The whole concept that we have a label called “social media for business” is fairly vague.
But I have found, as part of small and large businesses, as well as an individual, that what we call “social media” is actually the ONLY thing that works. It’s non-social or push media that is dying. (Newspaper advertising, direct marketing – print & email, even banner advertising, and PPC efforts are dropping in efficiency)
If we define social media as these things:
- forum and group participation (YOU ARE HERE)
- networks of people connecting to share leads, contract business, share leadership and strategy (that’s LinkedIN’s primary mission)
- connective links between people of similar interests, backgrounds, career paths, and business drives (again LinkedIn cannot be underestimated as the interactive or “social media enabled” rolodex of this next decade.
- rekindling and connecting with former rockstars we have worked with in the past (I have 3 people interviewing with Weisscomm this week who were all reconnected via my LinkedIn contacts.
- learning and sharing our experience
- forming tribes around themes (sometimes called memes) where we commune with others who have similar interests.
– football teams – go Longhorns (DANG!)
– humorous threads – dilbert
– PowerPoint resources and presentations
– ebooks on all topics (scrib.net)
– technical expertise (CES, MSFT, Adobe Creative Suite, TED)
– recreational activities - And if those things don’t make sense, then perhaps we should back up and try and define even more microscopically what “social media” is.
I came up with The Social Media Formula a long time ago, but I still think it holds:
People [multiplied by] Platform [divided by] each Individual‘s ability to express themselves during the connection [minus]Misses or clash of style that degrades the communication.
So a simplified social media equation might be written like this:
P x P / I – M = T [trust ratio of a connection/community]
I’d love to hear what you think makes up GOOD SOCIAL MEDIA.
(The t-shirt is for sale at cost)
John McElhenney — let’s connect online
@jmacofearth & Facebook & LinkedIn & The Whole Parent
See the full series of posts:
- The Social Media Strategist is Dead, Long Live Digital Marketing
- Become a Social Media Rockstar, The Quick Plan
Please check out some of my books on AMAZON.