Some Intel IT folks, a lawyer, and a software developer….(surprisingly this is not the beginning of a joke)…have a discussion about whether or not IT is a friend or foe of social media. An IT friend of mine (Jeff Moriarty) is on the panel and a colleague (who I’m getting to know via phone/e-mail) Jackie Medecki is also there…as well as John Miner (who inspired and is instrumental in our internal wiki, Intelpedia), Eleanor Wynn with Intel IT, and Peter Kaminski (with Socialtext) all talk it out.
I’ve been asked to put together a one slide powerpoint on what our intranet would look like if I could unleash the full social media meal deal. So here’s what I’m thinking:
Only one slide!?!
The next time we overhaul our intranet, we create a front page that looks more like CNet than a typical intranet
Include some space at the top of the page for top stories that get there through Digg-like functionality (employees get to vote on what they think is most interesting/helpful)
Have a news feed on the side that is only populated when there is actionable, critical information for employees to know…example: You have one day to enroll in health benefits, do it now! sort of thing (this of course would be RSS-enabled, as would all content on the site)
There would be an internal social networking site (like Facebook)….don’t think of it as a social thing, it’s like an ultra-comprehensive company phonebook that also lists areas of expertise each employee has to make it easier for employees to find one another to collaborate on projects, get questions answered, etc.
There would be a section for vidcasts/podcasts and photos (we’d have an internal YouTube/Flickr area where anyone could upload videos/photos that would be tagged…training videos, employee ideas about new advertising campaigns, execs talking to employees, employees talking back to execs, etc.)
There’d be a section that would pull from our internal wiki (called Intelpedia), product definitions, historical information, benchmarking data, etc. (this could be a kind of, tidbit of the day)
Blogs would be featured (organized by topic maybe)–the best rise to the top
There’d be a link to forums
An interactive calendar that would know where you were located and only showed relevant events (anyone could add an event to the calendar, easily fill an online form that got to the: who, what, where, when, why)
We’d have an enterprise-wide web-based aggregator (is this technically possible to keep secure…someone with IT experience, let me know if I’m just dreaming here!)
And of course we’d have social bookmarking a la del.icio.us
We’d have a section where people could sign up for any of our feeds. For instance, our library does an incredible job of rounding up daily news that relates to our business, I’d find a way to include this somewhere on the front page, as well as in a list of great feeds that could be delivered to your aggregator or inbox.
HELP!!! I’m definitely beyond one slide. Is someone really good at visual mock-ups, could whip something up for me by say….tomorrow!
I’d love to know what you are all doing with social media? Do you find these are tools that are relevant to your jobs? I’ve read several Melcrum reports on this and so far, it still seems very new to most of us. Well–that’s what makes it exciting!
I’m at Intel’s Developer Forum this week in San Fran…and working my tuckus off (like everyone here!). But between mochas and keynotes, I managed to sneak in an interview with the godfather of microchips, Gordon Moore and with radio personality, Moira Gunn.
Unfortunately the video didn’t turn out with Gordon…his voice is very soft and people around him, loud. But he was witty as ever. I only got a couple of minutes, but managed to ask if he had a message for Intel employees…this is what he said: “Keep plugging away at it. This industry doesn’t stand still.”
Then I spoke with Tech Nation’s, Moira Gunn. Here it is…it got posted on YouTube!
I left my computer for a couple of hours and came back to nearly 100 e-mails about an IT policy to do with podcasting.
The gist: do not download MP3 files to any device that isn’t Intel-issued. This (for the most part) includes iPods.
BUT…many people use podcasts to disseminate information and so it took the podcasting community by surprise.
We have one group in the company I know of that has issued Intel-owned iPods to a small group of employees and put together a policy. Essentially a sensible one aimed at the content makers, not employees downloading the casts. The policy boils down to: don’t create content that is secret/confidential.
Unfortunately this policy isn’t enterprise-wide yet and so someone decided to put an article out saying employees shouldn’t download podcasts. Hmmm. A bit over-the-top.
Lesson: Get a sensible policy together. Consult your legal team (we have a great one when it comes to social media). And make it enterprise-wide.
Mobile phone will soon beat out PCs as the device of choice (Steve Jobs has said as much in many of his talks)
Howard also threw out a few new tidbits that left an impression. Every second:
two million e-mails are sent
two new blogs are created
25 mobile phones are sold
seven PCs are sold
1,200 videos are viewed on YouTube
23 new domains are registered
300 search engine queries
seven new people log on for the first time
Powerful bits of information that speak to an increasing trend of digital conversations happening increasingly from people who want to have their say wherever they happen to be. I say: bring it on!
People still view TV as the number one source of trusted information when it comes to advertising–this according to a 2007 study conducted by WPP Group’s Kantar Media Research and Pointlogic.
