RonAmok!

Words are supposed to convey meaning. But what happens if a word becomes so overused, so overburdened, or is used so interchangeably, that it stops conveying meaning? Or worse, what if its use confuses more than it enlightens?

Picking up from my post, Social Media Enthusiasts, let’s address the challenges of explaining social media to business people who are new to the concept. Our problems stem from the word media.

Media and Sausages

The definition of the word media has been generally accepted as a substitute for ”print,” “broadcast,” or “the press.”  But as we’ve added new communications technologies, instead of addressing their vastly different traits, we’ve lumped them together into one media category. Within a very short period of time, we’ve crammed the following into the word media:

• the medium of the Web
• the medium of the blog
• the medium of the podcast
• the medium of online video
• the medium of Twitter
• the medium of Facebook
• the medium of the mobile app

As a result, we refer to media the same way we refer to sausages, describing the sausage casing rather than the sausage contents. By squeezing these vastly different technologies into one media casing, we’ve made it difficult to discuss them individually.  And then we’ve made it even worse by adding an adjective (social) before media, essentially coining a phrase (social media) that’s devoid of any meaning whatsoever.  No wonder why business execs are having such a hard time grasping social media…the term is woefully inadequate.

We need a word that recognizes the diversity of the individual media components. We need a word that can help us describe the ingredients of the media sausage instead of the media casing.

Grammar RonAmok!

I’ve found that a simple, grammatically incorrect word substitution does the trick. By replacing the word media with mediums, I’ve been able to dramatically reduce the time it takes to explain social media to those new to the game. This simple substitution breaks a seemingly overwhelming concept (the media sausage) into bite-sized concepts.

Give it a try. The next time someone asks about social media, change the rules and talk about social mediums. The substitution has made my job so much easier. I bet it’ll work for you too.

Photo Credit Cobalt123

Recently, I’ve been experimenting with Google Docs to help illustrate how Social Media activities can be measured, tracked, and analyzed. By combining Google Spreadsheets, Google Gadgets, and a little HTML, my Social Media Dashboard offers an at-a-glance view of my client’s social media efforts. Here’ s a screen-shot of what my dashboard should look like:

Unfortunately, it hasn’t looked that way since last Tuesday morning, when I noticed that Google Gadgets stopped working. Today, my dashboard now looks like this:

I first noticed the problem while calling it up live in front of a business prospect. Having just talked-up the use of these great tools, I felt a bit red-faced, but shrugged it off as a minor hiccup in technology. Software breaks and I figured that Google would have my dashboard back up and running within a few hours. Unfortunately, 96 hours 120 hours six-days one-week ten-days later and the problem still persists.

I’m not the only person affected by outage. The following thread on the Google Docs Help Forum shows four examples–just from last Tuesday:

“I was going to do a training which included motion charts tomorrow morning.”
(newbopke)

A part form the disruptions this problem is creating to my website, what I find amazing is that after 24 hours Google doesn’t come out with a solution, and none even says “well, we will find a solution in 48 hours, and we will do this and that” or so.
(Jorge from Burgos)

I’ve been using “Gantt Chart” to follow projects progress of an ONG I’m working with. Gadget stopped working yesterday! Please! Jules: Help me, Help US!
(sosa.0991)

Is google working on this? I too have a presentation tomorrow using motion gadgets. Very stressed! Any alternative motion chart options out there for the computer illiterate?
(wmkay87)

I believe in cloud computing. I also understand the risks involved with new technologies. But if cloud computing is going to be a viable option for companies, downtime will need to be measured in hours not days.

Tags: Google Spreadsheets Gadgets Cloud Computing Broken Ron Ploof Orange County Social Media Social Media Dashboard

Two weeks ago, I attended the Social Media Day event held at the Orange County Register in Santa Ana, CA. The event drew more than 300 people from diverse industries and with varying levels of social media experience.

The Orange County traffic gods must have been smiling upon me that day because I arrived early and found myself seated next to three women who were all part of a local professional networking group. All were experienced professional communicators eager to learn how to incorporate social media into their day-to-day business communications activities.

It didn’t take long for them to figure out what I do for a living and that’s when the question floodgates opened. They peppered me with questions about LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. We talked about blogs and online video. Energized by how passionate they were about their craft and their clients, I answered happily. Their flow of questions were temporarily interrupted by the event, yet resumed during the intermission. Heck, I didn’t even have a chance leave my chair before the next panelist session started!

We exchanged business cards; I went home; and they went to dinner to discuss the event. All three contacted me separately during the next week and it was through these little conversations that I heard about the dinner conversation.

One of women summarized the discussion in an email to me:

The panel consisted of “enthusiasts” and “experts.” More of the first, if you ask me…I think it’s those “enthusiasts” who give social media it’s bad rap or negative connotations.

Their assessment is one of the largest inhibitors to corporate social media adoption. If professional business owners feel that social media is tied more to “enthusiasts” than business “practitioners,” they’ll be slow to consider social media adoption.

Are you a social media enthusiast or a practitioner? Do you play/dabble with social media, or are you seeking better ways of communicating with your customers?

There really isn’t a right or wrong answer. Enthusiasts play. Practitioners work.

Photo Credit: Ed Yourdon

Tags: Social Media Day Social Media Enthusiasts Ron Ploof Orange County Public Relations Marketing Social Media