I think its all about education and fun. You have to love what you do and network with other people who know stuff you don't. Everyman is my superior in at least one way - as the saying goes.
Christopher S. Penn
· 1 year ago
Because the wider your net, the greater your opportunities.
A large bank in California hit me up on Facebook on Wednesday. Their student loan provider went out of business. A friend of a friend referred them to me.
Deal signed. Value: quite large (under NDA as to exact amount, but it's more than you and I will make in salary for a few years).
Cost? Only the cost of maintaining the net.
Laurent LaSalle
· 1 year ago
“Everybody else is doing it, so why can't we?”
Kyle Lacy
· 1 year ago
I'm pretty sure I could write a book on this topic. I will keep it short for the comment section. :-) As always, great post.
I am often questioned by friends and family pertaining to the amount of time I spend online. I try to focus on two things when talking to them about my obsession:
1. My Ego Centric Nature 2. Lust for Relationships and Connections
Social media communities have an ego-centric vibe about them. I don't think you can build "social capital" without adding in the ego. Let's face it. We love sharing and getting noticed for sharing.
Lust? Yes, I do have a lust for connecting. The richness of different personalities and ideas that people possess in the social media communities is, more often than not, overwhelming and AWESOME!
Richard Moriarty
· 1 year ago
I think it's just an edge for a lot of people. I'm not really in any business very seriously myself, so for me it's just a chance to trade thoughts with others... constantly.
johnrhopkins
· 1 year ago
I'm no expert, but I'd say that we could look to Anthropologists for some good info on the subject.
Some ideas that come to mind is the perception of safety in numbers, the desire to have others see what you do and to feed that inner voyeur in all of us.
Nishith Shah
· 1 year ago
We could do our job without cellphones. Can we now?
jon burg
· 1 year ago
It's all about perspective.
Within the four walls of my office, there are literally hundreds of employees, often living in the echo chamber that is the office.
Social media expands my workspace to include a community, and a incredibly smart one at that. There is only so far one mind can go. There is only so far one culture (or workspace) can go. But when you bring in the outsiders perspective, the freshness and newness of the constantly evolving social media scene, new worlds open up.
Paul DeLuca
· 1 year ago
Fun is definitely a factor. But I think it's more about the connections and sharing; the "collective consciousness". It's an opportunity to interact with great people you would never have met otherwise. It's also an opportunity to contribute, discuss, and collaborate in an ever-expanding environment.
FabianPattberg
· 1 year ago
I agree with everything here Chris. For me Twitter is useful to enhance my networking but most importantly it is about connecting with like-minded people, to learn and to have fun.
Kyle Lacy
· 1 year ago
Jon: It is encouraging to see people (all over the world) using social media to build community and knowledge capital in the company.
Major props for doing that.
Sorry I know this is Chris' blog. I just wanted to throw that out. :-)
Sam McArthur
· 1 year ago
I don't need these tools to actually do my job, but have met all sorts of interesting people through blogging/social networking that I wouldn't have met otherwise. Makes my day/work more fun, particularly when you work from home!
Bill
· 1 year ago
Why social media? Simple -- it's an opportunity.
I tried to break into the writing scene for years. I had a book on accounting all lined up. It took a new stance on how non-financial managers should get up to speed on financial statements. I looked at the market and saw that the other books were like training someone how to drive by taking apart a car engine and teaching them to be mechanics. I had a new approach.
I quickly learned that writing well is not enough. You need to be known. I was not.
Now, slowly and patiently, I am getting known. After blogging consistently for over a year, my blog has been picked up by Microsoft, Forbes.com and AccountingWeb. None of this would have happened without social media. My manuscript would still be sitting in the "reject" pile.
Thank you, social media gods!
Bill
DJ
· 1 year ago
I think Chris Penn is correct that there is value in putting yourself out there, but let's not forget the value of what we bring in as well.
Thanks to these technologies, I get the most pertinent information to my niche every day - all without spending hours flipping through the newspaper or flipping on the television. We have personalized news streams. A decade or two ago, this would have been incredibly expensive; now, it's free.
That's why I use all of these social media tools: because you guys are so smart and so relevant to my work, and because the information is so easy to filter.
Robert
· 1 year ago
communication. These social online gatherings are the easiest and quickest way to pass information from point A to B. I guess in some way this is the point of the internet - sharing the masses of information.
Suki Fuller
· 1 year ago
My life is information and I now have another tool by which to acquire.
Patrick Byers
· 1 year ago
I'm in agreement with most of those commenting above.
Social media is like all new technology--it's just another step in the process.
This platform will be built on like others before it, not unlike our progress from telegraph to telephone to fax to mobile phone to mobile computing.
The thing is, none of the progress before felt so, well, personal.
And that's what makes social media so cool.
klecu
· 1 year ago
As part of the (unofficial) web 2.0 think tank at my organization, I've had to consider this question. Others have answered and will answer much better than I can, but let me echo ronanob and say that it's about enabling connections between people. We can, with social media, advertise ourselves, our abilities, and our interests within a community, whether at work or in our personal lives. Ideally, I think this could lead to more people working on what they WANT to do with other people who WANT to do the same things. So whether someone looks at my Friendfeed, my Twitter stream, or my Facebook profile, they will see my interests and expertise. Talents will be published in a more natural way: by people being involved day by day rather than listing everything they have ever done in a skills database. Social media within the workplace also provides much more context than a static or mostly static list of abilities. You can see what people *are* working on, how they're doing (if they're really open), how they handle issues, etc. This is probably gathered already in a lot of orgs, but is not done "socially".
