Social Media Expert = Nonsense

With the increasing popularity of social media, we are now being inundated with people calling themselves "Social Media Experts". 

Give. Me. A. Break!

What makes you a social media expert? I've asked several people to show me how they've raised quantifiable & significant sums of money via social media. Nobody has been able to show me this across multiple organizations in any consistent manner. 

If you're an expert, you should be able to show me that you've applied your knowledge in a way that will allow others to use your skills and knowledge and achieve similar results to your past results. Certainly there are a few people who have enjoyed success in fundraising or in generating campaigns with significant ROI in some areas.  But for the most part, these social media experts can't show any real consistency in the performance across the various campaigns and/or industries. 

It's not the technology - it's how people engage with the technology!

This recent article on "Digital Anthropology" from CNN, touches on the real issue.  So much time is put into the technology part of social media.  We spend all kinds of resources studying how communities interacted yesterday with the technology that is available at that time.  That may be helpful for your social media efforts - but it may also be detrimental.

At it's core social media is all about the people who USE the media.  You can create a community and expect that it will be used in a specific way, but once the people arrive and begin interacting, they are the ones who decide how they want to use it and how it best suits their preferences, needs and enjoyment. What people did yesterday isn't always a great predictor of how they will act today - when the influences impacting their lives change daily. I am NOT suggesting that we shouldn't attempt to learn from the past.  By all accounts, we can and do repeat our behaviours fairly reliably when things remain mostly the same.  However, the online world has the ability to change more frequently and quickly.

Predicting the Unpredictable

We know that when people gather enmasse - anything can happen.  Look at the recent Iran Elections.  Who would've expected the people of Iran to use Twitter as their way of bypassing the media blackout?  Who would've  expected that all the major news organizations would be relying on Twitter to share the news?

In recent talks with colleagues and peers, I've repeatedly stated that the best (and perhaps most important) social media strategy includes having a single individual responsible for the strategy and who is also personally engaged and communicating on your various social media platforms. Why?  Because whatever you plan to happen, may well not happen.  You have no idea what people are going to want and need from your organization until people begin using it. 

You can plan and guide their interaction with you - but you need to be able to change course, if they start telling you they want something else.  You need to respond. You need adapt. You need to recognize that social media is whatever the people using it want it to be.  It's not what you want it to be. 

The organizations who have successful social media programs, will be the ones who thoughtfully respond to the needs and preferences of their audience/s - quickly, respectful and enthusiastically. 

How can anyone be an expert in what hasn't happened yet? 

It certainly helps to be aware of what has worked and failed for others - but don't depend on it too much.  Be aware, but, don't be tied to it and don't expect that because it worked well yesterday, it will work great tomorrow (for you or any other organization).

Nothing will be the same tomorrow.  It will be a new day. Attitudes may be different. The weather can change. The economy could boom (or bust). The people may change! Someone will have a baby. Someone will lose someone they love. The technology could change.

Your Social Media Expert is going to be the person who knows your people best and who can have an honest and open dialogue with all of those people as the world around us all changes day to day. 

It's about relationships folks... 

If your Social Media Expert doesn't have a relationship with your people, what exactly are they an expert in?  And how on earth are they going to help you, if they don't have a relationship with the people who want to speak with you? 

Comments

[Bernard Ross]

At last sensible thinking on the Social Media bandwagon. Congratulations!
Too often charities go in pursuit of the 'next thing' rather than focussing on good relationships well managed.

[Laurie]

Thanks Bernard. I'm a great advocate of social media, but not because it has bells and whistles, but rather because it gives us more opportunities to develop and sustain more relationships.

[Mark Brooks]

Amen Sister! Finally, someone calling people to account for their wild claims! I love Twitter and Facebook and all the rest. However as of yet it is still too new and uncertain as to what it actually can and will do for raising funds. Most examples given when closely looked at reveal how little is given through this new medium. While it certainly does not need to be discounted I fear that many in the rush to be hip and cool will throw the baby out with the bath water. Your comments are right on!