RMM

Hi all – apologies for the verbose nature of this, but I started compiling a response to the linked post and lost control of it like an Irish Wolfhound being walked on a piece of thread in a field of rabbits. So I’m afraid you are getting something of a stream of conscious here.

As I started to jot a list down I became aware that I could probably fit almost anything into it just be thinking of some form of existing or potential interaction between a brand and an audience and adding the word “social” to it.  Not very helpful and great fuel for the ‘snake oil’ callers that have turned their attention to this area. So, I thought about what normal people (ie. consumers, in this context) actually understand from the word “social”, broadly what clients (ie. brands in this context) think “social media” is and then categorised my thoughts accordingly:

“Social” =  The term Social refers to a characteristic of living organisms (humans in particular, though biologists also apply the term to populations of other animals). It always refers to the interaction of organisms with other organisms and to their collective co-existence, irrespective of whether they are aware of it or not, and irrespective of whether the interaction is voluntary or involuntary (WikiPedia)

“Social Media” = media designed to be disseminated through social interaction, created using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques. Social media supports the human need for social interaction, using Internet- and web-based technologies to transform broadcast media monologues (one to many) into social media dialogues (many to many). It supports the democratisation of knowledge and information, transforming people from content consumers into content producers. (WikiPedia)

So – to summarise the above, “social” means interacting (eg. A conversation) and “social media” is the collection of [digital, online] platforms that can facilitate being ‘social’.

So (again) - if we think of ‘platforms’ here as being ‘initiatives’ rather than a specific media type or place then my heads goes to categorising these platforms into three areas (understanding that all social activity by definition is a two-way conversation but it has to be started by a single party):

1. Socialising between brand and consumer instigated by the brand;
2. Socialising between brand and consumer instigated by the consumer;
3. Socialising about the brand between consumers (best instigated by consumers)

If this holds true, then the job of the brand (for it is the brands we are trying to sell services to) can adopt two roles:

1. Start conversations with consumers;
2. Create suitable locations for consumers to start conversations with them;
3. Inspire consumers to converse about the brand (positively) in their own chosen locations.

START CONVERSATIONS WITH CONSUMERS

• R&D group
• Crowd-sourced data filtering/analysis
• Crowd-sourced contests (product development, naming, etc.)
• Project white boarding/brainstorming
• Sharing new ways to use a product*
• Crowd-sourced authoring/composing
• Group game-play (Scavenger Hunts is an example of this)

CREATE LOCATIONS FOR CONSUMERS TO HAVE CONVERSATIONS WITH THE BRAND

• Wiki creation
• Voting (and, I guess, surveys…)
• Product/experience review/rating
• Customer service support (an extension to the traditional contact centre)

INSPIRE CONVERSATIONS ABOUT THE BRAND BETWEEN CONSUMERS

• Ambassador program (using existing/previous customers)
• Social networking event
• Peer-2-peer assistance and support (Yahoo Answers)

And the elements I either don’t understand, can’t place or just don’t think fit the above (which is only a litmus test if you buy into my thinking, of course!). They could be perfectly valid forms of business activity but a force fit into the ‘social’ environment (note after each one).

• Lobbying official bodies – this looks like a B2B initiative?
• Group learning initiative – what is this?
• Crowd-sourced event management – what is this?
• Collaborating to reduce workload – how does this involve a brand?
• Internal collaboration (i.e. between members of a team to develop belonging) – this is an internal function?
• Social purchasing (e.g. eBay) – from Matt’s description this looks like plain old selling to me?
• Charity/fund-raising – already exists in a social sphere?
• Recruiting – already exists in a social sphere?
• Succession planning – I know what this is but I can’t fit it here for the like of me…