OK, enough rambling. Time for some sleep. Thanks for the thought-provocation.
Adam Christie
· 1 year ago
I work from home and for me listening to all the noise from twitter and the blogosphere makes me feel part of a community of like-minded people. On the other hand it seems like a monumental waste of time somtimes. Is anyone really listening to what I say? Doubt it!
Gianluigi Cuccureddu
· 1 year ago
Because humans have the urge to gather information - "infovores".
Why reinvent the wheel, whilst many others already have done it? To be this hyperconnective, gathering information is becoming very easy with much more accuracy.
David Cutler
· 1 year ago
These posts are are an ideal example of how many of us (wonderfully hyper-needy Early Adopters) want to share and learn.
Adam Zand
· 1 year ago
You asked about job functions and work rather than the great social benefits of SoMe (yay for Tweetups, YouTube/Qik recommentdations, links + post-event dinners/drinks!).
Communicators need to keep up with channels. The online and on-phone tools provide ways to get messages, offers, links, questions, etc. out to wide and targeted audience. The best interactive SoMe tools allow for rapid feedback that helps the communicators learn about preferances, passions and opportunities. Businesses can make more informed decisions based on this data/analysis.
Chris, you're correct that all is still possible without including the tools in the marketing mix, but why limit the ways you engage with the world and potential business benefits. Nicely questioned and even better - great comments above (and soon to be below) P.S. Is it blog commentiquette to say hi to Chris and Suki? Hi!
Clintus
· 1 year ago
It has something to do with attention. With social media people are paying attention to you and we can't get enough of it. In the real world your audience is the people around you at any given time. With the internet your audience is the world. At least that's what I think.
Roger
· 1 year ago
In my blog, I have speculated on this question. I believe there are two megatrends that underlie the emergence and evolution of social media.
First, we have an avalanche (tsunami, deluge, whatever) of information bombarding us daily, hourly, minutely--in fact every second we are at our computer, which is much of our waking day, and even more when we're online, which is most of the time we're using our computers. Social media is the most efficient way not just to gather information, but to make sense of it.
Second, humanity itself is evolving a new collective awareness that I term "panconsciousness". It’s the collective stream of conscious thought than no single one of us can grasp.
Perhaps this stream of thought can be likened to a hive mind. (A concept that Trekkies will be familar with!)
This is so much more than something that is just "about education and fun" and promoting oneself (it is those, of course). To opt out at this point is to relegate oneself to the equivalent of a subconscious thought in a single mind.
I am an introvert and social media allows me to reach out in a relatively safe environment. Another important aspect is that I am a continuous learner and I learn a lot from many people on Teitter. http://www.twitter.com/avilbeckford
Jamie
· 1 year ago
Chris,
Thank you for this engaging piece. It is Monday night in Japan and the following five thoughts, although improvised, are from the heart: an expression of my passion.
1. This way of communicating with far-off others, bringing them close, opens bridges for connecting with others who I normally would not have the chance to meet in my daily life.
2. Praising or analyzing others' work in a public space, having the means to readily do so, is important to me and helps the other persons' work grow or at least lets them know that there are others out there who admire their work and want to contribute.
3. In using social media sites/applications, a new sense of self emerges, a slightly objective self. We can learn a lot about ourself by how we interact with others online and who interacts with us.
4. It is nice to return home after working a full day and receive communications from someone interested in collaborating or networking. Expanding possibilities with creative people is worthy of my time.
5. The use of social media provides a nice outlet for my creativity. I can learn about others and how others communicate and use their language. In turn, they can learn about me. We can feed off of each other.
brant collins
· 1 year ago
It is the Long Tail of personalities. We as individuals are the niche and it is hard finding like minds to communicate with. When taken to the internet, you can find more people like you to communicate with.
Jim Canterucci
· 1 year ago
Practically, the answer to 'why social media?' is about opportunity cost. Yes, we can get by without it but what do we miss when we aren't involved. Last week, I signed a business transaction that was exclusively facilitated on Twitter. I would have been fine in my ignorance. But, rather we now have this new business. Opportunity cost - What is possible?
Now, to the bigger question. An innovation discussion. Do we need the resulting innovation? Did we really need the printing press, the automobile, the television, the airplane?
If you really think about it, we could have gotten by without these innovations. We didn't really NEED them. But, what I think we do need is the process of innovation, the habit of creating new things and turning them into a practical impact, to help fulfill our nature as humans.
Social media tools are no different. We don't really need the resulting innovation but the process of generating the innovation supports our nature as a species.
Robert
· 1 year ago
@Adam Christie: did you say something ;)
I think you make a point though. So much gets said, but how much really gets heard? I'd like to think that even when a reply is not noted that someone took the time to listen.
Adam Singer
· 1 year ago
It actually *is* my job to spend time on the network/learning it and spread messages here.
