A little while back, I sent out a request via Twitter asking if anyone would be interested in being interviewed for a discussion on social media.
With the medium meaning so many different things to so many people, as well as how it can be used, I was interested to hear the views of the people I connect with.
My original plan was to run a “round table” style of blog post – raise the questions and then have a mix of views as the responses. However, the answers I received back were all excellent, and showed why social media is the mix of interesting people and views that it is. So, I decided individual posts would be far more effective in an on-going series of interviews.
Sharing his views today is social media strategist Sonny Gill. His work emphasizes community-centric strategies through the use of social media. My sincere thanks to Sonny for taking the time to reply and share his views. To connect with Sonny or find out more about him, please visit his social media blog or connect with Sonny on Twitter.
If someone was to ask you for your definition of social media, what would it be?
Ah, the elusive answer that many of us seek! Well, here’s my personal definition: Social Media is the new technological means that help us build, enhance and grow our communications channels, as well as our relationships – online and offline.
What is your reason for using social media?
Community – simple as that. I was intrigued by the medium a few years back as I became acclimated with the space by reading some of the top blogs in the industry. I was amazed at how a group of people, that you may or may not know, actually cared about what you had to say.
I’ve always been a marketing nerd at heart but the possibilities with implementing social media into the mix were endless – but more importantly, it gave me a place where I could better connect with people and actually build relationships with them.
Do you feel that social media is being used to its maximum effect?
Not at all. We all have helped pave the road to get SM to where it is today, but there’s an even longer road ahead. That road consists of further education to clients, executives, naysayers – those who don’t understand how it can benefit their company but more so, who brush it off as a fad or a shiny new toy. It’s more than that and it’s our responsibility to prove them wrong. I think we all should keep this in mind as we move forward in this industry.
What social media tools or applications do you use? Why these ones in particular?
I can usually be found on Twitter for the better part of the day, along with Facebook and LinkedIn. Twitter is my original social media stomping ground. It’s where I first ‘got it’ and it’s where I’ve been able to connect with hundreds of people that I would not even had the chance to speak with otherwise.
Facebook has always been a safe haven for me and my personal friends that I grew up with or went to college with. Now, it’s kind of shifted into both personal & professional as I connect with people from my other networks and further build our relationship there while having the ability to share media (pictures, video) easier than I would on Twitter.
Lastly, LinkedIn is a site that I’ve always praised and hope that all my close friends and colleagues actively utilize. It’s your online resume, your background check for potential employers or clients, your own research tool. I connect with colleagues, old and new, as well as friends. I never know who I may need to know for that next pitch or possibly for that next employer – staying connected gives me a greater chance for an introduction, for myself or for a friend or colleague that’s in the same boat.
Where do you see the future of social media, both in general and for you?
I think 2009 will bring SM to the forefront of marketing and communication strategies across many industries. The economic times is a sometimes overworked topic but one that can be addressed with social media, as there’s low monetary cost, though makes up for with the soft-cost of time.
For myself, I see social media further expanding my knowledge in the industry and in marketing as a whole. The great thing about SM is that everyone is willing to help, grow and learn with you. There are no limitations in this industry, as it’s all a matter of how hungry you are. Personally, I hope to utilize the skills I’ve learned and implemented within SM to hone my skills into a role where I can help a company maximize their potential, by tapping into what’s most important to their business – the people.
Are businesses effectively using social media? If not, what can they do to improve?
Some are but most don’t get it, yet. With all its glitz and glamour, social media is still slowly being adopted by the corporate world. They’re getting their feet wet as some are on Twitter or have started a blog.
What misses the boat though is how they’re conversing with their community and the amount of time they’re putting forth.
First thing for them to understand is that social media is an extension of their current strategy, which needs to be understood throughout the entire company’s culture, as it’s not an end-all or going to save a failing strategy.
Listening and then communicating with your company’s community is a great initial step but use social media to help your community, not the other way around. This topic could definitely go into an entire post of its own but listening and learning is a good start for businesses to improve their use of social media.
What do you feel are the best and worst features/uses of social media?
