Lawrence Clarke

Previously we have exercised ourselves over the meaning of ‘social media’ and the importance of a ‘social media policy’.  With that as background it was clear from a recent talk I gave on ‘Creating an integrated social media strategy’ at the TFM&A show that there were plenty of people looking for answers.

Stories get our attention. Good stories are easy to remember. Story-telling is the oldest form of human interaction, and helps convey meaning, values and custom. If we ignore the power of story-telling in building our online communities we are missing one of the most powerful conversational assets. Yet how many sites looking to engage with their audience demonstrate an awareness of this natural form of interaction?

On the outside it’s surprising how many businesses rely on the continuing buying habits of their customers when times are hard. For many the assumption is that inertia will prevail despite the economic gloom. On the inside it’s understandable. After all many business models are based on our inertia – our reticence to change.

All online communities cost. There is a cost to specify and build or configure an existing application, the cost of hosting and the cost of ongoing maintenance. These are tangible costs, often fixed, that those responsible for budgeting across the organisation understand and for which there are precedents. But as discussed under What is an online community? pricing the technology does not provide the true cost of an online community.

A nod of the head, a shared glance, a warm smile, the soft timbre of the voice, a light touch on the arm, a hint of perfume – the subtle nuances of everyday conversation can never be replaced by a stark screen and the clatter of a keyboard. So why should I give up some of my precious time to join your ‘online community’?

Publishers exist because authors and journalists cannot afford to manufacture, distribute and sell their creations. The publisher will bear the costs in exchange for taking the lion-share of the rewards. It’s not surprising that any book publisher stands or falls by backing ‘best sellers’ or any controlled-circulation magazine publisher needs to mail out to a significant proportion of the target audience as defined by its advertising clients.

The challenge we at SiftGroups are always set by organisations and businesses looking at online social media is typically a request to “show us examples of social media delivering measurable value (ROI)”. If only it were that simple. Like any social activity, online social media is pervasive and insidious. It cannot be corralled or managed in a traditional way.

For many blogging is a bit passé – the new blogging is Twitter with all the attraction of immediacy and connection with others that a ‘classic’ blog would struggle to provide. So what’s the point of a blog?

At SiftGroups we’re compiling a glossary of terms that we use and terms that we avoid. How we all describe people has a direct bearing on how we treat them – and that certainly applies to the world of computers and the Internet. In everyday conversations the word ‘user’, if used at all, is usually in the context of abuse – such as ‘drug user’.