So, in answer to your post topic - I actually couldn't do my job without it =)
frank
· 1 year ago
This is so funny ... My wife was asking me this exact question last night.
Reading most of the comments is very helpful - the cover spo many reasons.
I'll keep mine simple ... For me, at this stage:
1. Fun 2. Educational/informatice 3. Exciting to connect with people smarter tham myselp 4. Opportunities 5. Sharing
You're right. Twitter, Flickr, blogging and all that good stuff is completely peripheral to my work. But if you consider the whole of my work-life, it's become essential.
Case in point: my mom checks my twitter. And my -- now dispersed -- extended family posts pictures to a family photo blog to stay in touch. And more than one business opportunity has come to me through friends that I've made through the blog.
Good conversation here, some really rich comments.
Thanks, Clay
Bill
· 1 year ago
I posted "Why Twitter Why Have a Website" http://prprof.typepad.com/index/2008/08/why-twi... a while ago and, in a nutshell/in my opinion, it comes down to staying current. Each technology stair steps on the last. It doesn't mean you need to tweet thirty times a day, follow 1,200 people and issue an afternoon blog every day, but it does mean we need to stay up to date.
Look at any other industry, auto, telecommunications, etc. and think about the drastic changes which have taken place over the years. Imagine not keeping up to date with the changes (I hesitate to say improvements but would also be applicable).
How we use the mediums is up to us, there are as many uses as there are users; stay close to friends, business purposes, etc. but not staying current isn't an option if you want to be part of the societal norm.
Stephen Jackson
· 1 year ago
For the small business owner, social marketing can be used as a way to not get out and network and meet face-to-face where the real dollars are made. People do business with the people they know.
I don't and can't know you by your online profile and tweets.
My Blog post that I was writing last night and finished this morning is about the benefits of face-to-face and social marketing.
The Redhead
· 1 year ago
Personally, it's the power of the human machine and the breadth I can gain through social media applications. I adore and find incredible value in the feedback and thoughts of my peers - people who would not be my peers if not for the power of the web. Who's to say relevancy exists only in your backyard?
For my clients, I think it's much of the same. Realizing that their clients are interacting on different level and empowering them to ACTIVELY engage.
The word "active," I feel, is key in the world of social media. No, social media isn't imperative to run your day-to-day (as soon to be evidenced in my own life as I head to Tanzania with shoddy internet access), but it enriches both my personal and business experience.
Yup - I tweet, feed friends, stumble, digg, and find things delicious. I don't need a 12-step program: I need SocNet plugins for Chrome!
@redheadwriting
Gyutae Park
· 1 year ago
Well quite frankly, because we can. Social relationships are becoming increasingly important in this Internet age and in order to reach our target audiences (who happen to be online) all of these tools and processes are crucial.
Sure, millions of people live fine without being on the Internet, but that will change in the coming years. Nothing has ever connected people like the Internet and adoption will continue to increase.
People used to live by candle light back in the dark ages and they did just "fine". But why would we go back?
dyonto
· 1 year ago
It seems to me that much of the focus on social media is driven by the fact that humans are social creatures. There is a need to connect with others, to learn from them. As many people have said when you are sitting in a cube or "echo chamber" you don't have many opportunities for direct socialization. This leads to finding alternatives that can be accessed from the cube. Everyone also likes to think that they have something to add to the conversation, that someone out there cares about their thoughts, or that someone can benefit from reading their ideas.
Laura "Pistachio" Fitton
· 1 year ago
Easy. Because I can do a lot more a lot faster.
I HAVE done my job and run my business without these tools. For YEARS. It didn't go particularly far. When people downplay the importance of Twitter and blogging to my success and say nice things about my innate abilities, I'm appreciative, but I gently remind them that I was me for 35 years before things took off.
Things took off for me when I was finally able to meet like minds all over the world, share ideas and information and cultivate more opportunities for many on many levels.
Ultimately, the tools MUST replace something your business already needs as a core function, or you are wasting time. Whether it's marketing, market research, prospecting, networking, staying on top of your industry, sourcing ideas or any number of other uses, social media tools must be applied to real business problems to be able to work.
The best hammer on earth is useless if you are not trying to nail things together.
Philip John
· 1 year ago
We are at the forefront of this new phenomenon. We are all thought leaders and we do that by discussing and sharing. Our collective intelligence breeds advancement for our small but growing corner of the web.
That's why we do this. Otherwise we'd all be stagnant.
Brent P. Newhall
· 1 year ago
Why do we do anything? It's fun and it feeds our interests.
Thomas Clifford
· 1 year ago
"What makes this our passion?"
We just want to tell our story.
Stories require a community to spread through.
So we think and tell stories together as a community.
It's a "community" story.
And maybe our story will change the world in some small way.
Laura Lee Dooley
· 1 year ago
Great responses to this question.
For me, social media started out as a way to share information about myself and my organization with others.
But it quickly turned into an online conversation with multiple voices.
Then it became a community of people working toward the same goals, learning from each other. In this community we develop friendships and trust.
The next step is leveraging the power of community to problem solve -- we're already seeing this, but we are moving toward doing this on a more consistent basis.
