Recently, I was interviewed for an article (by @LJWorld) about the Facebook privacy mess. During our discussion, I mentioned the acclimation process of using the tools (social media). On my drive home that night, I started thinking more about the education process and the learning curve into using social media. There’s something to be said about what it’s like to “jump-in” and start using the tools, learning the basics, then evolving to more advanced aspects of online communication like understanding how relationships are established online, common behaviors, how connections are made and communities are formed.

Social media is self-taught for most. Your friends do it. So you just start doing it. And the idea of being “classically” trained of understanding online communication is foreign. In an age in which Barack Obama gives his State of the Union address live on YouTube, and a Twitpic posted to Twitter about the plane crashing into the Hudson River gets 100,000+ views in minutes, there’s no denying that social media has become an intregal part of our daily lives.

I think we should teach kids about social media and online communication in school. And not just in college, I think it should be taught in grade school.

Think about it- we teach kids how to structure essay papers in school. How often do you find yourself writing essay papers? When’s the last time you cranked out a 5-page essay?

Now compare that to how many times you’ve written a status update in the past week. Or commented on a blog. Or posted a review for a product on a website. These shortened forms of communication (limited # of characters) exist everywhere; Facebook, Twitter, commenting on blogs, internal company intranets. Status updates are ubiquitous, everyone knows what they are and what to do when they see one.

Furthermore, it’s not uncommon for kids to be using tools like Facebook and Twitter at a young age. Shouldn’t we be teaching them communication techniques for these “shortened” form of communications? There are effective ways to communication in limited words. We should practice this in school, we should be teaching this.

Now, I’m not saying we should teach kids how to Twitpic photos on an iPhone, or how to write happy birthday on their friend’s Facebook walls. What I am saying, is that we should teach kids about online communication.

For example, everyone should understand what “flaming” or “flamebait” is. It’s a basic online social interaction (just check most YouTube comments). Understanding how anonymity and context make all the difference in online communication. It’s fundamental. There are many other online social behaviors like trolling, sockpuppetry and leechers that people should know and understand.

• We should be teaching kids and college students email communication techniques.
• We should be teaching kids and college students how to blog.
• We should be teaching everyone the basics of online privacy and intellectual property.

So what do you think? I think I’m right. Do you think I’m wrong? Should schools be teaching this? What is your take on this? Make a comment.

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This week, I attended a presentation given by Brian Solis, a thought leader in the social media space (principal at FutureWorks). While his presentation was introduced as “an updated look at trends and ethics within the PR profession”, a large portion of his presentation focused on the ability to find niche influencers online and “inspire action and measure it”. It was interesting seeing some of his data, considering he’s in the agency trenches doing social media for major brands and not just a “talking head” in the industry.

After the presentation, we had a chance to talk- and I whipped out my flip cam and asked him to share his thoughts RE: social media and PR. He also provided some teaser information about the subject matter of his next book- which from the way he speaks about it, it should shake things up for some companies and analysts. Check out the full video blog interview on my YouTube channel (thanks to the Greater Kansas City PRSA for organizing a great event).

I’ve often been asked the question, is it possible to have too much of a presence when using social media? Recently, I noticed this same question on a LinkedIn group discussion so I thought I’d share my take here on my blog.

The answer to this question requires you to take a step back and understand first WHY should you have a presence in the first place. You first need to be able to answer simple questions like; Why should we be on Facebook? Why should we have a company blog and who will care?

It’s important to identify a relevant need (the “why”), then take the proper steps to set objectives, understand your audience, devise a strategy and execute tactics (which is simple to say, but hard to do right). However, when you know all that, then the answer to “how often” you should physically post content will reveal itself.

Having a profile on every social network that exists on the Internet is not the right strategy. You must first truly understanding your customers / clients behavior and where they are online. This can and should be done through as many measurable activities as possible (pending budget constraints, of course). Some examples I would suggest are: focus groups, polls, surveys, social media monitoring software, email marketing analysis, web analytics analysis, SEO analysis and direct competitor analysis. When this data is combined and analyzed, you will then have a more complete technographic assessment of your audience to help inform your decision.