I think by far the worst use of social media is the implementation of an MLM (multi-level marketing) strategy through Twitter. These tactics guarantee a massive amount of followers but what then? They fail to realize the time and effort aspect of social media and that it takes a lot of both to connect and build relationships, not numbers. They’re not utilizing Twitter for the benefit of conversation or relationships; they’re using it to get tons of followers.
Though this is one of the worst uses of SM that I’ve personally seen, it’s not something that’s sustainable. It’s easily seen / avoidable and the people who’ve done it will soon realize that there’s nothing more to their communities, than numbers, when there’s no substance behind it.
- You can find more “Discussing Social Media with…” interviews here.
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Press Release PR owner Danny Brown conducts a series of interviews discussing social media. Sharing his views today is social media strategist Sonny Gill.
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Press Release PR owner Danny Brown conducts a series of interviews discussing social media. Sharing his views today is social media strategist Sonny Gill.
via uberVU
Press Release PR owner Danny Brown conducts a series of interviews discussing social media. Sharing his views today is social media strategist Sonny Gill.
via uberVU
Thanks the excellent Q&A. I have started following Sonny on twitter.. Hope to learn from hin
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Thanks the excellent Q&A. I have started following Sonny on twitter.. Hope to learn from hin
@valencio – appreciate the kind words. I’ll be sure to catch you on Twitter
Danny – thanks again for including me in your interview series. Had a great time doing it. Cheers!
“These tactics guarantee a massive amount of followers but what then? They fail to realize the time and effort aspect of social media and that it takes a lot of both to connect and build relationships, not numbers. They’re not utilizing Twitter for the benefit of conversation or relationships; they’re using it to get tons of followers.”
I’m not a fan of indiscriminate offer spamming, but isn’t it up to those using Twitter to decide what works for them? If it isn’t working for them, they wouldn’t be using it surely. How do you know they fail to take the connection aspect into consideration, or is it just a generalization because you don’t care for it yourself? I am just wondering. A lot of Twitter’s attraction is that each can and do use it in their own way. It lends itself to getting more followers not less. Anyone can unfollow a person they don’t wish to hear from.
I don’t think it’s for anyone to say how strong or weak or unsustainable anyone else’s community is – or isn’t. We should simply focus on building our own and leave them to do what they want. Clearly, the people following those with thousands of followers are getting something out of it or they wouldn’t be doing it. There’s more than enough room on Twitter to live and let live. Each to his/her own.
Nicky – thanks for chiming in with your thoughts!
I agree with you that it is up to us and how we use Twitter. Whether to converse or to broadcast a feed. The benefits, or lack thereof, will be evident to that person and up to them to continue or change strategies.
On the point of my distaste for MLM strategies on Twitter. It is up to the person utilizing such a tactic to build their followers and I agree, there are probably some people who are communicating with their newly acquired community, no matter the means of getting them. IMO, the problem resides in the point of the scheme (which I detail in my post) and the fact that having numbers/followers can take little if any effort and poof, you magically have a community – and by the thousands, from what the person claims. Social Media and Twitter is about building mutually-beneficial relationships with your community, not an MLM strategy. It is to each their own and some will realize that the massive community of followers they may have gotten, provides little value without the time and effort needed to cultivate those relationships – and some won’t.
Appreciate your comment, Nicky!
Interesting points… I think as long as followers have the unfollow button they have ALL the power.
It’s interesting when people talk about communities and building relationships on Twitter. I think it’s in the eye of the beholder, however there are many Twitterites with thousands upon thousands of followers who – because they have so many, can only build a relationship with a very select few.It’s impossible to do otherwise because you can’t interact with thousands, only a handful. I know because I follow a few of them and though I’ve replied to retweeted posts etc I am under no illusion that I will get a reply – the noise -or the size of the crowd is too large. I don’t mind, if what they say is interesting enough for me to keep reading but I stopped bothering to respond after a while. And these are not MLM-ers btw. I think there is a big difference between “followers” and “community” and that often the two are used interchangeably… Twitter lends itself to getting followers – the more the merrier.
Thanks for responding.
