Whither social media in 2008?

Happy new year all. Did you have to read the title twice to see whether it said 'wither ...' (will social media slowly disappear this year?) or 'whither ...' (so where's it going next then?). Personally I don't think social media tools are about to shrivel up and die. Actually I was wondering where all this is going in your organisation this year?

After all, what a difference a year makes. This time last year I was, as many of the people turning up on our Black Belt courses still are, a social media cynic. I was 'too old' for Facebook, couldn't see the point of all these blogs just made up of the witterings of people like me and was already information overloaded enough without trying to keep track of this other stuff as well, thanks. I had never watched a YouTube video. In fact, I didn't even know how to use Liam's ipod. (the shame ...)

Meanwhile in the internal comms world, I had seen the Nevilles, Shels, Debbies, IBMs, etc. etc. extol the virtues of social media in every conference I went to. But who was actually using these tools in 'normal' companies whose employees are not all techies? Where were the case studies?

But fastforward a year and now ...

I cheerfully tell my Facebook friends what I'm up to twice a day, am back in touch with friends lost and - shock horror - there are lots of people AS OLD AS ME on there! I find all sorts of interesting stuff about internal comms or related subjects through a leisurely browse through a range of blogs now and again. I have my favourite totally non-work related blogs that keep me entertained. Namely Jeroen's daily HappySad offering and Grace Dent's acidic rantings. I laugh at dancing birds on YouTube.  And yes, I even sing in corners to my ipod.

In the IC world, meanwhile, this stuff actually seems to be coming to life. I hear interesting things about companies developing virtual worlds to entice people into their corporate strategy. I see organisations in traditionally risk-averse environments giving up control and offering every employee their own blog.  I watch field staff being given digicameras to record low cost real life experiences of change, published on line, sent out via mobile phone. It's a whole new world. With great opportunities and, of course, great risks too.

So what's it like in your corner of the world? What are your organisation's plans for social media this year? Or is it still not for you? Go on, if you've never commented on a blog before, make the start of 2008 the first time that you do ...

Sue

PS do read some of the links in this post - Debbie Weil has a great piece on social media in China. There's an interesting post setting out IBM's history in social media. And a good opinion piece about the benefits and risks. Oh, and you'll love the dancing bird ...

 

Comments

[Les Potter]

Beloved Sue, you are so funny: "I was too old for Facebook..."

I am so much older than you, and I love Facebook. Surprisingly, I have felt a warm reception to my FB efforts from my Millennial students, of all people. Among my FB Friends are 15-year-old kids of professional colleagues to people even older than me (believe it or not, it is possible).

You are not too old, as I am sure you now realize. And you bring a certain sophistication to FB; yours is a more erudite FB page than the drinking and partying all too often on display.

From my perspective, I see social media evolving and experiencing a greater reach than ever before. On and on it goes. Your blog (and your FB efforts) are all part of the great march forward. I am delighted to share the journey with you.

[Sue]

Les, I think this is the first time I have ever been told I bring 'sophistication' to anything - 2008 has started well!

There was a fair bit of tongue in cheekness in my 'too old' comments, but I have to say I do still hear friends (and Black Belt participants!) say social networking, virtual worlds and blogs are for 'young people'. Which is why I encourage any IC person who has any such opinion to dive in and try it out for themselves instead of making assumptions from the sidelines. Although if they do have that opinion, they are probably not reading this blog ...

[Emma Ridgeon]

Sue - I'm older than you too and I love facebook (though not the new-fangled Fun Walls). I've recently re-discovered some old IC colleagues via the CIB group, found a network of people from my current client organisation and I can see what my step-sons are up to (and filter edited highlights through to their dad). Marvellous. And by the way, I used some of your Competent Communicators materials today and they were really helpful. Happy New Year! Emma

[Sue]

Emma - great to hear you are a fan too - I remember when you first got on there and were trying to work out how to post photographs, by which time I'd actually managed to work that part out and felt very proud that I was able to give helpful instructions!

Really pleased the materials were useful.

And a very Happy New Year to you too! Hope to see you soon. Sue

[Timm]

Not commenting on Facebook right now - it has already taken over too much of my life... :-)

At our company, internal comms has introduced intranet blogging for everyone - which was very surprising for me, as it is a quite risk-averse and image-conscious organization. While they are writing on a policy on blogging, the service is only half-awake in a beta state, without promotion (I've stumbled across the site by chance and am now one of the few pioneers to write work updates). No case study at the moment, but promising - ask me again in a year.

Another blogecdote: My wife is currently doing her Masters studies in Social Informatics (i.e. IT applied to social settings such as schools, nursing homes, people out of work, etc.), and all students have to write a blog about their study progress, which are commented and graded by the professors as part of the curriculum.