Comments on: Twitter is not Social Media!

By: Tim

Tim — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 16:56:50 +0000

Keith, agreed. Great post. Just because the tools of social media are readily accessible doesn’t mean everyone is equipped to use them for business purposes. Some people in companies just shouldn’t be representing their brand with what they’re saying – same reason I don’t claim to be a graphic designer just because I have Photoshop. Knowing how to use the tools and when/where to interact with your audience is not a skill that simple requires “being human”.

By: Deb

Deb — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 22:44:51 +0000

Keith,
In the mass market (the world that non-social media types live in) social media is twitter and facebook. It’s our job, our duty really, to teach others how to reach out and utilize social media tools available. If we’re lucky, we can get paid to do that – to be the ‘expert’.

I think there are not many people who will say they are experts (because really, no one is) for fear of not living up to that standard. Still, in the land of the blind the one eyed man is king.

So if we can become traffic controllers (like John Meadows put it) in a sky full of people flying with no clue, we will have begun something. We will need to be transparent, helpful, and willing to say “I don’t know”. Perhaps then, we can all grow.

Much love,
@debworks

By: John Haydon

John Haydon — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:11:19 +0000

Keith – thanks for posting this. In my own work, I’ve noticed that a good social media consultant adds value in three ways:

1) They understand the technology from a business perspective. For example, Facebook Groups are great for connecting folks around an idea. Twitter is great for “just-in-time” customer service and presence.

2) As natives they understand the culture. Being human on Twitter is different from being human on LinkedIn.

3) Big Picture Bread Maker. Natives are able to kneed together how technology fulfills business needs with their fluency of social media culture into a comprehensive but flexible strategy.

Oh!!! And I love the graphic from Venessa!

John
John Haydon´s last blog ..Why Twitter lists kill #followfriday dead

By: Adam White

Adam White — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:16:20 +0000

Great post Keith!

I wonder though if some of the people saying “you don’t need experts – just be human” are really trying to say “before you start paying people to push you into the social space – learn to be human.” Listening to and interacting with people as people is quite foreign to a lot of businesses. I’d hate to see a company get good advise initially, then when they’re on their own fall into old patterns of one way push marketing.
Adam White´s last blog ..Frank Turner – “Poetry Of The Deed”

By: John Meadows

John Meadows — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 23:32:54 +0000

Great post! Hearing people say “you don’t need experts – just be human” reminds me of when people claimed tools like FrontPage (may it rot in peace) allowed anyone to create great websites for business, and that expert level web developers weren’t needed any more.

Going back even further, remember when the first Mac’s allowed anyone to do their own desktop publishing, and you started receiving documents that looked like ransom notes, with 15 fonts per page?

A lot of the social media tools that enable folks to play in the space can in some cases allow them to do just enough to get into trouble, if they don’t know how the space works. We cannot automate wisdom and experience, just yet.
John Meadows´s last blog ..Episode 80: Playing what they live and living what they play

By: Jesse

Jesse — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:48:03 +0000

Awesome post, it is a shame that social media has become synonymous with twitter and facebook. The idea of social media really can break down to listening and interacting.

By: Joseph Mann

Joseph Mann — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:33:35 +0000

Keith,
Great post. I think the pull quote especially sums up how social media *should* be thought about, though it will take some time and education to get people out of the “Twitter is social media” or “Facebook is social media” siloed mindset.

Joe