Help us make the master list of what “Social” is to you from a practical, outcome-oriented perspective. We’ll take each comment and boil it down to a master list of what you tell us “Social” is. Overused buzzword? Paradigm shifting concept?
Help us. You might be a community manager or a sales rep filling your pipeline based on social listening tools. You could be a member of government campaigning or a grassroots organization raising awareness. Or you might just spend 6 hours a day on Facebook. No matter what we want to hear from you.
Social media. Social data. Social web. What is it for? What do you expect?
To kick it off, here are some of our thoughts…
Social is not about eyeballs. Or shouting at the crowd. Or increasing followers and fans. The real currency of social is conversation, storytelling and 1-to-1 style engagement. Brands and causes alike are beginning to realize that casual social actions (share this, like that) are falsely comforting metrics of success. Your most avid supporters WANT to tell your story. It’s your job to equip them and let them. Context is the answer. Data is the key.
Your turn…
I’m sure this has been said in many ways, but I think social is about eliminating barriers and taking conversation to a global level. Jokes get shared from coast to coast, people rise up to share their opinions, brands/businesses can connect with people on a common basis and charities can more easily share the stories of who they work tirelessly to help. I agree (and hope it continues) that organizations are beginning to realize that page views, +1s or followers may not be the whole goal or story. These platforms people to share stories, support passions and share their uniqueness. From a young kid flexing his video skills and having it appear before Beyonce to craft beer fans chatting directly with their favorite brewers to recommend ideas for new recipes, ideas are more easily shared and encouraged. Social data helps enrich the web by making it easier to connect over shared hobbies, travels, favorite brands, education, music etc whatever it may be. This may be an idealistic view, I acknowledge that but I hold to it.
I get asked this a lot. It’s a tough question, but I’ll have a go.
First, let’s remove the word ‘social’ as the modifier for a moment. Next, let’s look at what has happened in recent years. The web was once organized around information and websites. Over the past few years it has begun to reorganize itself around people. Now that people are the connection points rather than websites and information, the entire paradigm has shifted. A web of human, many-to-many connections is so fundamentally different we have to look at the constituents part to properly understand what is happening.
The constiuent parts are as follows: platforms, networks, applications, content and data. All organized around people. In every imaginable way.
I disagree, the currency is not conversation. Conversation is a bi-product of human connectivity. The currency is profitable outcomes. Rather that obsess about likes, conversation, engagement etc, we should simply address three guiding questions: What do people need? What problems can we solve? What value can we create?
These are the same principles that guided us during the age of information and should continue to guide us in the future.
Fuck likes. Let’s create value.
To borrow a phrase from Amelia McDonell-Parry, Ron, Toby and Topher stir so many “emotions in my lower half”
I love conversations with sexy, intelligent men. If this were the 20s, I’d be Josephine Baker batting my eyelashes at these (social) denizens.
Social is like sex. If I were to ask you to evaluate your “sex life” for the year thus far, very few people would give me hard metrics such as 32 hip thrusts or 18 orgasms. They’d likely think about the people in their bed or who they want to be in it. They’d tell me about what their heart (or dick) wants and whether or not these needs have been fulfilled. Sex is pornography, orgasms, BDSM, erotic novels, vulnerability, love, hormones, lovers, blowup dolls, procreation, recreation, sperm, ovaries, and everything in between. It’s the difference between a peck on the cheek and feeling someone’s strong tongue swirl deep inside your mouth as they pull your hair back then bite your lip which makes you KNOW you want to fuck them.
This brings me back to Josephine Baker.
Ernest Hemingway said she was “the most sensational woman anyone ever saw.” He met her. In the 20s, new technology (cars, telephones, film, innovations to the printing press, etc.) allowed people to connect with each other in unprecedented ways. Picasso. Langston Hughes. Al Capone. F. Scott Fitzgerald. Charles Lindbergh. Now, these people could all meet and be inspired by each other. A cultural revolution ensued.
It’s been nearly 100 years since The Roaring 20s, and I really feel like we’re in a similar spot now — including economically speaking, but that’s a different story. My point is this: The new technology is the internet. Social enables, as Toby says, “many-to-many connections.” These connections affect how we live our lives.
I want to continue this conversation with each of you over deliciously chilled glasses of Ernest Hemingway’s favorite whiskey. Who’s buying?
social to me is more than conversation. it has allowed us the opportunity to voice ourselves in ways never before seen. and what’s more we can all stand behind those expressions that we most identify with or join into a larger dialogue in those that we don’t. i’ve come to see the beauty of social media as the amplification of the single voice. my voice- as an individual- matters. and those who agree with it, can be seen as a powerful force. things like this: http://bit.ly/O0EaGb are inspiring. a company is changing its behavior because now, everyone is watching. we’re holding more people accountable and assumptions are being peeled away. we no longer need guess. we can ask and hear back. to toby’s point, consumers became people- and no longer just dollar signs. and it is a cultural shift. people are empowered and can create value. companies, brands, organizations and individuals that use these platforms to connect genuinely and to create value and change will be at the head of the pack. the market is changing. but if we think it’s because of social, we’re missing the point. the market is changing because our culture is changing. and social is helping us navigate that change.