Why social media is not The Breakfast Club (and why cold medicine and blogging might not mix)
If I were a color, it would be orange.
I realize that’s an odd thing to say considering this isn’t a Facebook quiz. It all goes back to a leadership survey from college that informed me I had “orange” tendencies. Basically, being orange means I’m outgoing, a little theatrical, competitive, and a natural leader. If you meet me in a large group of people, I’m likely the one at the front organizing the group, explaining an activity, or getting distracted by something funny with other orange people.
I’m telling you all of this because I was utterly shocked the first time I really used Twitter in a group setting. In a world where I naturally pushed towards the front, I found myself ‘following,’ not leading, and it had nothing to do with clicking the “follow” button. It was then I realized being “orange” means nothing in social media world. In social media world, the rules for leadership are quite different.
He who talks loudest isn’t always heard.
If you’re in a group of people and someone raises their voice to explain something, you generally turn and listen to them. In social media, it doesn’t matter how many caps you use (actually, please lay off the caps) or how often you send out a message, people don’t automatically hear you and stop to listen. You have to seek them out. This is why engagement is so important. If you want to be a leader in social media, you have to find ways to draw other people into your conversation.
Charisma doesn’t always translate online.
Some of my favorite people are terribly sarcastic and absolutely hilarious. Unfortunately, that sarcasm isn’t always obvious within social media due to a lack of tone, expressions, and anything to convey emotion other than little faces (:P, :/, :), >_>… or if you’re my mom… >g>. I still don’t know what that one is.) Be very careful about the kind of humor you use in social media. It can backfire on you, and instead of loyal, engaged followers, you can end up with enraged, offended Twitterers.
No one is effortlessly cool.
There is no Fonzie in social media. You have to work for it. That requires time, patience, a little vulnerability, and the willingness to talk to people.
Shy is no excuse.
Some of the shyest people I know have a huge platform through social media. You may have heard “there’s comfort in strangers.” With social media, you can move past any physical hang-ups or fear of judgment that might hinder you in the real world. Public speaking becomes intimate, yet distanced at the same time. There isn’t any other platform like it.
Don’t feed the troll.
Bullying doesn’t make you feared in social media. It makes you loathed or ignored. Don’t stir up trouble for trouble’s sake. There’s a lot more backlash when you try to metaphorically steal the social media kid’s lunch money.
If this didn’t make sense, I blame the cold medicine.
In a nutshell, don’t enter the world of social media and expect the same reactions as you find in the natural world. This is not The Breakfast Club. Social interaction is key, but it’s a level playing field.
Social Media in the Classroom
Social Media Club folks are big supporters of social media in education. On Friday, a Social Media Club member blogged about an event they attended that discussed social media’s use in the classroom. Some interesting things were discussed. Here’s the post.
On Friday, Feb 19, I attended the Georgetown University-hosted event, “Social Media in the Classroom: Implications for Teaching and Learning.”
The event featured three esteemed speakers, each deeply involved in social media on their respective campuses:
- Gerry McCartney, Vice President for Information Technology and CIO and Oesterle Professor of Information Technology, Purdue University
- Ulises Mejias, Assistant Professor of New Media in the Communication Studies Department at the State University of New York at Oswego
- Edward Maloney,
Director of Research and Learning Technologies at the Center for New
Designs in Learning and Scholarship and Visiting Assistant Professor in
the Department of English, Georgetown UniversityThe full video of the event will be offered on iTunes U — Georgetown University within the next few weeks.
Quick highlights:
The first speaker, Dr. McCartney of Purdue University, described two technologies being used at his school:
- Signals
is a system used in large classrooms to identify students academically
at risk . According to Dr. McCartney, the students that have the
highest risk of not succeeding in their first year are students that
are used to performing well at high schools with lower standards. Upon
entering a competitive classroom environment that demands higher
performance, these students often perform poorly in their first
exposure to university-level curriculum. Signals uses data mined from
Blackboard Vista to place each student in a “risk group.” They are then
given a stoplight rating that represents their performance and
potential to succeed in the class.The feedback is real-time and given to students on their Blackboard
homepage. Along with the rating system, instructor-written intervention
emails and suggestions for study resources are given to provide the
student with an early warning and aid to improve performance.- Hotseat Collaboration
is a technology that attempts to engage the student in the classroom
using the methods and devices that students are already familiar with.
This mobile Web application promotes “micro-discussion,” allowing
students in a large class to interact by posting messages during class
using their Facebook or Twitter accounts, sending text messages, or
using the Hotseat Web site. The instructor will start a session by
posing a question for discussion, and students respond to the question.
