The confusion, I think, stems from the fact that people are still trying to measure everything by the dollar. And, the value, will be best identified when a non-cash currency is used to evaluate this value. Currently, if they don't see a way to directly 'monetize' their time spent on social media platforms, they give up.
What I'd like to see more of is measuring input to social media with another output than dollar bills (ya'll). Whether it's knowledge sharing, awareness, or whatever it needs to be developed in such a way that it's easy to understand and communicate to a broader audience.
Now the challenge, defining that currency. I'll have to get back to you on that.
I do think there is a slew of folks that still don't get what social media is. Yep, I agree that there is a curiosity floating about, but the way in which the media and geeks like us explain the tools seems far fetched to most everyday people.
Let's take a conversation I had with my mom:
'What's Twitter?'
'A way to connect with folks around the world'
'How do you use it?'
'Well, I put a message in 140 characters from either my computer or iPhone'
'Why 140 characters?'
'That's the limit'
'Oh, but you talk alot, that's not going to work'
'Well mom, you see, there are ways to shorten the messages and I find out about news, events and even store discounts'
'I don't want people knowing what I'm doing all the time. That's weird. Want a cuppa coffee?'
'Ok'
:)
I was in China, told my non Twittering fiance that I wouldn't be able to txt or call much because I don't have an int. cell phone. Then I said, I could Twitter, so now she uses twitter.
Game over.