Happiness CCLXXXI

Nov 11, 2008 | happiness

Helping peers succeed in a project, all I have to do is what I’ve been asked. Isn’t that what we all should be doing?

Living Without Social Media

Sep 17, 2008 | blog

The simple life by Alvarock! A Twitter friend of mine recently, jokingly, chastised me for a post some time back about not needing Twitter and social media. That caused me to finalize a few thoughts on the topic and inspired this post – thanks DV!

On that topic, lots of folks do it every day, and yeah they do quite well. In fact, most folks live without the Internet every day and do quite well. So what is it about social media that so entices and enthralls the social media mavens out there?

Since late last year, I’ve been struggling with a number of items about social media that don’t seem to have a purpose. The current phenomenon of "social media" is more a reflection of the growing social awareness of generation X & Y than of anything else.

It’s true that the web 2.0 technologies have empowered us in new and exciting ways, allowing us to further explore new ways of doing things, and exploring new opportunities. The growing social awareness is bringing the idea of friendship and community back into lives that may have been spent focusing too much on work or single-minded pursuits.

Personally, I think that the modern urban psyche is longing for more social interaction, and pushing people to explore new methods for interacting. I believe this to be the root cause of the interest in social media, spurred by the ideas, near ubiquitous high-speed Internet connectivity, and cloud computing software technologies that allow for rapid development and deployment.

It’s this combination that makes social media what it is. Mostly the "media" part is the tools; networking, IM, photo hosting, video, podcasting, web conferencing, sharing, bookmarking… these are just things that allow us to connect the way we do – tools our parents and grandparents did not have. The social is what I talked about previously – that the maturing generations that have been exposed to computing and world-wide networking technologies have new ideas of how relationships can be built.

Still there are millions more who simply don’t need these tools and these technologies. The social part for them still exists because they always have been social. Participating & building their community is just part of their lives. Sure the Internet can add value – but not in the ways that social media technorati get value. For them it’s about news or entertainment, or simply ordering something that they can’t find locally. That’s the value for them – and that’s a good value.

Photo credit: AlvarocK!

How Do Companies Find Their Community Managers?

Aug 28, 2008 | blog

Online Communities by .mw It’s a new field where there are no experts; no real training for classification or certification, and it’s difficult for folks participating in it to explain how it works. It’s not a lawless field where anything goes, but the cowboys still roam the prairie where social media grazes. Christopher S. Penn describes the problem and the process quite well in his post How to Become a Social Media Expert, comparing social media to the nuances of martial arts training – pretty good analogy in my book.

Since there are no real experts with years of schooling and experience, how does a company find a community manager? Heck, how do they determine what they’re looking for – most companies really don’t even know exactly what they need. Several are starting to here “community manager” more in relation to social media, and I suppose it does make a bit of sense to the average hiring manager.

As I’ve been looking around in this space as a consultant myself, I’ve noticed a bit of mislabeling, and misunderstanding of what these positions do. They can range from being a glorified forum moderator, to the public figurehead of the company in social media circles. The vagueness and inconsistency is frustrating to both those looking to move into these jobs, and the companies who realize they need someone to fill this indefinable niche they have.

Normally, a company would hire a consultant to help define the needs, address the process, and sometimes assist in filling the role. The problem though is… aren’t consultants experts and there really aren’t any social media experts? Catch 22 huh?

Some firms are looking internally and finding candidates in their existing staff. This could be anyone from marketing, to information technologies, to human resources (and beyond). Sometimes it’s easy to get noticed and get in front of the right people. Other businesses are going for the big guns and hiring out consultants from the A-List to assist them in their social web endeavors.

At least, several of the A-List actually have participated in building, shaping, and forming the concepts of the social web through the work of Cluetrain and their own pieces through the years. This is a great place to start, even for organizations with small budgets – many of the thought leaders in social media give away really good information for companies to start from.

So in this nascent “industry”, there is confusion on both the side of organizational need and individual growth in social media. The next step for those mastering the dark arts of the social web is to be bold, go forth, do good things, and prove that you have the vision and understanding. Both to the founding concepts of Cluetrain and to the fiscal responsibilities of corporations that want to participate in, not control, the message.

Photo credit: .mw

Do You Fear The Spotlight?

Aug 15, 2008 | blog

In the Spotlight by JeremyHall What’s keeping you from taking the next step? Something more than simply being noticed I hope! If you’ve got ideas, or something to say or to share, you need to do something about it. Do you blog? Do you podcast or video blog? Are you on a social network? How are you making yourself heard on in this brave new world online?

The biggest thing for those sitting on the fence is simply to make the decision that they want more opportunity than they may have now in their lives. One way to do that is to start participating online. That can take many forms, from simply joining a social network, or building your own personally branded blog and going to town on creating content.

Whatever you choose, you can’t go wrong if you’re interested in building your brand. Don’t wait, don’t second guess yourself. You are too valuable to the world not to share your knowledge and play your part. Now is the time.

Photo credit: JeremyHall

Your Personal Network

Aug 15, 2008 | blog

My Social Network by luc legay We talk a lot about social networks and social networking these days, but it’s really nothing new. Only the tools are. People have been networking with peers for decades, much longer actually, but we’ve only really called it networking for a generation or so.

While tools like social networks, micro-blogging, or podcasting utilities, and the Internet itself bring powerful new (and fun) ways to network, it still relies on people. Without people, these tools are simply high-tech toys with little purpose.

Anyway, what I’m talking about here is your personal network of peers and associates in your industry or genre. The people that you interact with, compete with, and explore opportunities with. Your personal network is an important part of your career. I didn’t fully realize this until I left a cozy but uninspiring position a couple years ago. It wasn’t until spending a bit of time out participating, networking, and interacting with folks in and out of my field that I discovered how important a personal network is.

Interestingly, my personal network is grown from my mix of social media exploration and personal branding work. Through both interests, I’ve grown a network of friends and associates that I can share ideas with, send questions to, be a support network for peers, recommend people, help solve problems, and much more.

So, I strongly recommend paying attention to your network. The people you associate with professionally and socially have a lot to offer to you in both your personal and professional life. Not only does a person need to grow that network, but to maintain it as well. After all, as in most things, it’s the quality of the network, not the ultimate size that yields the greatest results and rewards.

Also, being a helpful resource to your network, not just a consumer of it, will bring more value to you than you can imagine. As you participate in your network – your friends and associates – make sure to help them find what they’re looking for. Help them with jobs, choosing the right iPod, finding the right hotel for vacation, answering those social network questions, or whatever else comes along. Be the resource that your network needs and your network will be there for you.

Photo credit: luc legay

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