by the dialogue looming around them.

Pharma should consider the story of the frog when it comes to dealing with social media.   If put into a pot of boiling water, a frog will immediately jump out before it is too late.  If, however, a frog is put into a pot of lukewarm water, it will say to itself, "hmm, I'm a little uncomfortable" but will keep swimming along like there was nothing going on until it becomes boiled to death.  

The lesson in the story.  Don't become a boiled frog.  Stay attuned to the changes and do something about it.  Social media is bubbling the waters…..