It’s been an interesting week or so.  I’ve again learned that my perception of social media is just one of many interpretations.

What is this socialization of media anyway but a simpler means of collaborating upon work with peers from differing backgrounds.  Social media, really, is a movement and not technology.  The technology and tools are simply enablers.

While we explorers of social media out on the Internet talk about transparency, and openness, businesses are struggling to figure out how to get involved but be able to balance all the parts that are important to them.  Some will say this is the problem, that there are too many layers in your average corporation that get in the way.

That may be true, but we also have to remember all the parties involved in that corporation we like to lump in with so many others.  The needs of the shareholders, the responsibilities to the consumer, proprietary technology or processes, responsibilities to it’s work force, legal liabilities, risk of damage to a valuable brand, and the need to be a good corporate citizen.

These are all things that an established organization needs to take into account, and it doesn’t even begin to touch on internal power struggles and political plays, or the resistance to change that the majority of corporate workers embrace.  One look a the newspaper industry in the United States can give you a glimpse of the worst-case possibilities of all this.  They recognized the need for change too late, but your average corporation isn’t quite as blind as that, they just have a lot to juggle to be able to come to the table to play the game.

So as we compare decades-old companies to a couple year old startup when it comes to participation in social media, it really comes down to perceptions of what’s right and what’s wrong.

What’s your perception as you work with older organizations under the theme of social media?

Photo credit: Ezu