briansolis: Social Media is About Sociology Not Technology
Laura Athavale Fitton
· 2 years ago
they weren't kidding on twitter when they said you really nailed it on social networks. this is important "new" thinking on the topic.
Connie
· 2 years ago
Some interesting thoughts.
I like to tell people I have been in "social networking for over 20 years". They think I am crazy. Blogs haven't been around that long, after all! But then, I was using forums, chat boards, BBS's, Bitnet (connected from NetNorth here in Canada), and campus computer conferencing systems since at least 1986. Long before the World Wide Web existed. As you say, the tools may change but the people remain the same. But, some tools are more popular and it depends on who is using what tool as to how we approach them.
I'm thinking this e-mail thing might catch on eventually, too.
Cheers!
Brian Solis
· 2 years ago
Hi Laura, thank you for the note! I appreciate it.
Connie, I say the same thing! I used to jump into BBS' all the time via 2400 baud modems. I think the difference between now and then is only volume...and we're only going to see more tools and networks hit the market as each day passes.
Chris Heuer
· 2 years ago
you had me at 'sociology'...
Anonymous
· 2 years ago
Brian, you always make such pronouncements. Twitter. Really? Sociology. Really? Pownce. Really?
Any PR pro worth his or her salt knows it's never been about the technology. It's only you geeks that get excited about Web 2.0.
Meantime, us in the real PR world will be concentrating on where the majority of our target audiences are. And while we'll use the online tools, we'll have an air of objectivity to their capabilities.
I just read fluff. Tell me, or us rather, of the initiatives you've been involved in. Are there any case studies you would like to share? Results? What did you learn from them? What worked? What didn't? This is the era of full transparency, of course.
Right?
I hear words of wisdom but I don't see anything to back up your notions and theories.
It's disappointing, it really is.
francine
· 2 years ago
I'm with Connie. Long time user of social networks, starting with Widownet in 1997 when my husband died. Just a lot of people I had something in common with: they had lost a spouse, too. That's when I figured out what the relatively novel WWW was really for. And of course it's about sociology, not technology. You find the people who appeal to you. Even if you have 5000 Facebook friends, some of them will be closer to you than others. Before I had Twitter friends I had a mailing list of 2000 friends to whom I sent an email a week.
Last comment: corporations can't blog. Individuals blog. Individuals communicate messages. There won't be anymore "corporate" marketing. There will be individual messaging done by people who work in corporations. And you might like one Microsoft blogger better than other, and follow him (ahem).
Brian Solis
· 2 years ago
HI "anonymous" thanks for coming by and speaking up for those PR people that enjoy lobbing messages from behind the wall. I just found it odd that you used the words "era of full transparency," but chose to remain anonymous.
In all seriousness though, it's not disappointing when you look at things differently. This post was written because there's almost too much excitement, and attention, around Web 2.0 and the social tools that are spinning out of the movement.
For you PR pros that are worth your salt, perhaps this post isn't for you. I can tell you however, that this post was inspired by the ridiculous amount of PR opportunists that market themselves as social media experts, advertising the use of the latest tools and networks to help companies reach their target "audiences."
That's where the real problem is and that's why I wrote this post. It's not about the tech! It's not about the trends!
In reference to your "fluff" comment, perhaps you should re-read the post with this frame of mind.
It really does ask people to take a step back from the hype to, like you say, identify where their customers are (I would disagree with your use of audiences), how to reach them, and why they should care about your product/service/company.
If anything, I'm telling people to think before they jump on this so-called gravy train, explaining why they need to do so.
Experimenting in social media with social tools is my second job right now, so I'm part of this each and every week. My first job is running traditional PR programs for clients that need the mix.
I write quite a bit about results from the field and also speak about the successes and failures at conferences as often as possible. I try to balance the posts, but if it helps, I can definitely highlight more of those experiences here.
I did spend the summer contributing content, examples, and case studies to two books coming out later in the year and also a series of presentations and white papers being distributed through PR channels.