If you understand why you’re here in the first place and what the landscape of “where YOUR fish are” is- then a well constructed strategy should outline the quantity of how much and where (tools) you should post to achieve the objectives you have (that’s the hard part). Furthermore, social media monitoring tools, comments and feedback from your users should help you understand the frequency that’s acceptable to post and what your audience responds to. Personally, I find myself frequently tweaking + testing my content and interactions to get things just right.

“How much social media presence is too much?” <– at first glance, it seems like a simple question- but it requires some prerequisites to be answered before you can answer this question correctly.

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The term ambient intimacy is more than just a definition- it’s a construct that helps make sense of why the usage of social media appeals to the masses. Many often struggle in rationalizing SM’s value in corporate board rooms and company meetings everyday- or even when you’re talking to your friends. And it’s common for people to throw questions at you like; I don’t get why people use Twitter? Do people even read your blog? Isn’t social media just a bunch of narcissistic noise? Why do people use that website?

First, let me share a quick story about a friend, Sam Meers. Until recently- Sam and I had never met. However, we shared a mutual friend. She recommended I Google him and consider getting to know him better. Sam and myself share common interests in that we both blog and work in the agency world. Beyond that, we’re really quite different people. I started reading his blog and instantly was hooked at his ability to be such a graceful story teller with his words. I posted comments and my thoughts on blogs and we became acquaintances that was limited to just interactions online. Now- fast forward- the company I work for, engaged Sam to provide us consulting in regards to our marketing and brand. It was only then that I met him face-to-face for the first time. Yet, the first thing we both agreed was that the first question he asked, “What have you been up to?” was really irrelevant because of the interactions we share online. We already knew the answer to that question yet were only meeting for the first time! Our conversation was greatly augmented because we are able to jump right into relevant conversation we’re interested in.

Ambient intimacy is about being able to keep in touch with people with a level of regularity and intimacy that you wouldn’t usually have access to, because time and space conspire to make it impossible. In the case of Sam and myself, it is a perfect illustration about how social media facilitates this term, ambient intimacy.

• Facebook helps me see what my friends are thinking, doing, projects they’re working on and what they did this weekend.

• Twitter tells me what websites to check out and the opinions people have about news and current events.

• Flickr lets me see the latest family photos or pics from a recent trip. And it also shows me their latest haircut.

• Friendfeed tells me their activity stream of my friends online, what they’re looking at, what they’re reading and videos they’ve favorited on YouTube.

So who cares? @leisa summarizes it well; It helps us get to know people who would otherwise be just acquaintances. It makes us feel closer to people we care for but in whose lives we’re not able to participate as closely as we’d like. Knowing these details creates intimacy. (It also saves a lot of time when you finally do get to catchup with these people in real life!) It’s not so much about meaning, it’s just about being in touch.

When people have asked the ways social media has helped me- I always make it a point to mention that social media has the power to greatly augment (not destroy or lessen) existing relationships you have with friends, family and businesses (corporate use) you have in your life. Like anything, you must understand how to integrate it appropriately- but once you do, it’s powerful stuff.

Take my mom for instance, she’s likely my biggest fan of my flickr feed and video blogs (note: she lives in a different state). It is almost down to a routine for me to get a phone call from her once I upload something. Furthermore, I myself regularly reference in conversation with her, “Did you see that photo from my trip? [insert story here]“. She enjoys the ways my usage of social media provides intimacy even though the physical distance exists between us.

So if you think that “my mom” isn’t good enough justification- social media works wonders for businesses too. Take a look at the recent revenue Dell is making by using Twitter or the successful brand ambassadors Cirque Du Soleil has.

