September 17th, 2009

What newbies to social media should know

3things1

I finished college just before Friendster starting becoming popular.  You remember Friendster right?  Although nowhere close to the original network, it was the first that was widely popular.  Over the next few years, MySpace briefly took the lead before Facebook became king of the hill, at least for the moment.  Twitter is right on Facebook’s heals.  I bring this up because all of these networks were new to me as I started working.  And I’ve found that’s the case with many organizations.  Leadership in many organizations are nervous about committing resources to social media because using the tools can feel like speaking in a foreign language: you can feel the energy but can’t quite understand what’s happening.
That is this week’s Three Things: Three things to help those new to social media feel more comfortable getting started.
1) It’s just technology.  You know a tool that can be used for many things including connecting with old friends or sharing news, wisdom, photos, powerful stories, random stories and much more.  We did most of the things that social media allows us to do before Friendster or Facebook.  We used to find old friends in our alumni directory.  We sent newspaper clippings or other short stories around the office or mailed them to old colleagues.  We sent newsletters or created elaborate annual reports for members and donors.  We communicated by phone, mail and email.
Now, social media, like all new technology, makes it easier to communicate with bigger audiences using less resources.  And more importantly it makes it easy for your audience to spread your story to their networks.  Anything you used to share offline can now be shared online.
2) Like with everything in the world, persistence pays.  While social media makes it easier to do things, it’s not magic.  Sure you may know an organization that got lucky or had a brilliant idea that spread like wildfire and accomplished amazing things on Twitter or Facebook.  But in general, the rewards of social media come from consistently using a tool, and constantly measuring and improving your performance.
You’ll undoutbtedly make mistakes early on as your learning the community you choose to engage.  Learn from them.  If you know what you’re trying to accomplish and what progress looks like, then keep at it.  Keep sharing relavent content, keep learning and improving and your persistence will reward you.
3) It’s not new.  As Adam Singer points out(http://thefuturebuzz.com/2009/09/10/social-media-is-not-new/), it’s been around in one form or another for a decade.  In many ways it’s reached a tipping point.  Especially when you consider the number of parents who now join Facebook because it’s the only way they can see pictures of their grandchildren.
But just because it’s new to many folks (like your organization), doesn’t make it new to everyone.  If your organizations’ target audience (members, donors, etc.) is already online, chances are they are already pretty active on one or more social networks.  That’s an opportunity for your organization.  Make sure it’s not a missed opportunity.
That’s it.  There is plenty more to learn that others can help with or that you will learn on your own along the way, but if you start here, you can begin to invest in this not so new tool so it can pay off for your organization down the road.

I finished college just before Friendster starting becoming popular.  You remember Friendster right?  Although nowhere close to the original network, it was the first that was widely popular.  Over the next few years, MySpace briefly took the lead before Facebook became king of the hill, at least for the moment.  Twitter is right on Facebook’s heals.  I bring this up because all of these networks were new to me as I started working.

And I’ve found that’s the case with many organizations.  Leadership in many organizations are nervous about committing resources to social media because using the tools can feel like speaking in a foreign language: you can feel the energy but can’t quite understand what’s happening.

That is this week’s Three Things: Three things to help those new to social media feel more comfortable getting started.

1) It’s just technology. You know a tool that can be used for many things including connecting with old friends or sharing news, wisdom, photos, powerful stories, random stories and much more.  We did most of the things that social media allows us to do before Friendster or Facebook.  We used to find old friends in our alumni directory.  We sent newspaper clippings or other short stories around the office or mailed them to old colleagues.  We sent newsletters or created elaborate annual reports for members and donors.  We communicated by phone, mail and email.

Now, social media, like all new technology, makes it easier to communicate with bigger audiences using less resources.  And more importantly it makes it easy for your audience to spread your story to their networks.  Anything you used to share offline can now be shared online.

2) Like with everything in the world, persistence pays. While social media makes it easier to do things, it’s not magic.  Sure you may know an organization that got lucky or had a brilliant idea that spread like wildfire and accomplished amazing things on Twitter or Facebook.  But in general, the rewards of social media come from consistently using a tool, and constantly measuring and improving your performance.

You’ll undoutbtedly make mistakes early on as your learning the community you choose to engage.  Learn from them.  As long as you know what you’re trying to accomplish and what progress looks like, then keep at it. Keep sharing relavent content, keep learning and improving and your persistence will reward you.

3) It’s not new. As Adam Singer points out, it’s been around in one form or another for a decade.  In many ways it’s reached a tipping point.  Especially when you consider the number of parents who now join Facebook because it’s the only way they can see pictures of their grandchildren.

But just because it’s new to many folks (like your organization), doesn’t make it new to everyone. If your organizations’ target audience (members, donors, etc.) is already online, chances are they are already pretty active on one or more social networks. If they aren’t yet, they will be next month or next year.  That’s an opportunity for your organization.  Make sure it’s not a missed opportunity.

That’s it.  There is plenty more to learn that others can help with or that you will learn on your own along the way, but if you start here, you can begin to invest in this not so new tool so it can pay off for your organization down the road.

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