Larry Wilson 3
· 1 year ago
What makes this our passion?
That is my line...ha ha!
I use twitter because it is fun. I would not have known about Chris or this site with out twitter.
Our lives are busy, partly because we make it that way. Always cramming 5 hours of "stuff" (i.e. work, web projects, blogging, soccer practice) into 3 hours.
Using social media helps us stay connected with each other how we are feeling what we are thinking, learning and what we like. What games to play. mattbrett just posted he loves "Living on a Prayer" in rock band. Now I am going to try it.
A company can learn a great deal by listening to the tweets of its consumers. We also can learn a great deal from each other. We all have different interests and strengths. My passion is to talk about leadership, while Chris's passion is social networking.
First a little correction: "MILLIONS of people all over the world get by just fine without these tools."
I think "BILLIONS" is more accurate.
Second, my contribution to the conversation: All of the above.
John
· 1 year ago
It's the natural progression of geeks to a 'pull' system of information rather than the old 'push' of media and forum threading, be it RSS, Twitter, or similar Web2.x additions.
A few months ago I asked myself the same question if it was all 'necessary'. It really caused me to cease RSS reading/scanning and go more with following what I was interacting with directly through Twitter and comments elsewhere I'd engaged in.
Rather than having it all 'pushed' to me, I choose when I 'pull' it. With my schedule changes in my personal and professional life, the choice helped increase the quality of my lifestyle away from the keyboard as well as on it.
Alan Weinkrantz
· 1 year ago
Faith.
I have faith that somehow this stuff works and creates new life and business opportunities.
Jeremy
· 1 year ago
Of course you can do it w/o Twitter, but business and jobs are about relationships and networking. Twitter/FB/blogs etc. enable me to have meaningful conversations with significantly more people. It's crazy. Was thinking about it the other day. I spent the whole day in my office (working on a client deliverable), had 5 phone calls, but commented on anywhere from 50-100 tweets/posts/status updates (quickly) based on topics raised by my network. I connected and that connection leads to a more meaningful personal life AND a more profitable business life.
Resa Hoeller
· 1 year ago
I am the only person in my company dedicated to web strategy. I could never perform in this silo without the ability to reach out to others who have similar job responsibilities. Resources like RSS feeds, Podcasts, blogs and Twitter allow me to quickly find people and learn about new tools and industry events. I am starting to wonder if I could live without the blogs, twitter, etc.
Dale Cruse
· 1 year ago
Sure, I *could* do my job without Twitter. But why would I want to?
cherylsmith
· 1 year ago
My increased use of social media has helped me grow exponentially in the last year, both professionally and personally. I've gained visibility, information and opportunities for collaboration and real live business. I've been able to pass referrals more easily (see URL link).
And, I've met (online and IRL) some great folks!
Now, Chris, what are YOUR reasons?
Brett Borders
· 1 year ago
Because I am addicted to information. Lots of it.
Lani Voivod, Content Lover of
· 1 year ago
Chris, ya big tease! The "I know my answers" approach is equally incensing and brilliant.
I blog because I have to get at least some of what's flying around in my head out in the ether. (Once it's out, at least it's got the potential to do, be, or become something else.)
I tweet because I don't have the time to blog 1/32nd as much as I'd like -- and I can handle 140 characters here and there, on a whim, just to have some sense of action or accomplishment.
I throw my face and bio out on social networking sites because I hate to miss a party, and the Virtual Me can be in more than one place at the same time, hanging out with high school cliques, former colleagues, friends, strangers, and associates of all stripes, past 'n present.
As for why we -- the happy, blogging-tweeting-virtual-socializing collective -- thrive in this environment, I think it's for one or more of the following reasons:
-We dig random encounters. -We're into arbitrary voyeurism. -We've got a penchant for synchronicity. -We find it all very ADHD-friendly. -We live by one of two phrases: 1) "Because I can" and/or 2) "Because it's there."
Thanks for engaging us.
Best, Lani Voivod Co-owner and Content Lover of Epiphanies, Inc. www.EpiphaniesInc.com "A-Ha Yourself!"
Nearly Naked Ron
· 1 year ago
I do it because it is the only way to do Business Networking in your underwear. (That I am aware of)
paul merrill
· 1 year ago
@Kyle Lacy - "I don’t think you can build “social capital” without adding in the ego."
I must disagree a bit - our friend Chris Brogan has succeeded at this partly because of his humble attitude!
And Clay Parker Jones has a great post that mentions the value of humility too: "when was the last time you said, “I hate that guy. He’s so humble”? Never. You wouldn’t say that. Because people like humble people. Humility is part and parcel of putting others first and is absolutely part of what the brand in discussion is all about." Here: http://exitcreative.net/blog/?p=521
Diane Achatz
· 1 year ago
Certainly I could do my job without Twitter; however my job involves "relationship marketing" and Twitter is one way to build a relationship. I find now that I can follow and be followed by friends on Facebook, LinkedIn, and other groups. It's another way to "run into" friends all over the world.
