Strategy

  • Is the Shine Coming off Social Media

    Posted August 12, 2009 By in Strategy With | 4 Comments

    Is it me or are you noticing that there doesn’t seem to be anything new or exciting being said about social media anymore?  Sure, there are lots of people writing and talking about the same things – but the noise is becoming repetitive.

    I started to notice this about a month ago when I attended a  conference and about half the sessions focused on Web 2.0 and social media – and I listened to those sitting around me complain about how there was nothing new being said.

    “Lot’s of talk about lots of work that needs to be added to my already long list of things to do.”

    “I haven’t heard about many tangible results.  Just lots of talk about ‘You need to be there because your customers are.’  But you know what – I don’t know if my customers are there because I haven’t asked them.”

    Then, last week, a colleague asked me what I would like to see in a panel discussion at an upcoming conference – and her request started off with “…since social media and Web 2.o have been talked to death…”

    What are you thinking?

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    patmcgraw
    Pat McGraw founded [mcgraw | marketing] in 1999 in order to provide growth-oriented small businesses with hands-on services that increase sales and marketing performance. In addition to offering coaching, consulting and interim executive solutions to businesses, Pat has taught business and marketing courses at several colleges and universities and is a frequent speaker at conferences around the country.

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Andrew Cotner

That's a great point Pat, I couldn't agree more. I was recently at the .eduWeb conference in Chicago and most of the topics were social media. There was nothing new and there were also "Experts" misleading the audience. First of all....Twitter. College students do not use it. Neither do prospective students for Career Colleges. Period.

However, there is still some ways that facebook, linkedin and other platforms can help that aren't common knowledge within the walls of the colleges and universities. Much of it has to do with expectations, management and how to handle negativity. It's not complicated but i can see why it's a very hot subject, it's happening fast and it's out there for all to see. I sense lots of hesitation for enrollment, marketing and executives. It's really a high risk, low reward venture from a career standpoint.

With realistic expectations, a little guidance, a well thought out plan and someone to manage the campaigns social media it can be a very useful tool.

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patmcgraw

I recently taught a marketing course for undergraduates at Towson University and when we got the chapter on 'the Internet', I asked everyone about their online habits.

A few had Facebook pages (and they laughed at MySpace). A few read blogs. One out of 25 had a LinkedIn account - the rest had some minor awareness of LinkedIn.

No one subscribed to RSS feeds (knowingly), and when I got to Twitter the room was in stunned silence until one student asked "Who the hell has time for this?" She followed up that question with "Why would anyone care about these comments?"

So much for all those articles I had read about how college students were all over Web 2.0. :)

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Andrew Cotner

That's a great point Pat, I couldn't agree more. I was recently at the .eduWeb conference in Chicago and most of the topics were social media. There was nothing new and there were also "Experts" misleading the audience. First of all....Twitter. College students do not use it. Neither do prospective students for Career Colleges. Period.

However, there is still some ways that facebook, linkedin and other platforms can help that aren't common knowledge within the walls of the colleges and universities. Much of it has to do with expectations, management and how to handle negativity. It's not complicated but i can see why it's a very hot subject, it's happening fast and it's out there for all to see. I sense lots of hesitation for enrollment, marketing and executives. It's really a high risk, low reward venture from a career standpoint.

With realistic expectations, a little guidance, a well thought out plan and someone to manage the campaigns social media it can be a very useful tool.

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patmcgraw

I recently taught a marketing course for undergraduates at Towson University and when we got the chapter on 'the Internet', I asked everyone about their online habits.

A few had Facebook pages (and they laughed at MySpace). A few read blogs. One out of 25 had a LinkedIn account - the rest had some minor awareness of LinkedIn.

No one subscribed to RSS feeds (knowingly), and when I got to Twitter the room was in stunned silence until one student asked "Who the hell has time for this?" She followed up that question with "Why would anyone care about these comments?"

So much for all those articles I had read about how college students were all over Web 2.0. :)

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  • disagree
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