Social Media and Why It Matters

Social media is really a pretty simple concept that makes sense in an Internet world where everyone is connected and it is easy to share ideas with the push of a button…except that many people are confused, overwhelmed and intimidated by social media.

And, who can blame them? When you consider that Google is only ten years old, there are one trillion websites being searched daily, and Facebook has a population bigger than Brazil, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Russia, Japan and Mexico — who can keep pace? However, I am here to help. I am going to explain social media in some quick and concrete terms which I hope will improve your understanding and pique your interest.

For me, social media matters for four reasons:
1. Conversation
2. Research and Search
3. Community and Collaboration
4. Repository

Conversation: As The McKinsey Quarterly points out, social media is the latest wave in technology adoptions which could have (I say already has) a more far-reaching organizational impact than technologies adopted in the 1990s — such as enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM), and supply chain management. The latest Web tools have a strong bottom-up, grassroots element to allow engagements and conversations with a broad base of users. Social media tools also demand a different way of thinking from that of earlier IT programs, which were instituted primarily by proclamation from wise and expensive senior managers or consulting teams.

Today if I want to start a movement to collect used books for an afterschool program, I can launch a blog, host a Webpage on a social network and send targeted messages to likeminded individuals — all for free without approval from anyone. Of course, someone who is displeased with your customer service or product could easily do the same.

Social media allows conversations to take place with all types of people living anywhere in world on all types of topics: vacation spots, dining options, celebrity sightings, politics, cause advocacy, sporting events, hobbies, Dancing with the Stars, books, movies, businesses, photos, presentations and ideas. If you’re not participating, you may be allowing others to shape and influence topics important to you — so do your part and enter the online conversation.

Research and Search: Social media allows for unprecedented access to information that is actionable and real time. Consider these scenarios: Twitter allows you to search a topic to see what is being said in real time; SlideShare allows you to see who has presented on a topic you care about; Facebook allows you to join a group of individuals who want to stay informed about your favorite Romanian poet; and LinkedIn lets you find people who work at a company you are interviewing with or selling to.

Try it: go to one of the social networks above and type your company’s name, your competitor’s name, or the name of your favorite film character. You’ll see that somebody, somewhere is saying something about them. Social media allows others to quickly and openly share concerts they are attending or books they are reading. From a breaking news event (Twitter broke the news of US Airways’ landing on the Hudson River) to knowing who will be travelling on which airline and flight to a specific conference, the information circulating and your ability to capture it and take action is unprecedented.

Community and Collaboration: Social media allows for quick top-of-mind community interactions — with your extended family, old classmates, fellow church members, parents of your kid’s soccer team, or others who love sailing. Social media allows for instant connections, updates, and content exchange. It been never been easier to join a community you care about or to connect with someone. One of my favorite social network communities is the Jimtown Store group on Facebook. Jimtown Store is a great place for sandwiches in the Alexander Valley of Sonoma County, California. It is a place I am lucky to visit once a year, but via Facebook I receive regular updates on menu changes, stay informed on happenings and feel more connected to one of my favorite places. Pretty simple and pretty easy for all parties involved.

Collaboration happens when community members ask for help, need information or share content. If you are a dentist, you could receive information on new cleaning techniques, ask for reviews on a new x-ray system or seek partnerships for a new chain of dentist offices. In the realm of advocacy and social entrepreneurship, social media has created unequalled tools for collaboration and action. Today you can communicate directly with elected officials, ask others to join your movement, post videos and keep everyone informed in real time on developments without filters or the approval of media masters. Social media is a grassroots and bottom-up paradigm which allows for communities to collaborate in unison like never before.

Repository: Social media is a unique tool that allows for a massive, open database of all types of content that can be shared, processed or repackaged. From silly — and possibly embarrassing — photos of your high school spring break to serious videos of that amazing presentation you made before your peers. It is all available and easily saved for future access or for future generations.

For me, one of the greatest benefits of maintaining a blog is that I can save content that I care about for future reading or future use. Just today in composing this post, I made several references to my blog for ideas, confirmation and content. And blogs are just one simple tool for warehousing content. Facebook users posted 850 million photos during the month of February; with Flickr you can search these photos by topic and view candid photos of a ski resort you plan to visit. Have you seen some of the video hosting sites lately? People post all types of amazing and bizarre content that ranges from the preposterous to the brilliant. On YouTube, you can see everything from a TED Conference presentation to a video on how to tie a bow tie.

It is quite possible – I think quite certain — that everything you do in the future will be posted (either by you or someone else) and viewed, processed and shared by generations of your family years from now. Your children will have a rich repository of photos, thoughts and experiences unlike anything you or your parents could ever imagine.

Social media is a powerful tool and continues to grow every day. It allows people to maximize activities that they do on a daily basis. Social media allows us harnesses our core activities in a user-friendly, accessible, sharable and powerful technology platform — harnessing a massive amount of knowledge that is actionable.

What do you think? How does social media contribute to your life? Let me know by commenting below. You can also send me a tweet at @marcaross.