Social Media is not the Answer, it's the Question

We get to practice communications, we don't "know" it. The largest part of the budget in time and effort should be spent on listening, seeing, and testing the application of what we learn.

Participation is a lot more productive when it is focused and thus sincere. You are there because you want to be, and you are deriving value from it.

Resist the temptation of going in with a bunch of answers. Answers are not conducive to learning. Instead, when your posture is one of true inquiry, then you start cooking.

Remember that scientists and inventors are by nature curious people, individuals who have plenty of questions. Questions are you key to discovery. You won't know until you ask.

Now that you're asking, does social media make sense for your business? Two more questions:

1. if your customers are online, what is your purpose?
2. with that focus in mind, what is the context?

You can't give away what you don't have... and you can't take it from those who do have it. With that in mind, is social media the cure? [inspired by Seth Godin]

Comments

[Matt J McDonald]

Great stuff!

I think people have stop looking at social media with a "what's the ROI?" point of view. It's something that we're still trying to figure out and quantify. That being said, It doesn't make sense for people/companies/brands to just jump in and start one-offing social media programs because a CMO somewhere read about it in a Fast Company they bought in an airport. Social media, and conversation in general, is a powerful thing. Most importantly though, it's something that can't be taken back once you do it, and a bad effort is usually worse than no effort at all.

[Ignacio]

I don't think social media is "the cure." But, it is an unprecedented way to practice the conversation part of communications.

I think what's happening now in the corporate world is that the opportunity is there to leverage social media for the conversation, but there's hesitation because of fear of what we're gonna hear back, and fear that we're gonna hear it directly comming back at us. We're so used to "talking at" audiences, not sitting down and having a conversation. And you also need a genuine culture of conversation in a company to make the jump.

Interesting times and challenges, I think, going on in communications and how social media will evolve and what it will do, if any, to the nature of corporate communications.

Ignacio

[Geoff Livingston]

Two ears, one mouth: A proportion that should be observed in more ways than one!

[Valeria Maltoni]

@Matt - it is a commitment and it needs to be strategic for businesses to keep it. It is also an opportunity and can provide great insights into how to improve offerings.

@Ignacio - I am glad you are bringing up the question of culture. It is key to success and should be the first thing to be addressed.

@Geoff - yes.

[ronald Sorenson]

We must be creative and be outside the BOX

[ronald Sorenson]

What I mean is we well most of us get stuck in the box and follow. We are never in the box in fact what is the box? Creative thinking is the key to building creative social networks, creative networks pushing the envelope and always being on the cutting edge is the only way we know. It must be the A. D. D. in my brain but lets see and woul like to speak to any real person that is intrested. Thank You. Ron