And, on that note I’m off to follow John Cleese… I have it on good authority he actually responds to his tweets
You’re on point with that assessment, Nicky. It’s definitely difficult upholding the community aspect of Twitter when you have tens of thousands of followers but there are some that understand that role and run with it (a la @chrisbrogan). The others who we can probably agree upon don’t normally bring much value in my stream and probably follow them for novelty’s sake
- Nicky & Sonny. Great points from both of you. There is the MLM approach where users will try things like Tweetergetter and follow/unfollow/follow again just to build numbers. Maybe it’s to show their perceived *expertise* so they can sell Twitter programs to people in their email lists? Who knows.
It is funny about the community aspect. As our friends on Twitter grow (I’m always wary of the term “followers”), so does your outreach. Yet as much as the physical outreach may grow, it seems the personal one shrinks.
You may have a louder voice but how many people can hear it at the back of the stadium? And can you hear their cheering as well?
Hey Danny…hmmm..I’ve been puzzled at having people follow me then, when I check all of a sudden they are not. Thought I was going nuts. But I simply unfollow – that’s if I’ve followed back in the first place. The bigger my followers list the more choosy I get because I want to hear and listen to my followers.
Outside Twitter, if I tell people I have 500 “friends” on Twitter, I won’t be at all surprised if I get an odd look. If I say I have 17,000 friends…well.. I think it depends on how one defines friends – and again to each their own. I know Social Media is supposed to redefine a “friend”, but then I have to ask myself what about people who are friends in the real sense of the word?. But then Twitter describes mutual followers as friends, right?
Continued interaction and real sharing and to some extent bonding leads to friends and friendships and to a great extent I follow people with the hope of building in that direction. But with several hundred followers? Thousands? I’m unconvinced we can call it friendship. Fans maybe?
This doesn’t mean we can’t have many people with whom we’ve lots in common and build from there…I think we can, and I am looking forward to developing great friendships on Twitter. AND I think with many followers you can develop a phenomenal reach in terms.
I think there is a limit though. I have another blog where, even though I haven’t met them my readers for 2-3 years have been sharing their thoughts, lives, ups, downs, peeves, and high points… and much more… on my blog – or rather our blog. I would call them friends because if they asked me to help them/do anything for them, if it was within my power to do so I would and I believe they would too. But we’ve built that over years.. they know how I think because I tell them, I know how they think because they tell me. Anyway…
It comes back to my initial thought – everyone uses Twitter in the way it works for them…good on them. I’ve no problem with that at all. Still waiting to see if Johncleese is going to be my friend
I definitely agree with you in that “friends” and Twitter in the same sentence can be a conundrum. Though on the same count, I’ve made some incredibly strong friendships that started on Twitter and then ended up as meet-ups and forging of new friendships.
I think the great thing with Twitter is that the character limit almost forces you to be smarter – you’re less flippant and a lot of the time that helps people gauge who you are, quicker and better.
Then you have something like the 12for12k charity that I started. The amazing outpouring of support and donations just by utilizing Twitter (and, to an extent, Facebook) is amazing, and I’d like to call them “friends” of 12for12k.
Blogs are definitely better for building up loyal relationships. People that come back time and time again; you can’t help but get to know each other. Conversations build and I’ve often had emails from people after posts, and they’ve explored other areas and told me of events that have happened that are similar to the post.
I guess the gist is that we all have the capacity for finding friendships in the strangest places. Long may it last.
@DannyBrown and @SonnyGill discuss #socialmedia http://ow.ly/pJHX
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2. Media (physical, electronic, or verbal).
3. Social interface (intimate direct, community engagement, social viral, electronic broadcast or syndication, or other physical media such as print).
Primarily, social media depend on interactions between people as the discussion and integration of words to build shared-meaning, using technology as a conduit. Social media has been touted as presenting a fresh direction for marketing by allowing companies to talk with consumers, as opposed to talking at them.Social media can take many different forms, including Internet forums, weblogs, social blogs, wikis, podcasts, pictures, video, rating and bookmarking. Technologies include: blogs, picture-sharing, vlogs, wall-postings, email, instant messaging, music-sharing, crowdsourcing, and voice over IP, to name a few. Many of these social media services can be integrated via social network aggregation platforms like Mybloglog and Plaxo.In recent years, numerous companies and brands have begun using the platforms and channels above to help market their products. Healthcare and pharma companies have been slower than many other industries to adopt these technologies due to regulatory concernsand recently, this has changed with many healthcare and pharma companies using social media to communicate with physicians and patients.