The creation of online newspapers and blogs – HuffingtonPost, AmericaBlog, and TalkingPoints Memo – have provided instant reporting of breaking political and policy news.  Online news outlets have turned the 24-hour news cycle on its head by creating a vehicle for citizen journalists who can report in not just innovative ways, but instantly. Politico Ben Smith’s “running conversation about politics” breaks news all day delivering a summary to your in-box at day’s end. Social media has truly revolutionized the way the news is reported. An MSNBC producer recently told me that he reads his Twitter feed prior to his morning assignment meeting.

Traditional newspapers must constantly adapt to keep pace with this changing medium. Washington Post columnists like Chris Cillizza and Jonathan Capehart can turn directly to their blogs to influence the debate. Long-time Hill publications like National Journal have to cut back on journalistic mainstays looking to social media to keep-up. Mike Allen’s Politico Playbook has changed the way we get the news – many bypass the newspaper and coffee opting to read Allen’s digest “on the go.”

Everyone wants to be on television to advance their issue or cause, and the general rule was, first, get it in print. Then the tv producers start calling. To a certain degree, the rule still holds – but it’s not the only rule these days. I advise my clients that investing in social media gives you that competitive edge. Whether it’s hosting a Facebook chat, tweeting the news first, or blogging regularly – having a profile in the digital space provides just another vehicle for your message.  And people are listening on the other end – a whole online community of bloggers, followers, and fans.

Once fearing social media, I now embrace it. Its flexibility and ease is an important communications strategy. When I asked the same MSNBC producer about the next “it” thing? He didn’t know, but if he did, we all would be doing it, he said laughing.

Follow me on Twitter: @kristofere

This blog is cross posted on HuffingtonPost.

In the last decade, some of the most promising and exciting technology products ever created have been not only introduced, but also widely accepted by society. The Internet has revolutionized communication and the way business is done in a number of ways across all industries. Thomas Friedman’s book The World is Flat highlights this tremendous advancement. The advent of Smartphones will only accelerate this movement and if rumors are true, other products soon to be debuted will open up new avenues for expansion even more. Simultaneously, Twitter, Facebook and other Internet social media Web sites are seeing their user base increase exponentially. With all of this activity, all of this momentum, and all of this innovation, more and more workers are finding their job boring? Something is surely amiss here.

Of course, assuming that these two facts are related is not directly intuitive. Why should advancements in technology and the massive surge of social communications augment how interesting a particular job is? That is where the notion of well-being comes in since it transcends the rudiments of daily job functioning. As outlined in previous blogs on this subject, well-being is a multidimensional construct which includes not only job satisfaction but also life satisfaction and many other elements of an individual’s mental and physical state. In the US, well-being has long been synonymous with wellness and has focused almost exclusively on health care, yet most wellness programs show meager return on investments and have not on the whole contributed to improving the health of the nation’s workforce.

So are social media Web sites and the Internet the answer to improving job satisfaction? Well, yes and no. It is not the static integration of these sites and others like them into a workplace that will create differences, but rather a dynamic interactive stream that allows workers to increase their level of involvement and ultimately their personal stake in and enthusiasm for a company. Expanding the definition and concept of well-being to encompass the true range of characteristics it includes might just help align employee desires with the broader goals of the companies for which they work.

Jobs do not exist in a bubble. They are an essential component of an individual’s identity and part of the fabric of his or her character. In most cases, workers spend more time at work than they do awake at home. Understanding this concept and its connection to well-being is paramount in improving these job satisfaction numbers. The interest is there we believe, it is just being displaced. If a company can re-center it, results could be outstanding.

Misconception #1: Social media is only right for certain brands

Noff correctly states that “Social media is right for every brand as long as the brand is able to find its target audience within a certain platform and converse/interact with it in an effective manner.”  Social Media is social.  That means you have to actively engage your audience in a conversation.  You need to talk with them, not at them.  That doesn’t mean you need to use all of the latest, hippest tools to do it, but if you have a business, it’s extremely likely that in 2009, your audience is online somewhere.  Join in the conversation where it’s already happening.