In addition to these responses, students can vote on which topics and
questions they’d like to see addressed.The next speaker, Dr. Edward Maloney of Georgetown, spoke at length about two important questions:
- 1. What does it mean to take seriously the impact of social media on learning?
Dr. Maloney brought up a concept that we’re trying to grasp with
SMCEDU: learning environments can change, they don’t have to remain
static.He related Web 1.0 (the static Web) as corresponding with traditional
teaching practices; that is, delivering information through a central
source to a wide audience. Web 2.0, he said, corresponds well to our
real world practices outside of the classroom.As learning happens outside of the classroom (everywhere, really),
social technologies encourage the ideas of community, collaboration,
exploration, exchange, and communication. Further, it promotes learning
in informal, real, participatory, dynamic, and ongoing ways…in other
words, learning in a non-traditional sense. What does it ultimately
mean to think about social media for learning? To put it succinctly, teaching and learning in a new way.- 2. What is at stake in this question and the answers we may provide?
This is a question that never ceases to fascinate. What’s at stake, in
my mind, is how we distribute education. From expanding classrooms to
empowering students with a new enthusiasm and means to learn, the true
scope of what social technologies can do for learning is exciting to
speculate, and beyond anyone’s current ability to realize.Dr. Maloney described informal writing and blogging exercises that
helped his students plainly express their understanding of the class.
It also gave the instructor a constant evaluator of how each student
was doing, along with providing a collaborative, ongoing document that
could be used for reference by each student.The final speaker of the day, Dr. Ulises Mejias, brought some
interesting perspectives to social media, and the overall effectiveness
of using social technologies.He offered the network as episteme. As networks are not just
metaphors, we use them to form templates and models of social
orgnanization; indeed, we use them to shape social realities. But, he
asked, what are the limits of networks as templates? What do they
include and exclude, make possible or impossible?Dr. Mejias shared some of the concepts presented in his class:
- Nodocentrism: The distance between a node and something
outside the network. For all practical purposes, if something is not a
node, it cannot be rendered in the network as a node can only see other
nodes.I took this to mean that if a person is not included in the
network, they don’t “exist” within the network, and the data gathered
from network participants should take this into consideration.- Paranodality: The outside of the network is not empty but
inhabited by multitudes that do not conform to the organizing logic of
the network. He described this as, “that which cannot be Googled.”When considering who/what is excluded from a network, one can view
social media as a sort of social slavery: who decides what’s
included/excluded?Another consideration is that social media tools are largely
controlled by private companies. As such, they might not always be in
the best interest of learners despite being convenient and cheap. As
services such as Youtube (the go-to service to upload videos) or
Twitter (the go-to service for micro-blogging) strenghthen their
positions, participation among users is increased, but so is the
inequality among competing services. As everyone knows, competition is
a crucial component in the success of an open market.As it stands now, using the popular social media services is easy
and cheap, but the relationship between these companies and its users
is not equal. The shift may not be from a one-to-many paradigm to a
many-to-many paradigm as popularly touted; rather, it’s a shift from
one-to-many to many-to-one.Dr. Mejias’s final point was one that struck home with Social Media Club Education Connection: What is the universities’ role in social media?
It’s possible, and perhaps suitable, for the university to develop
alternative social media tools that encompass a variety of services
(blogging, micro-blogging, wikis, social networking, etc.) and release
them as public goods. They could be promoted through their use in
projects both within and outside the university, becoming refined and
standardized as they evolve. There is a possibility (currently refuted)
that Facebook won’t always be free;
similarly, the guarantee of free doesn’t exist for other
sites/services. Why not have universities work conjointly to offer an
alternative?
Social Media & the bigger picture
As much as we love social media at Social Media Solutions, it’s important to understand that social media by itself is not a be-all, end-all solution. It’s a valuable tool to work into a bigger picture marketing plan. That’s why integrating social media into other marketing and public relations activities is so important.
When you come up with a marketing/advertising campaign, you have a “big idea.” Your social media efforts should still play into that “big idea” in order to present a united, cohesive message that allows for the greatest amount of top-of-mind awareness, brand engagement, and ROI.
Because social media is an interactive platform, some companies may struggle with turning their “big idea” from a mass communication tactics into personal relationships with customers. Here are a few things to keep in mind when integrating social media with other parts of your campaign.
Brand awareness
Many smaller companies first begin using social media in order to get their name out there. Simply creating an account won’t do this, but if you’re willing to put in the time and effort to seek out potential customers and to regularly post content, social media can help increase brand awareness.