Like anything else, Twitter is part of the buffet of life, so take what you need from it and let go of the rest.
seeking_balance
· 1 year ago
We're like the cool kids who were using the brick phones and pagers in 1991.
mythsnlegends
· 1 year ago
Of course we can live without twitter and other social networking sites! I think it's a good thing to get off it once in a while....and to live in the REAL world.
Socializing has taken a less personalized route nowadays. It worries me as we seem to do everything in the virtual world and it takes away the 'human' element.
I just hope that we don't forget how to make friends in real life and starts conversations in face-to-face interactions.
Just my two cents :)
AngelaConnor
· 1 year ago
I cannot, in all fairness, manage an online community and wear the title of ME of user-generated content, if I am not a "user" myself. If I want to grow a community and encourage others to engage in social media AND sell my own company on the importance of getting involved and having a presence, I need to understand it. In order to understand it, I need to live it. So, I live it. I can't help it if it happens to be fun and allows me to meet cool people along the way.
Tim Schigel
· 1 year ago
Social media allows us to easily and quickly connect with networks of friends and peers that matter to us most - and to find new ones. The media that transmit and receive information will always change, but as people who need to connect, we will always look for the next best thing to share our interests across our various networks.
Who knows? In 15 years, people will talk about Twitter the way we think of fax machines today. Regardless, the connections will remain.
-Tim Schigel, CEO, ShareThis
James Herbert
· 1 year ago
Twitter, among other (ok a bunch) of social networking tools, is a part of my personal learning system. I use twitter for a large number of things (see post here http://is.gd/2G9t). I am sure I could go without my social media learning system but I have found it very helpful to keep me in the know.
Besides, its to much fun to miss out on! ;-)
Mike Troiano
· 1 year ago
It's about relationships.
That's what business is about, and that's what life's about. Trouble is we don't have the time to support all the relationships we want or even need, which is why a whole raft of tools have arisen to help us.
Back in the day AOL's big secret was that e-mail and chat were the killer apps, not the content stuff Time Warner added later. Same with SMS in the mobile data business, and now with tools like Twitter online.
Social Networking = Scaled Intimacy. It really boils down to that, IMHO.
dawntrenee
· 1 year ago
Short and sweet we all love to socialize in one area or another. When you work at home there is no "water cooler". Twitter is the place to go, you can talk about your day, pass on recommendations or just complain if need be and ultimately promote yourself.
DeAnna Troupe
· 1 year ago
I know we could live without these tools. The connection helps when you work from home. It replaces the water cooler banter that you would have if you had a job. Using social media also gives you feedback when you're working on projects.
Susan Payton, The Marketing Eg
· 1 year ago
Great point. It's funny, we all band together, but in the "outside world," most people I meet haven't a clue what a blog is, let alone Twitter (that's why I'm looking forward to BlogWorld).
For me it's about adapting to change. I'm in marketing, so I'm really in internet marketing. Outside of work I'm really reluctant to do much social media bc it's my day job.
Robert Rowe
· 1 year ago
A friend of mine (who owns a 3D/Game-design company) asked me "What's the point of social media?". I directed him to your site, and started demonstrating it's importance. Networking = opportunity Social = me not going nuts
That about sums it up for me.
Gregory Heller
· 1 year ago
Without twitter i would not have found this blog post, and would not be posting a comment here right now! 1. i use the social web tools for work: keep up with others in my field. Tools like twitter are a "peripheral vision" of sorts. 2. I use the social web tools to pursue interests outside of work.
You are right though, i could probably do both without these tools, but i would spend alot more time on the phone, and alot more time reading through magazines, and alot more money on those magazines, and i still wouldn't get as much of what i need when i need it.
Rhian Daniel
· 1 year ago
I think most people here have said it. But I am relatively new to the social media world and am still exploring the opportunities it presents so don't have a specific business requirement at the moment. I think it's all about the information as I have learnt so much from following tweets, searching blogs and talking to friends online.
chrisbrogan
· 1 year ago
I sat on my hands for this many comments (partially because I had to play Mr. Mom yesterday), but you've all come up with some really great thoughts and ideas on why you do what you do with social media.
My answers for myself are that the web has finally enabled tools that extend us in a way that mimics enough of a read of our character that we can do business without the boundaries of time or location, or at least that we can start and extend several of the processes of business this way.
Nothing beats face to face, but the web has brought me an endless supply (so far) of people to meet, interesting opportunities to consider, and ways to work with it all.
This is the web I've been waiting for, which means that the future web will hopefully carry on and continue extending the parts I think are useful.
Haroun Kola
· 1 year ago
I may be addicted to Social Media. I spend most of my day connecting with people on them and looking for more people to connect to.
And this post made me spend a large part of the day, learning about trackbacks and trying to get them to work. I didn't quite succeed, I posted on my blog at:
and I was hoping it would appear as a ping back or link back, but didn't (Maybe someone can tell me what I'm doing wrong:)
I agree with Chris as he said in his last comment, this is also the web I've been waiting for.
Paul Roberts
· 1 year ago
Hey, great posting Chris. Love the comments too. Great stuff.
I've looked at this from an attention and participation point of view. Media shapes and influences. Social media shapes and influences, but it includes us. Mainstream media directional. Social media is interactive.