Every post is written from experience. Point taken on publishing more stories from the field...
Brian Solis
· 2 years ago
Hi Francine, I absolutely agree across the board And re: your last comment, I wrote about that very topic in an article that I wrote for a PR magazine entitled, "Taking the BS out of Business Blogging." That BS is comprised of so many things that are simply unbelievable. For one, we're asked on an almost daily basis if we can ghost write posts for company executives....but that is another topic entirely.
Geoff_Livingston
· 2 years ago
You are the man. This sociology concept came from the future of marketing post, and I love the continued expansion of it. Mazl tov.
Anonymous = weak (maybe I should delete that fake caveman tweet I got going, oops). Seriously, I have little respect for someone who claims to be a pro but can't own the criticism with their own name.
LOL
Joe Caruso
· 2 years ago
Hi Brian,
I thought this post was excellent. Pandora's Box has been opened. You were spot on when you acknowledged consumers have amplified voices & peer-to-peer influence. I think it's better for everyone.
While you mention tools and how they will evolve over time, you clearly state it's about people and relationships. Amen.
As for Mr. Anonymous, he shows his own fears and arrogance by his lame post. What credibility does anyone have when they have no name?
Chris
· 2 years ago
Hi Brian, just wanted to say I loved your article. I'm currently a PR student and a geek (read programmer), and I know I get excited about Web 2.0, but you really hit driving point. Regardless of the tool, it's still about making those connections.
Yours is a blog I plan on continuing to read (found it off SpinThicket)!
ssmirnov
· 2 years ago
Will resist urge to pile on to Anonymous. Rather, will say that even us old-timey PR types should acknowledge that of course it's about the technology. Yes, technological advances are transforming the influence landscape -- by the SECOND. But technological evolution -- not just in social media -- has been pushing forward the craft of public relations and forcing all of us to adapt from the beginning of the industry. There are some of us who have been around long enough to remember the moment we discovered -- gasp -- we could deploy a brand spokesperson into 20 or 30 or 50 local markets through the wonder and efficiency of a satellite media tour -- all in a single morning. Or webcasting --lordy, remember when THAT was the scary big new idea in publicity tactics? If we are indeed "worth our salt," to borrow the phrase (eh hem), we'll stay current and flexible and adapt to keep our influencer outreach as nimble, effective and resonant as possible. Perhaps the more alarming/galvanizing challenge (depends on your POV)is how effectively we're navigating our clients through the shifting landscape of influence, and using our relationship-building ability as PR pros to earn the same credibility and access with "citizen" influencers we've got with traditional media influencers.
Frances Martir
· 1 year ago
My name is Frances and I am a senior at SMU in a Corporate Communications class and the topic at hand is that of Technology and Communications and how it has shaped this field. Come and visit our class blog (smuccpaclass.blogspot.com) or even mine and see what we have to say about it. I think what you said that The future of communications is already upon us. Get used to it.” is exactly how I feel about it. But how do you think it has shaped the Communication field in general?
CrookedMoney
· 1 year ago
The very foundation of http: and www IS what we in the west define as "social" protocol. Talking, sending, swapping, packets. It's not just about the site offering "social" platforms. It's also about the FRAMEWORK of the internet is interconnectedness which fundamentally opposes individualist ideals upon its structure. I love seeing the media keep trying to crawl up the ass of everything. Not gonna work.
What IS sad is that we do fail to see the potential power the internet can offer the commonfolk OUTSIDE the common mediums. It all comes down to how much one is willing to learn about the tools which one is given.
Good post.
clare e munn
· 11 months ago
Thank you for this -- agree to many of your points wholeheartedly. Our company has 3 industrial psych and a sociologist, plus board advisers with a phd's in various forms of 'ologies' around human behavior. This is an art and science with a tonne of empathy and strategy wrapped around it. Be good to talk to you sometime in more detail.
blogbizz
· 5 months ago
very nice post i'll be back as frequent as possible
All Comments
I like to tell people I have been in "social networking for over 20 years". They think I am crazy. Blogs haven't been around that long, after all! But then, I was using forums, chat boards, BBS's, Bitnet (connected from NetNorth here in Canada), and campus computer conferencing systems since at least 1986. Long before the World Wide Web existed. As you say, the tools may change but the people remain the same. But, some tools are more popular and it depends on who is using what tool as to how we approach them.
