20 May What’s So Great About Social Media Anyway?

Posted at 01:00h in Social Media by

Facebook is under fire over privacy concerns. The fail whale seems to be making more appearances on Twitter. The entire social networking space is full of inane noise from this person who “needs a holiday” and that person who’s “just become mayor of Bill’s Cafe”. Go on holiday then. And congratulations; Bill will be proud.


It’s easy to see why social media has a bad rap in some cynic’s eyes. Take my wife (am avoiding the old joke of “please someone, take my wife…”); she said to me the other day about working in social media and about Twitter specifically: “All you do is chat about chatting”. After my hackles had gone down and I fixed the door that broke when I slammed it shut, I thought about that statement; in a sense, she’s right. I do talk (or communicate, as I prefer to put it…) to other talkers (communications professionals) about talking (marketing communications). But that’s exactly what is so great about social media and why I firmly believe that every organisation on this planet should be embracing it.

Back in January, a friend of mine asked 140 social media professionals to define social media in the 140 character length of a tweet. Some definitions were better than others, but there was a common thread that ran through them all: sharing. Were I to repeat the exercise now, my (rather contrived) entry would be replaced by just six words: SOCIAL MEDIA IS ALL ABOUT SHARING.

This is nothing groundbreaking. But it does strike me that this ‘definition’ explains the divide between those who ‘get’ social media, and those who don’t; those who love it, and those who loathe it. And those organisations that genuinely want to be a part of it, and those that feel that they’ should’ with no real justification or those that simply don’t. As social media professionals we can bang on all we like about how to get the most from a blog, or why we should leverage MySpace, and undoubtedly still will. Me included. But it all comes back to sharing.


Spotify is a great example of an organisation that has, almost suddenly it would appear, got it. By integrating Facebook and Twitter sharing functionality it has turned overnight from a standalone streaming service to a portal where music playlists and tracks can be exchanged across the social web in the same way that YouTube enables video sharing, Flickr allows photosharing and Foursquare provides location sharing. Social media also facilitates the exchange of ideas, thoughts, knowledge and insight. It’s a truly amazing technology.

I wrote a post last week that questioned whether the rise of the social web and mobile technologies is a good thing. I questioned the demands that the ever-on culture places on us. This, I believe, is fair criticism. But to be able to share in the way that we can far outweighs this. And my critical wife gave me the epiphany. That’s why I love her.

What’s so great about social media? Sharing, that’s what. So next time someone tweets about having checked in at the park or updates their Facebook status to say they’re tired, I’m going to listen. Because whether or not they realise it, they’re doing just that: sharing.

tweetmeme_source = ‘ThePaulSutton’; tweetmeme_url = ‘http://tribalboogie.blogspot.com/2010/05/whats-so-great-about-social-media_20.html’;

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20 May What’s So Great About Social Media Anyway?

Posted at 01:00h in Social Media by

Facebook is under fire over privacy concerns. The fail whale seems to be making more appearances on Twitter. The entire social networking space is full of inane noise from this person who “needs a holiday” and that person who’s “just become mayor of Bill’s Cafe”. Go on holiday then. And congratulations; Bill will be proud.


It’s easy to see why social media has a bad rap in some cynic’s eyes. Take my wife (am avoiding the old joke of “please someone, take my wife…”); she said to me the other day about working in social media and about Twitter specifically: “All you do is chat about chatting”. After my hackles had gone down and I fixed the door that broke when I slammed it shut, I thought about that statement; in a sense, she’s right. I do talk (or communicate, as I prefer to put it…) to other talkers (communications professionals) about talking (marketing communications). But that’s exactly what is so great about social media and why I firmly believe that every organisation on this planet should be embracing it.

Back in January, a friend of mine asked 140 social media professionals to define social media in the 140 character length of a tweet. Some definitions were better than others, but there was a common thread that ran through them all: sharing. Were I to repeat the exercise now, my (rather contrived) entry would be replaced by just six words: SOCIAL MEDIA IS ALL ABOUT SHARING.

This is nothing groundbreaking. But it does strike me that this ‘definition’ explains the divide between those who ‘get’ social media, and those who don’t; those who love it, and those who loathe it. And those organisations that genuinely want to be a part of it, and those that feel that they’ should’ with no real justification or those that simply don’t. As social media professionals we can bang on all we like about how to get the most from a blog, or why we should leverage MySpace, and undoubtedly still will. Me included. But it all comes back to sharing.


Spotify is a great example of an organisation that has, almost suddenly it would appear, got it. By integrating Facebook and Twitter sharing functionality it has turned overnight from a standalone streaming service to a portal where music playlists and tracks can be exchanged across the social web in the same way that YouTube enables video sharing, Flickr allows photosharing and Foursquare provides location sharing. Social media also facilitates the exchange of ideas, thoughts, knowledge and insight. It’s a truly amazing technology.

I wrote a post last week that questioned whether the rise of the social web and mobile technologies is a good thing. I questioned the demands that the ever-on culture places on us. This, I believe, is fair criticism. But to be able to share in the way that we can far outweighs this. And my critical wife gave me the epiphany. That’s why I love her.

What’s so great about social media? Sharing, that’s what. So next time someone tweets about having checked in at the park or updates their Facebook status to say they’re tired, I’m going to listen. Because whether or not they realise it, they’re doing just that: sharing.

tweetmeme_source = ‘ThePaulSutton’; tweetmeme_url = ‘http://tribalboogie.blogspot.com/2010/05/whats-so-great-about-social-media_20.html’;

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