I agree, it's an opportunity. An opportunity to do things better, than we had done before. It's an opportunity to use things, that meant only fun for work. It's an opportunity to open up your mind to feedback of others and to constant change.
Adrienne Gonzalez
· 1 year ago
Beyond the obviously narcissistic angle (being able to be followed, asked for my opinion, and establishing a voice in my industry among the chatter), I think social media is especially important in my industry because I don't really get a chance to be "involved" without it.
I work in accounting education which means that a large chunk of my time is spent brushing up on industry trends (which expands to finance, management, and economics) - I can't imagine how long it would take me to comb through blogs without my connects to feed me the information I need throughout the day (this is where Twitter comes in especially handy). I see what people are talking about and get an instant picture of what matters to the folks I'm trying to tailor my social media and marketing efforts towards. I'm not an accountant but through social media, I'm able to connect to the industry and am accepted as one of their own in a way that probably wouldn't be too likely without the platform.
All Comments
A large bank in California hit me up on Facebook on Wednesday. Their student loan provider went out of business. A friend of a friend referred them to me.
Deal signed. Value: quite large (under NDA as to exact amount, but it's more than you and I will make in salary for a few years).
Cost? Only the cost of maintaining the net.
I am often questioned by friends and family pertaining to the amount of time I spend online. I try to focus on two things when talking to them about my obsession:
1. My Ego Centric Nature
2. Lust for Relationships and Connections
Social media communities have an ego-centric vibe about them. I don't think you can build "social capital" without adding in the ego. Let's face it. We love sharing and getting noticed for sharing.
Lust? Yes, I do have a lust for connecting. The richness of different personalities and ideas that people possess in the social media communities is, more often than not, overwhelming and AWESOME!
Some ideas that come to mind is the perception of safety in numbers, the desire to have others see what you do and to feed that inner voyeur in all of us.
Within the four walls of my office, there are literally hundreds of employees, often living in the echo chamber that is the office.
Social media expands my workspace to include a community, and a incredibly smart one at that. There is only so far one mind can go. There is only so far one culture (or workspace) can go. But when you bring in the outsiders perspective, the freshness and newness of the constantly evolving social media scene, new worlds open up.
Major props for doing that.
Sorry I know this is Chris' blog. I just wanted to throw that out. :-)
I tried to break into the writing scene for years. I had a book on accounting all lined up. It took a new stance on how non-financial managers should get up to speed on financial statements. I looked at the market and saw that the other books were like training someone how to drive by taking apart a car engine and teaching them to be mechanics. I had a new approach.
I quickly learned that writing well is not enough. You need to be known. I was not.
Now, slowly and patiently, I am getting known. After blogging consistently for over a year, my blog has been picked up by Microsoft, Forbes.com and AccountingWeb. None of this would have happened without social media. My manuscript would still be sitting in the "reject" pile.
Thank you, social media gods!
Bill
Thanks to these technologies, I get the most pertinent information to my niche every day - all without spending hours flipping through the newspaper or flipping on the television. We have personalized news streams. A decade or two ago, this would have been incredibly expensive; now, it's free.
That's why I use all of these social media tools: because you guys are so smart and so relevant to my work, and because the information is so easy to filter.
Social media is like all new technology--it's just another step in the process.
This platform will be built on like others before it, not unlike our progress from telegraph to telephone to fax to mobile phone to mobile computing.
The thing is, none of the progress before felt so, well, personal.
And that's what makes social media so cool.
OK, enough rambling. Time for some sleep. Thanks for the thought-provocation.
On the other hand it seems like a monumental waste of time somtimes. Is anyone really listening to what I say? Doubt it!
Why reinvent the wheel, whilst many others already have done it? To be this hyperconnective, gathering information is becoming very easy with much more accuracy.
Communicators need to keep up with channels. The online and on-phone tools provide ways to get messages, offers, links, questions, etc. out to wide and targeted audience. The best interactive SoMe tools allow for rapid feedback that helps the communicators learn about preferances, passions and opportunities. Businesses can make more informed decisions based on this data/analysis.
Chris, you're correct that all is still possible without including the tools in the marketing mix, but why limit the ways you engage with the world and potential business benefits.
Nicely questioned and even better - great comments above (and soon to be below)
P.S. Is it blog commentiquette to say hi to Chris and Suki? Hi!
First, we have an avalanche (tsunami, deluge, whatever) of information bombarding us daily, hourly, minutely--in fact every second we are at our computer, which is much of our waking day, and even more when we're online, which is most of the time we're using our computers. Social media is the most efficient way not just to gather information, but to make sense of it.
Second, humanity itself is evolving a new collective awareness that I term "panconsciousness". It’s the collective stream of conscious thought than no single one of us can grasp.
Perhaps this stream of thought can be likened to a hive mind. (A concept that Trekkies will be familar with!)
This is so much more than something that is just "about education and fun" and promoting oneself (it is those, of course). To opt out at this point is to relegate oneself to the equivalent of a subconscious thought in a single mind.
I share more thoughts related to this topic on my blog: http://snipurl.com/3qg09
Thank you for this engaging piece. It is Monday night in Japan and the following five thoughts, although improvised, are from the heart: an expression of my passion.