Brand personality
Again, only creating an account won’t help you showcase your brands personality. If you are creative and conversational with your content, customers begin relating to you in a more personal way. It is the beginning of evolving from a brand and customer to an interactive, growing relationship.
Brand engagement
The above things involve what you put out. Brand engagement is about what you’re pulling back in. The goal of social media is to get your customers involved with your brand to create loyalty, goodwill, improved product offerings as a result of feedback, and ultimately, to create positive ROI.
Why social media works best within a larger campaign:
Ideas breed passion
People get fired up about ideas, not necessarily products. By doing the above three things, you can get people talking about what your brand represents, issues in your brand’s industry, and become a source of information and innovation with your customers. If your social media channels revolve solely around a product, its uses, and benefits, you may attract customers that are already loyal to you. To reach new markets, potential customers need a reason to come to you in the first place. Generating ideas and conversations about things other than your specific product or service can become that entry point for new customers. Many times those ideas can stem out of the “big idea” from a larger campaign. As your campaign evolves and grows, so will your social media.
Casual social media users
People involve themselves with social media at different levels. Casual social media users may simply logon to see what friends and family are doing. It may not occur to them to search out your brand, and you don’t have enough time to search through 400 million Facebook users to find them. Other forms of marketing and advertising can help them realize you’re on social media sites and move them from occasionally being on the receiving end of your message to becoming actively involved in your conversation.
Face-to-face interaction
Social media allows us to communicate and interact in an entirely different way, but it still doesn’t squash our desire to physically be around people. Combining social media with sponsored events can solidify loyalty, increase PR activity, create goodwill, and create a higher ROI. Social media can help build excitement about an event and keep that enthusiasm going after the event is over.
A last word: Nothing sells itself. Just creating a social media profile won’t do anything for your company. Spend time and effort reaching out to people and encouraging them to respond back to you. Use social media to take your marketing to the next level.
Shameless plug: This is a company blog, so you had to know it was coming. In an ideal world, we’d all be social media savvy, but in reality, it can be hard to discover the best ways to tie everything together. If you need help figuring it all out, we’re here for you.
Final Review: The Southwest/Silent Bob Showdown of 2010
Now that the Southwest/Kevin Smith has calmed down a little, I want to take a minute to discuss how Southwest handled it, which was superbly.
Let’s look at some core principles of social media and how they played into the Southwest/Silent Bob Showdown of 2010.
Transparency
Could this situation be any more transparent? (If you’re a Friends fan, I just channeled Chandler for a moment.) When facing an unhappy customer, especially a public figure, the last thing you want is for the negative experience to be broadcast to their circle of influence. Ideally, you can handle the problem when it occurs and avoid any backlash. Southwest certainly didn’t get that ideal situation. Instead, a famous director/actor got the full attention of the public and the media about what he deemed Southwest’s “size-ist” policies. A customer relations conversation between Southwest and Kevin Smith was 100% transparent for the world to see.
Authenticity
Southwest’s apology is one to be remembered. It was handled gracefully without sacrificing their stance on overweight customers. They acknowledged and apologized for publicly calling out Kevin Smith on his flight, but they didn’t apologize for the underlying principle. They reminded the public that their pilots have to do what they think is the safest. It would have been easy to suck up to the man with over a million Twitter followers and requests to tell his story on Good Morning America, but Southwest admitted what they did wrong and defended what they did right.
Personality
I’m not sure if it was Christie Day or Brandy King that logged on to Southwest’s Twitter account to find a mess of a situation, but the woman that handled it came across as a real, endearing person. She even found humor in the situation when one Twitter follower tweeted that she would hate to be the Southwest Twitter person that night. Southwest’s response:
“No, you should hate to be the Southwest Twitter person’s boyfriend : ) It’ll be ok though.”
Another Southwest follower encouraged her to
“Relax, I’m sure the Kevin Smith thing is either A) a gimmick or B) something you will look back at and just laugh about.”
To that Southwest’s Twitter-er responded with the mantra that would soon describe the situation,
“Unfortunately…. This is the real deal. Silent Bob is striking back.”
The theme continued as the title for Southwest’s blog post on the situation read “Not So Silent Bob.”
The situation ended when a CNN poll showed 58% of the public sided with Southwest over Kevin Smith. Smith announced that was his signal to end his Twitter campaign against Southwest. While the CNN poll isn’t an overwhelming majority for Southwest, it does speak volumes to how well Southwest turned a potential PR disaster into a success story.
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