SocialMedia404

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This is the first post in a series about social media. We are calling it the social media “On Ramp” series. We are calling it that because we write what we know, and what we know right now is that a lot of our customers, and maybe you too are looking for an on-ramp to social media.

The point of view we will take is that you know nothing about social media, and very little about technology and the Internet in general. This is not for lack of trying, it’s for lack of time, attention and interest. We assume you are an expert on something else, not technology.

To the extent possible, we will use plain language, explain using analogy wherever possible, and not make you go to a technical dictionary to find out what we mean. Because we do this for a living, many of our examples will come from our own projects. This acts as a natural sanity check and ensures things are based on reality not theory.

This first post is all about getting everyone on the same page. It‘s groundwork for things to come so bear with me while we go through a brief history of how we got here in the first place.

To begin, let’s define social media; Social Media is technology that allows individuals to accomplish things on their own without the help of a central institution. This definition is pretty broad and that is on purpose. I also use technology so as to distinguish what happens at a farmer’s market every Saturday morning, which is people getting things done, just without technology.

A lot of focus in this area has been on sales and marketing, however, it can apply to virtually any area of business. As such, this could be people exchanging recipes with each other via e-mail, rather than going to a cookbook, customers sharing solutions to shared problems with each other rather than going through Customer Service, and CNN letting people send in “home made or guerilla reporting” videos which others can watch on particular topics. The possibilities are indeed endless.

Next up then is why this is so important and why is this becoming such a phenomena right now. To answer that question we need to review the history of the Internet. Don’t worry, it will be short, non-technical and to the point. In fact, two points, before and after. Here they are;

The history of the Internet

• Before the Internet it was hard to connect to other people.
• After the Internet it was easy.

Now, with that behind us let’s look at why this matters. Here it is - People like to connect with other people. Now, on to the meat. Why the Internet matters.

Why the Internet matters

• The Internet matters because it is everywhere.
• It is everywhere and continues to grow because it helps people do something they want to do, connect to other people, at a price they can afford. (see the History of the Internet above for further discussion on this point.)

OK, now that we have the history of the net out of the way, and an in depth exploration of why it matters, let’s look at social media. We discussed what it is, people getting things done without help from institutions, now let’s look at why this matters.

By the way, thanks for bearing with me through this entire preamble. I feel that if our on-ramp series is going to work I need to get everyone on the same page before we can begin.

Again, I’ll be brief and to the point about why social media matters.

Why social media matters

• Social media matters because it is everywhere.
• It is popular because people like to connect with each other, not with institutions.
• People don’t connect with institutions because we are not wired that way, it is literally unnatural. Ever see someone date IBM?

OK, now that we have that one out of the way, we can work on the final bit, and then we have taken our first step. The last one is why is social media so popular now?

Why is social media so popular now?

• Social media is popular now because it is possible now. We probably would have done it before but the tools were not there.
• It is possible now because of the following complex series of equations;

o Social Media = a lot of connected people

o A lot of connected people = The internet + cheap computers/phones/other gizmos that connect + cheap broadband access everywhere.

OK, we’ve arrived. If you have made it to the bottom you should now be able to discuss at the next cocktail party or get together with your friends the following topics;

• What is social media
• The history of the internet
• Why the internet maters
• Why social media matters
• Why is social media so popular now

Congratulations. Next up in our On-Ramp series will be a discussion of How to tell if social media applies to me.

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