Relevance 2.0
The New New Internet Conference was held yesterday at Reston Town Center, where keynotes were offered both by Ted Leonsis, Vice Chairman Emeritus of AOL and Tim Ferriss, author of The 4-Hour Workweek. Social media discussions were in force, with speakers offering opinions on which trends would conquer and which would fade. It's time to admit that social networking can't get more mainstream than it is. With roughly half the Internet population holding accounts on sites like MySpace and Facebook, no one should feel that it's either too complicated or not relevant enough to engage in.
I've heard some of my older friends claim that they just don't understand why they would log on to Facebook. Have you ever been to a party, I ask? Of course, they reply. Do you enjoy trading stories, getting to know different sides of people, letting off steam with friends, I continue? Of course, they reply, more exasperated this time. That's what Facebook is about! But underneath it, you're maintaining connections, strengthening your network and solidifying your brand.
Maybe you don't need convincing because you're reading this blog. Old news, you say, I use this stuff. Ok, so what are the arguments for implementing social media on an association Web site, and what are its uses?
- Blogs: Set up a CEO blog and ensure members can reply with comments. This will support the customer-service culture and allow others to see your CEO in a new light.
- Forums: Create discussion forums and shared workspaces on the site exclusive to volunteers to show they're valued and heard.
- Wikis: Support your Communities of Practice by enabling the collaborative documentation of industry best practices.
That's just a start, I'm sure you can contribute more. The association's power comes in its facilitation of member-to-member interaction, independent of the organization's direct participation. Social media are today's most effective virtual platforms to realizing this potential.
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Comments
Tyler-- This is a very timely posting, from my perspective. ASAE’s online e-learning conference finished up yesterday, and social media was one of the major topics on the agenda there. Attendance at presentations as well as comments in the chats and discussions at the conference suggest a high level of interest in social media, and fair amount of receptiveness towards implementing it, but participants also voiced some very valid concerns. Among them were:
*A perception among both association leaders and members that social media is something only the young engage in. (A perception that persist in spite of growing evidence to the contrary)
*Related to the above (but also probably a reaction to the amount of hype out there right now), a perception of social media as a “frivolous term”, i.e., keep the concept, but call it something else.
*Worries about loss of control over content—particularly with respect to how this might impact quality and brand
*Fears about security and privacy being compromised
I am a big fan of and user of social media and I believe there are major benefits (some of which you suggest above) to be had for organizations that implement one of more forms of it. I’d be interested to hear from other readers here, though, how common the concerns articulated above are and what steps they have taken to overcome them or at least mitigate them within their organizations.
(BTW—Anyone interested in how social media might complement traditional education activities can access resources related to my Learning 2.0 presentation at http://www.missiontolearn.com/resources.)
Jeff
Posted by: Jeff Cobb | November 2, 2007 12:08 PM
Tyler: What I like best about your post is that it identified three useful applications of social media that associations should be able to say yes to without too much hesitation.
Posted by: Jeffrey Cufaude | November 2, 2007 2:50 PM
Jeffrey, thanks for your comment, I'm glad you agree!
Jeff, the young-old perception is certainly of concern in pursuing the adoption of these kinds of applications in the association industry. There's probably some hand-holding that needs to take place on a one-to-one basis to overcome some of that, don't you think? I'm not sure if there will be some a-ha moment for those who don't consider themselves young and technologically hip.
I agree that "social networking" is a bit too broad. I wonder what a more acceptable term would be for the association space?
-Tyler
Posted by: Tyler Clark | November 8, 2007 9:39 AM