Misconception #2: Social media is all about getting traffic — and quickly

Noff says, “Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither is a community on Facebook.”  I think this misconception is probably the most important one of the whole article.  I can’t tell you how many clients think that by making a Facebook page, their website will crash from all the resulting traffic from their new ‘friends.’  To be fair, it’s not entirely their fault.  The mainstream media will have you believe that everyone on YouTube becomes famous overnight.  And yes, there have been lots of sensations and fantastical things that seem to appear out of nowhere.  Because information is so easy to share on social media sites, the tendency is to believe that everything will just magically get a million views just like that.

The reality is less sexy, but no less important.  You need to engage with your audience and have that conversation in order to build trust.  As their trust in you builds, they’ll turn to you first to find the solutions to their problems.  And they’ll tell their friends about it.  But these things take time.  Think about your own relationships in real life: how many of you completely trusted and felt like they knew someone the moment they met them?  Likely, not many of you.  And if you do think you did, it’s probably due to the positive feelings you attribute to that person in retrospect.

Social media is a tool.  And it’s a tool for you to use for the long haul.  Is your brand just in it for tomorrow or are you in it for the long haul too?

Misconception #3: “By using social media we will lose control of our brand’s image”

NEWS FLASH: You already don’t have control of your brand.  What?!  Before you fall out of your chair, let me tell you that this is not necessarily a bad thing and you are not losing ALL control either.  This is the quote that hits the nail on the head: “People will talk about your brand whether you like it or not. Opening a Facebook page is not going to change it and not opening a Facebook page is not going to make it go away.”  People are going to talk about your brand no matter what.  If someone has a good experience they’re going to tell people about it.  How did you find out about your doctor?  I’m willing to bet it was a referral either from a friend or family member or another doctor.  But I bet you didn’t hear about your doctor from an advertisement.

The same applies if they have a bad experience- people will talk.  Social media just makes it easier to talk, but rest assured, people are still talking about you regardless.  Injecting yourself into the conversation shows your customers and audience that you care and are willing to talk with them.  If you’re not willing to have an open conversation then the problem lies more with you than with your customers.  If they have your trust, you’ll find that they often will do the good kind of talking for you.

You can’t completely control the conversation but you can be a part of it and help to steer it rather than just sit on the sidelines and watch it pass you by.

Misconception #4: Social media is just a fad

“Social media is an inevitable digital evolution of our desire as humans to communicate with one another. It is a desire that we always had and will always continue to have as long as we are human.”  Like Misconception #3, people are going to talk.  Social media has just given us the tools to make it easier to do.

I was fortunate to be at one of the first colleges to have Facebook when it first came out- that was 6 years ago. Think Facebook is going away?  It continues to grow.

Misconception #5: “I don’t need a professional to do social media for me”

This is the only point where I think there’s a little leeway to be given.  Noff says that companies shouldn’t just get a college student to do their work when it comes to social media.  While I agree that this person needs to understand exactly what they are doing and needs to have prior experience, that doesn’t mean there aren’t college students or college-age young adults who do know how to do so effectively.  In fact, social media has become one of the great democratizers of the communications world.  Knowledge is readily being passed on at speeds unheard of just a few short years ago.  Do I think you should hire any kid who says they know Facebook? No.  But that doesn’t mean there aren’t kids out there who have experience already working with brands.

That being said, and a point that Noff also makes, the end goal should be to get the client to be able to handle the work for themselves after a training period.  But for an organization that’s only familiar with the old media way of doing things, I wouldn’t recommend taking it on itself until at least talking with a social media practitioner.

Conclusion:

Overall, the most important thing a brand can do is educate itself.  Would you launch into a new realm of product before learning more about what’s out there? No, of course not.  That feeling should also apply towards social media.

What do you see as the biggest misconceptions out there?

“You absolutely have to be aware of power users who put things up on Facebook, Flickr, Yelp,” Ms. Burke says. “P.R. is important because it’s pretty intensive to figure out who they are.”

via Spinning the Web – P.R. in Silicon Valley – NYTimes.com.

An interesting look at how Silicon Valley-based PR firms have adapted to use Social Media in their day-to-day activities.

“When tools are simple, people are more likely to use them,” Mr. Kelly said. “If there are too many options, users are not fully appreciating what they are sharing with whom.”

via Facebook to Offer New Features to Allow Users to Control Privacy of Information – NYTimes.com.

What a welcome and necessary change. Facebook does a fine job of making the service usable by non technophiles and the way the security settings page was often hit and miss. Try to explain it on the phone to your mum? Not a chance.