Perspectives & Strategy

As we reach the season of goodwill etc., etc. I thought I would take a look at the ‘social’ aspects of Social Media.

Almost the first aspect of this newly developing media that hit the streets was the way that it was being used by those in their teens and twenties as a new means of communication, that their parents know little or nothing about. These youth were the generation after text messaging. From the social aspect this new media is all about:

♥ Thoughts

♥ Feelings

♥ Tastes

♥ Preferences

♥ Building friendships

First and foremost this new media is about having fun with like-minded people. This media initially appealed to youth we have heard the comment made a couple of years ago by one youngster “If you’re not on MySpace, you don’t exist”. Today the site may be different, but the sentiment remains the same. Hundreds of websites, created for and often by young people, encourage and facilitate youth involvement in everything from voting, to school and community improvement, to journalism, to political activism, music selection any anything else you care to think of. Yet it is a different style of involvement than many other people think of. Taken together, they constitute an emerging genre on the Internet that could loosely be called e-citizens. What is interesting about e-citizenship is that it has rapidly become a global community.

So much has changed in the modern world and Social Media is facilitating this. I have equated the building of on-line friends to the pen-pals of yesteryear. The only difference being that with Social Media you tend to build more lasting relationships, not give up your pen-pals as most of us did when we left school. It can be argued that the relationships we are building through Social Media can be the strongest we ever have. There is a certain rush from being able to help someone on the other side of the planet in some tiny way.

The important aspect about Social Media is that whatever your personal aims, goals, aspirations, likes, dislikes, political views, religious views there is probably a site for you waiting for you to join right now. As a medium Social Media is so broad that for any person it can be ‘what you want it to be’.

If Facebook were a national state it would be the third largest country in the world with over 360 million users. The largest user community is, and has always been 18 to 25 year olds. Some of the things teens have done on this space include:

◊ Complain about teachers (or make fun of them)

◊ Made fun of other students

◊ Share intimate personal details or thoughts

◊ Created a fake identity or persona

◊ Used their friend’s account to post something without them knowing

◊ Pretended to be an adult

◊ Downloaded illegal files (e.g. music, or video)

◊ Posted something they later regret

Then again many supposedly responsible adults have also done much the same thing, including complaining about their boss or colleagues and pretend to be a child. Like their child counterparts they do plenty of things they later regret. There has been dramatic growth in all age ranges on Facebook, particularly each of the age groups over 40. Retirees are reconnecting with old friends. While many that are in their 40′s and 50′s are finding it a useful professional networking tool. There is still an element of fun, but with a large dose of professionalism.

I was recently talking with a college professor who does not give his students any biographical information, he simply encourages them to Google him. Furthermore he also watches the social media space in order to know what is being said about himself and find ways to improve his technique and how he delivers his lectures.

Every person right from when we first learn to talk till the day we die has their own thoughts & feelings, tastes & preferences, values, friends & circle of influence, loves to share, and wants to have fun. These are things we do in our personal lives and have done for many generations. Sure our definition of ‘fun’ may change from generation to generation, and location to location. Change is inevitable and as a society we simply deal with it and adapt to the new technologies.  If we look back to the mass introduction of the telephone it was both a useful tool for personal communications children could talk with their grand-parents continents away for the first time. The mobile (or cellular) phone brought its own challenges and benefits. Today they are a part of our every day lives – we simply use them wherever we are.

The point about social media is that it is bringing like-minded people together from around the world in a way that the telephone did not. It is a place for the cheer-leaders and the football jock to hang out as well as the goths and all the other cliques that can be found in high-school. You do not need to know another person’s phone number or email address in order to connect with them. Whether this is a good thing or a bad thing is immaterial as it is a fact of life today, as are the business opportunities that can be garnered from such a media.

The key aspect here is about building a community. Business can be as much a part of that community as any individual. If you have products that your target audience are interested in then there is every reason to be taking part in this arena. The music industry has for many year had its eyes and ears open in the streets listening for the thoughts and feelings of its consumers and listening out for talent to match.  The latest buzz on the music scene is now being talked about on Twitter, Facebook and other places. The record companies may even be able to find demos on-line for many upcoming artists.

In another direction projects my colleagues an I are working on today are opening up social medial solutions to communities that have never been thought about before. Once again it is about building communities. These communities may start as social and move into the business realm (as Facebook has) or may primarily be business focused but have plenty of social opportunities (one couple I know met on LinkedIn and have subsequently tied the knot).

We must always remember that humans are essentially social animals, it is what drives us. We have all heard and laughed at the saying “I work to enjoy my life” for many having fun is an important aspect of their life. Part of being that ‘social animal’ we prefer to associate with people who are like ourselves. It is about interacting, and opening up our lives a little, yet still stay safe behind the computer screen (we hope). Yet at the same time this media has brought us some compelling news stories from the people directly affected e.g. the Chinese earthquake where dramatic pictures were relayed on Twitter instantly to the world.

This brings up a question of “what exactly is personal any-more?” Sure chatting with friends is clearly personal, yet discussions on taste and choice can launch this discussion into the product realm, which is relevant to corporations with advertising money to spend, in fact the advertising that individual sees on their computer screen can be directly related to their personal focus (e.g. the TV shows talked about, perfumes, sports shoes, etc. can all be analysed and lend themselves to an instant advertising opportunity. The person posting the dramatic pictures of earthquake or air-crash victims is now a part of the news media, albeit without pay. The boundaries are now blurred.

Can you have fun in the business environment? You do not need Social Media to answer this question. We all do. Psychologists have for a long time stated that people build their most important relationships in the workplace, which is probably one of the reasons why telecommunting only meets with limited success, because people want to meet people and build relationships.

The boundaries between what is social and what is business are blurring. Business is becoming more social (or perhaps more correctly returning to its social roots). Social Media is connection based, it is about people helping people – and this is the basis of human society. Ultimately the social and business goals for this media are not so far apart.