To see and be seen (February 20, 2011)

My first "proper" bicycle was a Dawes Red Feather. It came complete with lights and a dynamo! The lamp was very effective at illuminating the road ahead  — all the time I was moving. A dynamo powered light goes out the moment you come to a halt. Fast forward 40 years and things are a little different. On any dark evening you'll notice cyclists, lit-up like proverbial mobile christmas trees with their flashing LED lights and high-power lamps. These ensure that not only can they see where they're going but that they're also seen and therefore safety is maximised. In other words, lights on a bicycle have two purposes: to see the way ahead and to be seen.

The Social Media parallel

When discussing Social Media activities with clients and prospects, they're understandable first concern is to gather some social media analytics. This information tells them what people say about their brands and associated services. Using the bicycle analogy this information is the "lights to see".

Be seen too!

It's one thing to see but that's only half of the social media story. Active participation is the other half — it the same as *being seen*. And it's really quite important. If you blog and wonder why you don't get comments it could well be because you don't comment on other blogs. Perhaps you don't yet blog at all? If you tweet and all your tweets are about you, your brand and your activities then your social media plan ain't that social! If you can never bring yourself to engage with your competitors or even, heaven forbid, congratulate them on their achievements, you haven't got it yet.

Single-dimensional social media doesn't work — you have to see and be seen. You have to participate as well as measure. Social media is a conversation and it involves expressing opinions, ideas and celebrating success even when it's not yours. Social media participation requires a healthy dose of altruism. If you think it's there simply to exploit — you haven't understood how to play nicely. It's as if you stopped peddling, your dynamo has stopped and ALL your lights have gone out. It's a social thing….

The fuel of change (Feb 6, 2011)

Technology has continued to improve the Internet and the Internet continues to change us; the millions of people connected to it. Over the past 10 years we've seen huge improvements in web technology and I'd suggest this has resulted in the rise of people power.

Internet reach

As an early adopter, I had access to the Internet at home long before the work place. Since then, its reach has extended from home, to work (or in some cases the reverse) and now to smartphones and iPads. You can carry the Internet in your pocket! And many do: there's an estimated 1.5 billion 3G handsets out there.

Websites have changed beyond recognition

Ubiquitous broadband, mega-pixel screens, improved browser technologies and sophisticated software developments have all combined to change today's web experience beyond recognition. Here's a couple of examples:

  1. Apple's homepage 10 years ago
  2. BBC's homepage 10 years ago

The Internet delivers a richer visual environment but it's not a passive broadcast space like TV. Many Internet users expect some degree of 2-way interaction, especially the generation that grew-up with it — Generation-Y. The Internet didn't replace TV in the sense that it gave more of the same, but it has equaled if not replaced the TV as the medium by which Values and Opinions are transmitted. And because it's a 2-way medium, the bigger voice is the audience not the broadcaster. And this simple numerical superiority has led to the rise of People Power.

What fuels People Power?

In a word: ideas. You might have thought I would say: social media! No, it's ideas that resonate and reach millions of readers in near real-time that has promoted People Power to king of the hill. Social Media is the meeting space where ideas are shaped and formed, where they gain inertia and are given momentum. Social media is the catalyst of change.

The new dynamic

Governments and organisations are aware of the power social media can exert upon them. Unlike advertising campaigns which were carefully constructed, impeccably timed and designed to travel in the top-down direction, *ideas* are expressed in the reverse, bottom-up direction. They arrive without notice and packaged in a transparent container labeled *brutally honest*.

Top-bottom

To play or not?

Some organisations worry about participating in social media. To not is no longer an option. It would be as absurd as not having a website or phone system but to play brings introduces its own issues. Direct and public feedback has a subtle way of enforcing quality of service and/or product — audiences trust the values and opinions of their peers. If your organisation is trustworthy, open and proudly stakes its reputation to all it says and does online it's likely to do well. If reputation is what you worry about and the idea of playing in the social media space keeps you up at night, your audiences will be talking about you anyway. Sooner or later, you'll have to join the party.

What is the fuel of change?

Ideas that resonate with people get carried on channels such as blogs, Facebook and Twitter. When there's a strong desire to change something, anything from a poor service that's affected thousands to an oppresive regime that's affected millions, these ideas gain momentum and are given velocity.

The fuel of change = problem + idea + social media + will