What Is Social Media?
Social networking by computers is not a new thing. It began long ago, before the Internet. The author reflects on the pre-internet BBS scene, in which individuals connected via a modem to a host computer where they shared a pool of resources and engaged one another through e-mail and threaded discussions. AOL and CompuServe came along, and people socialized. Discussion groups and interactive chat were some of the first applications developed for the Internet proper (i.e., WWW).
Blogs emerged in the 1990's, but these are not new concepts either. They are merely a standard and user-friendly method of maintaining a personal Web site. The same is true of sharing photos and videos, creating a discussion group, and all the other elements of the "new" social media. The author lists several services of a similar nature (Blogger, Twitter, FaceBookm YouTube, Flickr, etc.) It's not new at all - but has been made more accessible, so its popularity with the hoi polloi seems like a recent explosion.
The concept of "Web 2.0" is based on a more active use of the Internet, in which the avenge user is publishing more actively than ever before. This empowers the average individual (not just the "geek") to communicate, and dilutes the power of those who once controlled communication: the mass media and the advertisers who funded their efforts.
Five Fundamentals of Social Media
Technology aside, Web 2.0 is about a "philosophy" and "culture," which the author discusses in terms of "five fundamental tenets"
One: Democracy
The online media has made communication open to the masses. A comparison is drawn to the traditional media, in which a lot of capital is needed to create a newspaper, radio station, or television station, so the information is published and controlled by a selected few. Social media turns that around.
There are criticisms of the Internet as a public medium, where unreliable sources publish "amateurish" content, but given the inherent distrust (which sometimes is entirely deserved) of the powers that control mass media, many are willing to accept these sources as authentic, and place in them greater trust than they do in traditional media.
The term "citizen journalism" refers to the practice of individuals collecting, analyzing, writing, and spreading news and information, and the ability of others to critique or comment is seen as a balance against abuse. The mixed attempts of the traditional media to fight back, by either discrediting citizen journalism or attempting to bring it under their wing, are evidence of its growing influence.
Some examples are given:
- Participatory News (OhnNews and NowPublic) - Provides a news wire service to citizen journalists to aggregate their reports.
- Collaborative News (Digg, Newsvine) - Enables individuals to "flag" stories as a method of sifting through the clutter to help find the items of greatest interest
- Blogs and Forums - The operator of a blog or moderator of a discussion forum may forus on news.
- Independent Sites (Huffington Post and Drudge Report) - Sites operated by individuals who act as editors and do their own reporting or coordinate the reporting done by others.
As more readers turn to these vehicles as a primary news source, PR professionals must court them in order to reach their audience.
Two: Community
The notion of community did not exist in the traditional media, except perhaps in the (largely ignored) op-ed pages of newspapers or "letters to the editor" of a magazine. Even in those instances, it was understood that a great deal of editorial discretion was used, and it wasn't really "community" so much as the editor granting concessions to dissenters in an attempt to maintain a perception of objectivity.
But where the Web is concerned, a community of users with similar interests forms around many sites and blogs, and their publishing is less in the nature of information for an anonymous audience than it is in the nature of participating in a community to which each participant "belongs" and has a voice.
Three: Collaboration
While there are instances in which a single user speaks to a mass audience, Web 2.0 is often about masses of individuals working collaboratively. Phenomena such as social bookmarking, "wiki" sites, and mash-ups, are evidence of users who contribute their individual efforts to a common task or body of information.
A few examples are given:
- The Library of Congress leveraged "crowd sourcing", in which individuals were invited to write captions and descriptions for media files (images) to make them more accessible to others.
- Peer-to-peer lending and "group giving" enable Web users to provide loans to other users, whether for profit or out of charitable motives
- Wikipedia is cited as one of the largest and most successful collaborations in human history, in which hundreds of thousands of users have contributed their time to write, edit, or moderate articles as a reference for others.
Four: Scope
The author admits this is next of kin to "democracy," but the Internet facilitates communication and collaboration on an unprecedented scope. Barriers such as time, distance, and cost-of-entry are eliminated, and the amount of space is functionally infinite and increasingly accessible.
Five: Authenticity
The author describes the internet as a "cult of honesty" where people expect others to be honest and forthright, and expect the same of others. A few examples are cited at the outrage at lonelygirl15 (a video blogger who was later found to be an actress).
(EN: I'm not convinced of this. There are sites where people are expected to be open about their true identity. However, there are also numerous sites where anonymity is the norm, and where users are expected to use "handles" or participate "in character" - and these came before the current "come as yourself" sites. Plus, with the growing intrusion of employers onto the Internet and the abuse of personal information by them , it may be common that people go back "under cover")
What Is Social Media Marketing?
"Social media marketing" is the use of social media channels to "promote" your company and products The author suggests that it "qualifies as" a form of viral or word-of-mouth marketing.
(EN: the author is wobbling a bit. The word "promote" has a specific meaning in marketing, and the author uses it in a more general sense. He also overlooks that viral and word-of-mouth are not things that a company proactively does, but the results of voluntary actions taken by individuals in response to an action that may not have been intended to have that precise effect.)
A few reasons that companies should "embrace" social media marketing: the Internet is outpacing traditional media channels with certain demographics, online efforts are more measurable than traditional media, and an online "buy" has greater longevity. (EN: all true, but oblique.)
He also indicates that the goal of social media marketing is "increased online visibility." Having visibility means getting more attention (by way of links and references that drive visitors to your Web site) and more products sold, but seems to be implying that these are by-products.
(EN: borrowing on concepts from traditional marketing, "promotion" deals with activities undertaken to get a specific and immediate reaction, such as a product buy. This is more along the lines of brand development - increasing awareness and creating a positive impression that will eventually, and indirectly, lead to more product sales. The concept is softer, less measurable, and much more difficult to get executives to open the coffers, which may be why he seems to avoid that analogy.)
Sober Second Thoughts
The author indicates that social media marketing is not for everyone, and there are a couple of instances where it won't work. Specifically, if your customer base does not use the Internet or social media, it will never reach them. Likewise, if your business is not online (or has a site that does not play a key role), there is limited benefit to social marketing. If you do not have the resources or are not willing to commit them, a half-baked effort could do more harm than good.
And a warning that if your competitors are already in the space, with blogs and profiles and active participation in the social scene, it's going to take a lot of effort to catch up. If they aren't, then it doesn't necessarily mean it's a bad idea - and diving in could help you to establish a lead.
What You'll Need to Get Started
Time is the key ingredient in social media - you don't buy it and sit back, but have to invest time (EN: or hire staff to invest time) in active participation: developing and publishing content, monitoring and responding to content published by others, and dealing with the responses to your content and responses to your responses. It's a significant time investment.
Getting buy-in from superiors is another key factor. If the organization doesn't value it, it's not going to get the support it needs, and it will wither and die. If the execs fear it will draw criticism, the lawyers fear the potential liabilities, and the marketing department doesn't want to devote time or resources, then just walk away.
Finding people with expertise may be difficult. Look to recruit or enlist individuals with social media experience, who already have familiarity and knowledge and will not have to learn as they go. Gain expertise by reading all you can on the subject and experimenting with in personally before you dive in with the company's brand.
Pace of Change
The author notes that social media moves "at lightning speed" and you will need to keep track of the trends in order to stay current. Keep an eye on blogs about social media, and surf the communities with an eye toward what is new or changed.
(EN: The author doesn't mention that books contain stale information, probably because he'd like people to buy this one, and that even magazines and televised news tend to lag months behind the current online trends.)