I'm thinking this e-mail thing might catch on eventually, too.
Cheers!
Connie, I say the same thing! I used to jump into BBS' all the time via 2400 baud modems. I think the difference between now and then is only volume...and we're only going to see more tools and networks hit the market as each day passes.
Any PR pro worth his or her salt knows it's never been about the technology. It's only you geeks that get excited about Web 2.0.
Meantime, us in the real PR world will be concentrating on where the majority of our target audiences are. And while we'll use the online tools, we'll have an air of objectivity to their capabilities.
I just read fluff. Tell me, or us rather, of the initiatives you've been involved in. Are there any case studies you would like to share? Results? What did you learn from them? What worked? What didn't? This is the era of full transparency, of course.
Right?
I hear words of wisdom but I don't see anything to back up your notions and theories.
It's disappointing, it really is.
And of course it's about sociology, not technology. You find the people who appeal to you. Even if you have 5000 Facebook friends, some of them will be closer to you than others. Before I had Twitter friends I had a mailing list of 2000 friends to whom I sent an email a week.
Last comment: corporations can't blog. Individuals blog. Individuals communicate messages. There won't be anymore "corporate" marketing. There will be individual messaging done by people who work in corporations. And you might like one Microsoft blogger better than other, and follow him (ahem).
In all seriousness though, it's not disappointing when you look at things differently. This post was written because there's almost too much excitement, and attention, around Web 2.0 and the social tools that are spinning out of the movement.
For you PR pros that are worth your salt, perhaps this post isn't for you. I can tell you however, that this post was inspired by the ridiculous amount of PR opportunists that market themselves as social media experts, advertising the use of the latest tools and networks to help companies reach their target "audiences."
That's where the real problem is and that's why I wrote this post. It's not about the tech! It's not about the trends!
In reference to your "fluff" comment, perhaps you should re-read the post with this frame of mind.
It really does ask people to take a step back from the hype to, like you say, identify where their customers are (I would disagree with your use of audiences), how to reach them, and why they should care about your product/service/company.
If anything, I'm telling people to think before they jump on this so-called gravy train, explaining why they need to do so.
Experimenting in social media with social tools is my second job right now, so I'm part of this each and every week. My first job is running traditional PR programs for clients that need the mix.
I write quite a bit about results from the field and also speak about the successes and failures at conferences as often as possible. I try to balance the posts, but if it helps, I can definitely highlight more of those experiences here.
I did spend the summer contributing content, examples, and case studies to two books coming out later in the year and also a series of presentations and white papers being distributed through PR channels.
Every post is written from experience. Point taken on publishing more stories from the field...
Anonymous = weak (maybe I should delete that fake caveman tweet I got going, oops). Seriously, I have little respect for someone who claims to be a pro but can't own the criticism with their own name.
LOL
I thought this post was excellent. Pandora's Box has been opened. You were spot on when you acknowledged consumers have amplified voices & peer-to-peer influence. I think it's better for everyone.
While you mention tools and how they will evolve over time, you clearly state it's about people and relationships. Amen.
As for Mr. Anonymous, he shows his own fears and arrogance by his lame post. What credibility does anyone have when they have no name?
Yours is a blog I plan on continuing to read (found it off SpinThicket)!
What IS sad is that we do fail to see the potential power the internet can offer the commonfolk OUTSIDE the common mediums. It all comes down to how much one is willing to learn about the tools which one is given.
Good post.
Our company has 3 industrial psych and a sociologist, plus board
advisers with a phd's in various forms of 'ologies' around human
behavior. This is an art and science with a tonne of empathy and
strategy wrapped around it. Be good to talk to you sometime in more detail.