Archives for January 29, 2008

(In an effort to provide a place for the Social Media Curious to dip their first toe, Ike continues a series of articles aimed at those who are looking for very basic context.)

Social Media is like a power suit: either get it tailored just for you, or look like everyone else who bought off the rack.

If you’re considering some type of Social Media initiative for your organization, and you decide to proceed, do so with this warning. There will be some degree of real work involved. Whether it is you, or someone you hire, you want the work to fit your goals and needs.

Here’s a very topical case in point. There’s a guy named Chris Brogan who you will no doubt become more familiar with down the road. He brings people together, and does it in new ways with new tools. Once you’re up to speed and feel comfortable with the terms and concepts of community-building, add him to your reads.

Yesterday, Chris was exploring a new way to get people integrated into Twitter — a microblog platform that is as hard to pin down as it is easy to use. (We’ve covered Twitter before here on Now Is Gone.) As a way of helping others find value more quickly, Chris offered the notion of “Twitter Packs,” a convenient bundling of people that one could quickly add to get a flavor of what Twitter can be about. Others, like Shannon Whitley, immediately started working on ways to make mass-additions (and mass-deletions) more automated. It’s a giving community, to be sure.

A Little Too Giving.

That may be a problem. Chris offered up a means for finding people with similar interests, professions, locations, and traits… but are those individuals going to add the same value for you as they do for someone else? Chris wasn’t egotistical enough to think he would know the answer, so he created a Twitter Packs wiki that anyone could edit. Within hours, there were hundreds of names sorted across many divisions. And within hours, there were cries that it had gotten too clubby, too cliquey, too clunky, and too crowded. Others were disturbed that specialty lists were being added that had the potential for mischief and pranks.

Beyond any of the other complaints, let me add this warning. When it comes to Social Media, you want your own work, not someone else’s. It’s nice to be democratic and let others self-select into such groups, but that can create some real friction later on. Take a gander at those gaggles, and you’ll find geese that are guaranteed to ruffle each others’ feathers. Catch a little too much ruffling before you start finding your own level of value, and the experiment will backfire.

Additionally, I’ve noted before that Twitter takes on a different look depending upon how many people you choose to follow. Are you really intent on sticking close with a small group, or are you okay with just periodically dipping your hand into a flowing river of opinions and observations? Are you using it as a de facto RSS reader, or do you want to engage in open conversations? And how will you go about configuring your Instant Message and SMS options?

A Custom Suit

I’m not totally down on Brogan’s Twitter Packs idea – maybe just the execution. And maybe it has more to do with my view that Twitter can be a very instructive tool for those trying to get a feel for online communities. Start with a couple of people that you know and follow them. Interact. Then periodically, see who they are also interacting with. If you see someone interesting, add them. The network grows the best when you catch the value for yourself, one at a time.

Don’t worry about reciprocal following for now. If someone does start following you, it is good form to at least check out their stream and find out why. Add or don’t add, it is up to you. The point is to get an understanding of community dynamics at different sizes and levels. You need to feel your way to that point.

Finally, from a practical level, your Social Media needs are unique. Trees may look the same from the top, but have unique footprints and their own root networks. If you plan to have a Social Media consultant do the building for you — ask some questions about how they are building that network. What kind of research are they using to get there? How long have they interacted with or monitored the people you want to reach? Or are they just pulling a template pack off the shelf and plugging it in to your goals?

If you don’t understand how vibrant and useful communities are built, you won’t be certain if your company’s new suit is off the charts, or off the rack.

(Ike Pigott regularly blogs at Occam’s RazR.)