In my opinion, the term “Ambient Intimacy”, is an important psychological and communication construct that provides the WHY in how the technologies can enhance peoples behavior for the better.
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This past weekend I was in Chicago attending SOBCon (Biz School for Bloggers). This was my first year attending and overall the entire weekend was great time with some pleasant surprises (like riding a scooter in downtown Chicago). In my opinion, the difference in this conference is it has a more intimate, interactive, feel and makes it easy to really get to know almost everyone who attends (view my video blog). While we all had a common interest of utilizing the Internet, the people I met were made up of such an eclectic mix of focuses it was interesting to hear the different perspectives.

I’m a proponent of going to conferences and doing as little talking as possible (which for those of you who know me, it’s hard for me to do). Ask, ask, ask questions is what I say. There were several presentations, but the most engaging part for me at this conference was all the conversations in between. This is where I got to hear the stories of what works, what doesn’t, what struggles others have faced was interesting- and motivating.

It was also interesting to ask how people were either making money marketing social media or utilizing social media.

One thing I’d like to share that really resonated from people and presentations was the concept that social media is more than just marketing.

Social media is just a way where people can talk to each other and that can affect the entire company. Marketing just so happen to be where the money is, that’s why people are talking about it. It’s much more than just marketing.

BINGO; social media can touch everything in a company like: customer service, operations, research and development, compliance, human resources, public relations, product development, etc. etc. So while marketing and lead generation may get most glitter and attention- it’s not the only consideration when executing strategies as a company. For example, consider what a social media HR strategy has to it: In what ways do potential employees engage looking for jobs at your company? Does having a presence in certain existing online networks help facilitate recruiting? Does this require that you not only ‘fish’ for candidates in social networks- but also contribute in order to positively position your brand in the long run of potential candidates?

Your objectives dictate how strategies should be executed and formulated (online and offline). And the bigger point is that these objectives involve more aspects of the company other than marketing or new business- understanding this is the first step, but executing and measuring (then repeat) is vital in order to see success.
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Today I found myself re-thinking a quote that I heard last week about social media, one that sparked my interest.

“…still amazed that a few 20-year-olds built things that people twice their age are now experts on.”

A powerful thought. One that deserves some thought of it’s own. Is it fair to consider that the older people being recognized as experts in social media are even qualified when you factor in the measurement of time? Why should we consider people like Chris Brogan, Steve Rubel, Shel Israel and Robert Scoble to be experts? None of which are digital natives.

Webster dictionary (i know, i played the ‘the definition card’) defines that an expert is, “Having, involving, or displaying special skill or knowledge derived from training or experience.”

This begs one to think — how do you even measure training or sufficient experience in social media? It’s such a dynamic space that has taken many shapes and forms as different tools have been created or enhanced over the years.

Speaking of years — my own independent research on social networking websites shows that back in ‘ol 1997, www.sixdegrees.com was the first significant social networking website. From there, the next major blip on the radar was in Friendster in 2002, MySpace in 2003 and Facebook making a splash on a national scale in 2004. What I’m getting at – is that it isn’t so long ago that these social networks were all just getting started. It’s been around barely over 10 years. And the mass adoption of social networks into mainstream usage is even shorter than that.

• If the word “expert” requires that either experience or training must be displayed — have the people who consider themselves experts done that? Have they completed enough of either to quantify them as experts?

Don’t get me wrong, I am not skeptical on either social media or the influencers I’ve listed above. However, I am skeptical if anyone actually has no proof of ‘how’ they’ve done it themselves — and executed it well. The influencers I’ve listed (above) are of value in my opinion and it’s not fair to bucket them as ‘self claimed’ experts (without proof). But the more important point, was that this quote makes me question if anyone is an expert at this stuff at all? Aren’t the best people out there still learning even 10+ years into their careers? (I sure hope so, or else I’m going to get bored doing my job).

This quote is from a conversation with Neal Sharma and is one I consider a powerful lesson. An “expert” is too strong of a word for anyone in the social media industry. These people who are viewed as valued sources of opinion might be better categorized as just “pundits”. The bottom line is they are great communicators and story tellers. In fact, they may be more of an expert in communication than anything else. I’m more curious to see us millennials and digital natives who have social media woven into our blood, what will we do? How will we evolve social media in the coming years?
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