1. This way of communicating with far-off others, bringing them close, opens bridges for connecting with others who I normally would not have the chance to meet in my daily life.
2. Praising or analyzing others' work in a public space, having the means to readily do so, is important to me and helps the other persons' work grow or at least lets them know that there are others out there who admire their work and want to contribute.
3. In using social media sites/applications, a new sense of self emerges, a slightly objective self. We can learn a lot about ourself by how we interact with others online and who interacts with us.
4. It is nice to return home after working a full day and receive communications from someone interested in collaborating or networking. Expanding possibilities with creative people is worthy of my time.
5. The use of social media provides a nice outlet for my creativity. I can learn about others and how others communicate and use their language. In turn, they can learn about me. We can feed off of each other.
Now, to the bigger question. An innovation discussion. Do we need the resulting innovation? Did we really need the printing press, the automobile, the television, the airplane?
If you really think about it, we could have gotten by without these innovations. We didn't really NEED them. But, what I think we do need is the process of innovation, the habit of creating new things and turning them into a practical impact, to help fulfill our nature as humans.
Social media tools are no different. We don't really need the resulting innovation but the process of generating the innovation supports our nature as a species.
I think you make a point though. So much gets said, but how much really gets heard? I'd like to think that even when a reply is not noted that someone took the time to listen.
So, in answer to your post topic - I actually couldn't do my job without it =)
Reading most of the comments is very helpful - the cover spo many reasons.
I'll keep mine simple ... For me, at this stage:
1. Fun
2. Educational/informatice
3. Exciting to connect with people smarter tham myselp
4. Opportunities
5. Sharing
--
http://twitter.com/franswaa
Case in point: my mom checks my twitter. And my -- now dispersed -- extended family posts pictures to a family photo blog to stay in touch. And more than one business opportunity has come to me through friends that I've made through the blog.
Good conversation here, some really rich comments.
Thanks,
Clay
Look at any other industry, auto, telecommunications, etc. and think about the drastic changes which have taken place over the years. Imagine not keeping up to date with the changes (I hesitate to say improvements but would also be applicable).
How we use the mediums is up to us, there are as many uses as there are users; stay close to friends, business purposes, etc. but not staying current isn't an option if you want to be part of the societal norm.
I don't and can't know you by your online profile and tweets.
My Blog post that I was writing last night and finished this morning is about the benefits of face-to-face and social marketing.
For my clients, I think it's much of the same. Realizing that their clients are interacting on different level and empowering them to ACTIVELY engage.
The word "active," I feel, is key in the world of social media. No, social media isn't imperative to run your day-to-day (as soon to be evidenced in my own life as I head to Tanzania with shoddy internet access), but it enriches both my personal and business experience.
Yup - I tweet, feed friends, stumble, digg, and find things delicious. I don't need a 12-step program: I need SocNet plugins for Chrome!
@redheadwriting
Sure, millions of people live fine without being on the Internet, but that will change in the coming years. Nothing has ever connected people like the Internet and adoption will continue to increase.
People used to live by candle light back in the dark ages and they did just "fine". But why would we go back?
I HAVE done my job and run my business without these tools. For YEARS. It didn't go particularly far. When people downplay the importance of Twitter and blogging to my success and say nice things about my innate abilities, I'm appreciative, but I gently remind them that I was me for 35 years before things took off.
Things took off for me when I was finally able to meet like minds all over the world, share ideas and information and cultivate more opportunities for many on many levels.
Ultimately, the tools MUST replace something your business already needs as a core function, or you are wasting time. Whether it's marketing, market research, prospecting, networking, staying on top of your industry, sourcing ideas or any number of other uses, social media tools must be applied to real business problems to be able to work.
The best hammer on earth is useless if you are not trying to nail things together.
That's why we do this. Otherwise we'd all be stagnant.
We just want to tell our story.
Stories require a community to spread through.
So we think and tell stories together as a community.
It's a "community" story.
And maybe our story will change the world in some small way.
For me, social media started out as a way to share information about myself and my organization with others.
But it quickly turned into an online conversation with multiple voices.
Then it became a community of people working toward the same goals, learning from each other. In this community we develop friendships and trust.
The next step is leveraging the power of community to problem solve -- we're already seeing this, but we are moving toward doing this on a more consistent basis.
That is my line...ha ha!
I use twitter because it is fun. I would not have known about Chris or this site with out twitter.
Our lives are busy, partly because we make it that way. Always cramming 5 hours of "stuff" (i.e. work, web projects, blogging, soccer practice) into 3 hours.
Using social media helps us stay connected with each other how we are feeling what we are thinking, learning and what we like. What games to play. mattbrett just posted he loves "Living on a Prayer" in rock band. Now I am going to try it.
A company can learn a great deal by listening to the tweets of its consumers. We also can learn a great deal from each other. We all have different interests and strengths. My passion is to talk about leadership, while Chris's passion is social networking.
Let's keep learning and creating culture.
Larry Wilson III
Maddogleadership.com
I think "BILLIONS" is more accurate.
Second, my contribution to the conversation: All of the above.
A few months ago I asked myself the same question if it was all 'necessary'. It really caused me to cease RSS reading/scanning and go more with following what I was interacting with directly through Twitter and comments elsewhere I'd engaged in.
