There’s so much fodder here for discussion, I have to chunk it up. I had at first aimed to zero in on the business uses of social media. But then the mom from Shoreview who is also a marketer has a point – she has ‘almost teenagers’ and needs to know what’s what for both business and home. And I have heard from others who just want to personally sort it out. So we will start with generalities just to make sure everyone knows what’s what, and go from there. Oh, and this is a two-parter, because nobody likes to read that much at once online.
It’s All That and More
I am, first of all and not surprisingly for anyone who knows me, a book addict. I love paper, book arts, words and languages. I love the book form for bringing all those things together. But I do gotta love the social media format for giving me an almost instantaneous way to communicate with folks worldwide! I mean, how else could I have found that high school chum in Germany (thanks to LinkedIn!)? But you have to know the strengths and weaknesses of each form before you dive in. They are all good for something, and much more than meets the eye. We’ll start with the current king, Facebook.
I used to think Facebook was so purely social that it wasn’t worth it. But hey, business is relationships, no matter what, so it doesn’t hurt to put a little personality out there. That’s what Facebook is good for. Perhaps not in the jazzy way that MySpace was, but you can post videos, photos, and other material on Facebook in a way that keeps pace with your life and lets you share with people, business or personal. You do want to be wary, as always, of what you put out there, of course. You may want to forego giving detailed information about your young children (mentioning school names or city names probably isn’t a good idea), and be careful when you talk about your own location too. Strange things do happen. That said, you can work Facebook many ways. You can make your own personality shine out, or you can create a personality (for instance, if you are a performer, have a mascot, etc).
Facebook can work for business but it is tricky. You can’t just say “here’s our product.” So what? We. Do. Not. Care. Facebook can, however, help you show how your product works, problems it solves, or that type of thing. Post your videos on YouTube for mega-exposure and then link to them through your Facebook page. If you are an organization, you can put your organization on as one entity – but it has to have a voice, and a personality. It helps if everyone at the organization agrees on what that will be. One person should be responsible for that, but others can contribute. This is a great place to post event information – as in, “look what fun thing we are doing/did.” This would work best for organizations whose memberships are built on personal interests, not business interests.
Facebook pro: Very easy, you can have a profile up in mere minutes.
Con: But not a very professional site – it is not geared towards that.
Professional networking site geared towards high achievers. Build your profile in minutes, and you can keep adding to it over time. Join groups per your interests, post articles and build your network. Hunt for long-lost colleagues and friends (you can also do this on Facebook). Your presence here can boost your company, your cause or just your contact list. Be prepared to give your work history - it can function like an online resume. Search through your own contacts to find people they know that you can then contact to. Post events and get instant response. Post jobs or look for them. LinkedIn is where I heard about this blog-off. Look me up when you get there! http://www.linkedin.com/in/lindaatwonder
Pros: Very professional, great groups.
Cons: Be careful who you accept – your network is your cred.
Next: Twitter, Ning, SquiDoo and Blogs
@Bob! Hey, thanks, that is high praise coming from the tech master! And thanks for the history on Facebook - I really should have looked that up... Well, more research time for me! I admit to basing a lot of my views on MySpace on my own internal laboratory - two teenage sons and their friends. But if you read the trade press you get the same idea. It was actually very interesting to see how my two sons migrated from MySpace to Facebook. Bands are some of the organizations (can you call them that?) that are really taking advantage of Social Media, all platforms, in all the right ways. It's perfect for them!
Posted by: Linda White | May 25, 2009 at 11:05 PM
@Debbie - Part Two is up, have at it! I will be moving forward tomorrow with blogs and strategy - more of the "why would I want to do this" and if so, what's a good way to proceed. I've encountered more business people completely flummoxed by this - they just don't have the time to do all the webinars, take the boot camp, read all the commentary. Whereas for me, communication is my bailiwick, in businesses of all kinds. So I am always glad when I can help folks to get out of the "old school century." ;-)
Posted by: Linda White | May 25, 2009 at 10:59 PM
I can't wait for part two. This is for those people who are still on the fence and better get off it if they want to move forward instead of staying in the old school century.
Posted by: Debbie | May 25, 2009 at 10:01 AM
Hey Linda - great post. Regarding MySpace, it was originally a great place for tweens and teens. Pretty sure many of them moved on to Facebook in college, where an intersting thing happened. Facebook was originally strictly limited to people enrolled in a college. When they graduated, many wanted to keep their Facebook account, and Facebook eventually relaxed the rules so that you could keep your account. Now anyone can join.
MySpace developed an intersting side community as a place for local bands to develop and manage a following of fans, in additon to being the teen/tween site it started as.
But yes - no one has invited me to become a friend on MySpace. Not at least since my son graduated from high school. ;-D
Posted by: Bob Weiss | May 24, 2009 at 08:09 AM
@Kari - Yes, I'm afraid that MySpace is now considered the Grandfather of the social media set. Old, tottering, and passe. At least no self-respecting person over the age of 16 would admit to being a devotee! I am not sure what it is about Facebook that eclipsed MySpace - perhaps it had something to do with MySpace being taken over by adults, and the kids migrated? Well, now adults are the fastest growing demo for Facebook, so who knows what will happen next. Facebook can be a huge time suck - how many quizzes do you want to take, anyway?
Posted by: Linda White | May 23, 2009 at 01:30 PM
Thanks Linda - this is a great tutorial. Is MySpace dead now? I used to hear about it equally with FaceBook, but not so much anymore. Maybe you will cover that next? Not necessary if it's passe now. I need to set up a FaceBook profile/page and experience all it has to offer. I've heard my high school class has a group out there which I should find and join.
Posted by: Kari LeMay | May 22, 2009 at 10:54 PM
Glad this is a two-parter since we retired "people of the book" are slow learners about the whole media thing. Thanks for helping out someone who is truly slowly learning about this and perhaps thinking about venturing further.
Posted by: Vernita | May 22, 2009 at 10:34 PM