Social Media Just isn’t Social
September 8, 2011 Leave a comment
Social media is just noise! The problem is that there are so many providing information badly that it is difficult to determine what is information is relevant and beneficial. I was fortunate last week that Hurricane Irene only knocked out our electricity for 48 hours. Several others I know were out much longer, they had no water and trees on their house. But the social result of no electricity had implications that I didn’t expect in my neighborhood. People and children that I had never seen before came up from the digital basement, eyes cloudy from dimly lit LED’s and were blinded by the sun. They began to do things that didn’t require electricity like ride their bicycles and families that didn’t have time to eat dinner together now took walks around the block with the stroller in hand.
This is the social anthropology that builds communities. Getting out, talking and knowing your audience. This is where I think social media falters and most get it wrong. Social media isn’t going to sell more products. But what it will do is allow you to connect with others online who have similar interests but then it is up to you to build that personal relationship but meeting them face to face or even on the phone. There is nothing better than looking someone in the eye and shaking their hand to establish that sense of trust. Once that has happened then you can begin selling that contact on the solution that is of interest to them.
