The Basic Concepts: Social Media

May 31st, 2011

Marc Iannacone

There’s so much content on the Internet with regards to social media that I’m reluctant to add more, even with one small lonely blog post. Clutter has never been my thing. Our drive to reduce clutter (or is it my own personal crusade?) makes me think it’s worthwhile to consider some of the imperatives of social media, and hopefully this will allow me to communicate something about eBrands stance on social media.

The very basics of social media are something which are often skipped; often by agencies selling services to clients by igniting panic in marketing departments using the catch cry “you just have to be on it” while waving a dramatic fist full of statistics. Our approach (and we suggest yours) should be slightly more pragmatic; I’ve blogged previously about strategic goal setting – but before we set goals, lets find out what social media does. What are the basics?

Opinion is opinion. This is mine. This is also the crux of social media. Social media is really a set of technology platforms that have ‘branded’ and ‘re-engineered’ what the Internet could always do, which is allow people to share opinion. The differences with what we call social media now, is that technology has made everything easier, more accessible, and given users devices and interfaces which have now defined a common social media language. People could always like things before via a forum post; but now, facebook has made information more accessible, easier to share; and liking something has become as simple as clicking a thumbs-up button.

So now, opinion, digital advocacy and cultivating a digital following have become activities which everyone can easily become a part of. Marketing enters the mix when corporations and brands try to do the same. I could write longer and further about this, but it gets beyond the basics very quickly…so let’s refocus on the basics for now, and I will illustrate what we call at eBrands the pillars of social media.

Social relevance determines the online reputation of an individual or organisation. Open access, means carte blanche communication on products, brands and services, which can of course be good or awful.

Social media encompasses the ability for people to communicate more easily, sharing ideas, videos and other materials which might be from elsewhere or their own user-generated content.

Social networking connects people via interests, likes, common factors and opinions to form like-minded communities.

The above are the absolute basics. When it comes to a brand, or a client, or an individual, or an agency like mine; the first thing to establish with social media is how can the above characteristics of social media impact my business and its strategy. By applying the above concepts, you will quickly be able to identify a role for the competing platforms in social media, and importantly, begin to grasp what this new digital dialogue means.

In future posts, I will explore each of the three basic concepts illustrated above.