Going social… what does that mean?
My first inclination has been to think that it has something to do with setting up a blog, a twitter account, or a facebook page – and that might have something to do with it. But it seems more and more evident that those are merely tools. They can be used in a “social” way, or they can be used as a one-way communication tool.
The question I find myself asking more often is: What kind of conversations am I (or businesses I’m working with) willing to have, and where am I willing to have them. It could be personal email interactions. It could be the short-form of twitter, or the comments on a blog. It could even happen over the telephone (even a landline!). Dare I say it could even happen with snail-mail?
The next question is: Who is allowed to have these conversations? Anyone in the organization? Certain people, but only using pre-filtered messaging? This might be a starting point before trying to dive into the latest online platform or strategy.
As for me, I’m starting by changing the language in my head. When I hear something about “going social” I’ve decided to replace it with “What kind of conversations are we going to have?”