Rather than having it all 'pushed' to me, I choose when I 'pull' it. With my schedule changes in my personal and professional life, the choice helped increase the quality of my lifestyle away from the keyboard as well as on it.
I have faith that somehow this stuff works and creates new life and business opportunities.
And, I've met (online and IRL) some great folks!
Now, Chris, what are YOUR reasons?
I blog because I have to get at least some of what's flying around in my head out in the ether. (Once it's out, at least it's got the potential to do, be, or become something else.)
I tweet because I don't have the time to blog 1/32nd as much as I'd like -- and I can handle 140 characters here and there, on a whim, just to have some sense of action or accomplishment.
I throw my face and bio out on social networking sites because I hate to miss a party, and the Virtual Me can be in more than one place at the same time, hanging out with high school cliques, former colleagues, friends, strangers, and associates of all stripes, past 'n present.
As for why we -- the happy, blogging-tweeting-virtual-socializing collective -- thrive in this environment, I think it's for one or more of the following reasons:
-We dig random encounters.
-We're into arbitrary voyeurism.
-We've got a penchant for synchronicity.
-We find it all very ADHD-friendly.
-We live by one of two phrases: 1) "Because I can" and/or 2) "Because it's there."
Thanks for engaging us.
Best,
Lani Voivod
Co-owner and Content Lover of Epiphanies, Inc.
www.EpiphaniesInc.com
"A-Ha Yourself!"
I must disagree a bit - our friend Chris Brogan has succeeded at this partly because of his humble attitude!
And Clay Parker Jones has a great post that mentions the value of humility too: "when was the last time you said, “I hate that guy. He’s so humble”? Never. You wouldn’t say that. Because people like humble people. Humility is part and parcel of putting others first and is absolutely part of what the brand in discussion is all about." Here: http://exitcreative.net/blog/?p=521
Like anything else, Twitter is part of the buffet of life, so take what you need from it and let go of the rest.
Socializing has taken a less personalized route nowadays. It worries me as we seem to do everything in the virtual world and it takes away the 'human' element.
I just hope that we don't forget how to make friends in real life and starts conversations in face-to-face interactions.
Just my two cents :)
Who knows? In 15 years, people will talk about Twitter the way we think of fax machines today. Regardless, the connections will remain.
-Tim Schigel, CEO, ShareThis
I am sure I could go without my social media learning system but I have found it very helpful to keep me in the know.
Besides, its to much fun to miss out on! ;-)
That's what business is about, and that's what life's about. Trouble is we don't have the time to support all the relationships we want or even need, which is why a whole raft of tools have arisen to help us.
Back in the day AOL's big secret was that e-mail and chat were the killer apps, not the content stuff Time Warner added later. Same with SMS in the mobile data business, and now with tools like Twitter online.
Social Networking = Scaled Intimacy. It really boils down to that, IMHO.
For me it's about adapting to change. I'm in marketing, so I'm really in internet marketing. Outside of work I'm really reluctant to do much social media bc it's my day job.
Networking = opportunity
Social = me not going nuts
That about sums it up for me.
1. i use the social web tools for work: keep up with others in my field. Tools like twitter are a "peripheral vision" of sorts.
2. I use the social web tools to pursue interests outside of work.
You are right though, i could probably do both without these tools, but i would spend alot more time on the phone, and alot more time reading through magazines, and alot more money on those magazines, and i still wouldn't get as much of what i need when i need it.
My answers for myself are that the web has finally enabled tools that extend us in a way that mimics enough of a read of our character that we can do business without the boundaries of time or location, or at least that we can start and extend several of the processes of business this way.
Nothing beats face to face, but the web has brought me an endless supply (so far) of people to meet, interesting opportunities to consider, and ways to work with it all.
This is the web I've been waiting for, which means that the future web will hopefully carry on and continue extending the parts I think are useful.
And this post made me spend a large part of the day, learning about trackbacks and trying to get them to work. I didn't quite succeed, I posted on my blog at:
http://www.consciousvibe.co.za/content/how-soci...
and I was hoping it would appear as a ping back or link back, but didn't (Maybe someone can tell me what I'm doing wrong:)
I agree with Chris as he said in his last comment, this is also the web I've been waiting for.
I've looked at this from an attention and participation point of view. Media shapes and influences. Social media shapes and influences, but it includes us. Mainstream media directional. Social media is interactive.
See more in my blog posting http://conem.wordpress.com/2008/09/18/could-i-d...
it's an opportunity. An opportunity to do things better, than we had done before. It's an opportunity to use things, that meant only fun for work. It's an opportunity to open up your mind to feedback of others and to constant change.
I work in accounting education which means that a large chunk of my time is spent brushing up on industry trends (which expands to finance, management, and economics) - I can't imagine how long it would take me to comb through blogs without my connects to feed me the information I need throughout the day (this is where Twitter comes in especially handy). I see what people are talking about and get an instant picture of what matters to the folks I'm trying to tailor my social media and marketing efforts towards. I'm not an accountant but through social media, I'm able to connect to the industry and am accepted as one of their own in a way that probably wouldn't be too likely without the platform.
Priceless.
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