socialmedian: The problem with social media for most people

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The problem with social media for most people

Source: Louis Gray - FriendFeed

Apr 10, 2009

Summary

Ok. So, social media. It’s the darling of the internet, it’s going to eat Google’s lunch. Real time search is the bomb. Engagement. Blah blah blah. You know, I buy into social media. You can find me participating on Facebook, FriendFeed and Twitter as well as whatever random other networks I’ve tried and not found particularly useful to me.

Here’s the thing, though. Typically, when I read about how Twitter is more useful than Google or Friendfeed is the new Twitter or whatever - it’s by a social media guy, unsurprisingly. And it drives me insane. You always read how twitter is so much better because you ask a question and you get a thousand answers in real time. Wow, that does sound good.

Would you like to know how many answers I got the last time I asked a question? Or the time before that? Or the time before that? 0. Zero. Zip. Zilch. Naught. None.

Same thing on Friendfeed - well, sometimes I get a little more response there, because I’m more active there. And I’m not saying that this causes me to dislike either service, it’s not true - I genuinely like them a

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Comments (11)

Marianne Mc Eachern,

Apr 10, 2009

I agree, I haven't ever gotten an answer on Twitter either-well I did get ONE. I am not on it very often either. But I love your article..well done!

Blog Dudes,

Apr 11, 2009

Fair comment. The problem is most people tackle social media from the wrong end. It is like going to your toolbox, pulling out 3 tools at random and then wondering what the job is. The aim of using social media from a business perspective is to get customers coming to you - inbound marketing. To do that you need to know who your ideal customer is - then you need to know where THEY are participating on the social web and then join the conversation there. If your ideal customers are not using Twitter then there is no point in using it.

The second stage is participating in the conversation. Don't try to sell - rather, tell stories that demonstrate how you can help solve your ideal customer's problems. They will then seek you out because they are interested in what you have to offer. If you are just trying to increase awareness of your brand, start with those key bloggers that everybody goes to to find out what is happening - the key influencers. People who find out from them will then spread the word to their networks, and so on.

It is not just a question of participating - you need to know where to participate and how.

Klrabbit,

Apr 12, 2009

One of the things that I have found is the more time you use Twitter or any other social media and participate in it, the more likely your are to get responds to your question. If you answer other people's questions they are more likely to answer yours. Also, sometimes the question has already been answer you just have to find it. Let face it some of your questions will not be answered, but keep asking and you may be surprised

Jenniferl,

Apr 13, 2009

I;ve spent time on both twitter and google. I do not understand the changes but like the content. you can get addicted to chatting but I really like to concentrate on answering to social media. First as a mature Fine Art student first and how to divide my time to one and then another.

Jenniferl,

Apr 13, 2009

Jotaesse,

Apr 13, 2009

prazer em ve-lo por aqui, também... no inicio dá um pouquinho de trabalho, mas depois fica moloinho, molinho...
tem um "Clip It" que dá pra adicionar na barra de Bookmarks do Browser... funciona bem no firefox... não sei se funça no IE.
para obte-lo, clica em "news" no quadro acima da tua foto e vais ve-lo com as instruções.
[ ]s
jotaesse

Jenniferl,

Apr 13, 2009

Hi how are you i am afraid i have no Portuguese thank you so much@jotaesse
Lovely to meet you

Alaskan Best,

Apr 13, 2009

There are so many different ways that people use social media, I think it's impossible to say whether its "the" bomb or "a" bomb. People and businesses will gravitate to those services that serves their needs best. For instance, I prefer Google, but I use a grease monkey script that includes twitter results at the top of search results page. http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/43451 I'm certain there are and will be other tools that will make combining or using various services easier for the main stream users.

Friarminor,

Apr 14, 2009

I guess most times 'social media' do seem to be like a 'new set of tools' that you like to look at and put on a shelf wondering when to find use for it only to find out that it's not the tools but your 'mindset' that needs to change.

Oh, and hi, everyone!