“Consumers recognize TV as the No. 1 medium for building awareness: 43% rate it as excellent or very good. Magazines (31%), newspapers (29%) and radio (24%) all also performed well.” Asked which media helped them decide whether “they can trust a brand,” TV ranked first again with 26% of the respondents, followed by newspapers (21%) and magazines (19%). The newest media tracked in the survey – platforms like video games, video-on-demand, interactive TV and streaming online video – by contrast are still regarded by most consumers as being niche communication vehicles. Their scores on these measures ranged between 2% and 5%. –Media Daily News post
So what will it take for social media to become more mainstream? A change in how corporations and big organizations view social media and use it…because there’s already a groundswell of grassroot use and support. Here’s what I think needs to happen:
Realise where the greatest potential for mass social media content lies (see previous post…about trusting employees enough to let them blog/vlog/cast/etc. on the company site about their opinions, experiences, thoughts, and whatnot)
Find a way to bridge the need for people to use “trusted”/established sources of info with tech-savvy early adopters who are creating content (be it in blogs, on YouTube, wherever online). An example of this is Current TV using user-generated content for videos/docs/etc. letting people post their videos to the site, then members of the community can vote on which videos are good enough to play on Current TV’s cable television station…so that people more comfortable in watching TV can see the best of the online videos (as judged by the particular online community)
Design software and devices to be more intuitive, and make it easier for people to find the best social media content online. Some gear is still a little scary (and pricey) for a lot of people, and it is overwhelming to wade through the vast amounts of content on the Web. I wade a bit…but mostly I rely on a core group of friends who are online 24-7 and forward me stuff. Once we get to the semantic web stage, I think there will be more intelligent search capability that will make this much more manageable
In the meantime…continue to look for ways you can get social media going at your company. If you’re in PR, check out how JetBlue’s then CEO handled a potential PR nightmare by posting an apology to passengers on YouTube immediately after the incident (stranded passengers on a plane sitting on the tarmack for a long time), or for internal comms, talk with Richard Dennison at BT about its wiki: BTpedia and homegrown social networking site. Ragan and Melcrum are also good sources of information.
I still don’t think C-level execs or consultation firms get it…a brand starts from within a company, and I think that with social media this becomes even more true.
Consumers no longer depend solely on advertising and company Web sites for information. If anything, most consumers are skeptical of these sources. People seek the truth…for the most part. (Of course there are still elements of wanting to be cool and not entirely realizing when we’re being influenced by really slick marketing…but this is rare.)
If I want to know about a product, I google. I scan. I look for consumer reports, ratings by people who’ve bought and used the products (yeah, I know there are companies who use unethical stealth marketing, and plant good reviews….but if you do enough research, read enough blogs, talk to friends…you’ll be better informed).
I also look for what employees are saying about the company whose products I’m interested in buying. What do they think of the company? Are they well treated? Would they buy the company’s products…if not…why would I?
BusinessWeek ran this article: Feeling trashed on the Web? It’s a good read about the role social media plays in shaping a company’s brand…but I still think they’re missing a huge point: brand begins with the people who make up the company…the employees.
Execs should start to recognize what employees can offer in terms of free marketing, attracting potential talent, customers, and in general, brand equity…just by being encouraged to share their opinions.
Ask your employees what they think of early revs of your new marketing campaigns. Let them blog about what it’s like to be an employee of your company…host these blogs on the company’s own Web page. Start an industry wiki that employees and others can contribute to and reference. Be transparent…and let this start with how you communicate with employees and extend it to how you empower your employees to communicate freely with others…on behalf of the company.
If you don’t trust your employees….you didn’t do a good job in hiring them. Let go. Trust your decisions and trust that most employees want their company to succeed!
Oh…and one other little thing…BusinessWeek…what was with writing vIDEO in that article when referring to videos? Was it a: we’re trying to subliminally market IDEO ? (If so…bad ideo!) If not…whaddup?
Melcrum posted a great bit of advice from Bill Quirke about internal comms planning that I think really applies to social media too.
If you have a feeling that your company should be using social media tools, but management is skeptical about its use and perceived risks…you should first ask yourself what the company’s goals are in terms of communicating with its employees. What do employees need to know? How do you want them to feel? Do you want to build a sense of community amongst a dispersed employee base? Do you want employees able to ask questions of your leaders, discuss topics openly? To find one another…perhaps through an internal social networking site so employees can seek out experts in particular areas? Etc.
Figure out what your goals are: what information you want to communicate, and why (What’s the problem/issue you’re trying to solve?)
Research social media tools and determine their value/what they deliver that your current comms tools do not fulfill
Select the best tool to attain your comms/company’s goals and know why it’s the best (don’t just go with a social media tool because it’s the newest thang!)
Make the pitch in this order: goals, gap/problem, solution
“The next time you see an employee hunched intently over the computer, don’t imagine he or she is slaving over the office accounts or a report for the next shareholders meeting.
Employees are more likely to be whiling away the hours on the social networking site Facebook, a report says.”
Of course they are…I mean really…aren’t we all just hunched over our computers looking for ways to waste our time! I don’t think so.
If you’re a solid employee with some pride, you want to do a good job. But this doesn’t mean that you have to be in your chair from 8 AM to 5 PM doing nothing but work. Impossible! Your brain needs a break. Whether that’s switching tasks, checking your e-mail, having a chat with a cube-mate, going outside for a bit of a walk, or checking Facebook (ahhhhhhhhhh nooooo!).
Some of my best ideas come to me when I’m taking a shower (which, by the way, I don’t do at work in my cubicle). I don’t send my boss a memo every time I work from the shower, or dream up an idea and jot it down in the middle of the night…so I don’t expect to see a memo telling me Facebook has suddenly become a banned site. Crazy.
But come to think of it…maybe I should start charging for my shower work…I could expense my water bill too. How much would that cost Dr. Cullen?
In a study by Melcrum, researchers report that only a third of communicators polled say social media is a priority right now. My guess is, only a third of communicators know what is meant by social media (considering that people who regularly talk about social media can’t settle exactly on what it means). That aside…my sense is that there’s still a lot of confusion and a lot of unknowns when it comes to social media in corporate comms.
It only seems right that I decide for myself what I mean by social media. So here it is: communications tools that allow group discourse and/or information that is delivered to viewers/listeners/readers so they can watch/listen/read on their own time.
For instance…with blogging, people can read, then comment, read other people’s comments, then comment some more (if so inclined). Podcasts: while there is no back and forth (unless it’s live with a call-in Skype line), listeners can subscribe to a podcast and have it “delivered” to their computer so they can listen to it when they want. Wikis: online reference developed by a group of people that can be edited, added to, and deleted by members of the community. There are plenty of other examples.
What gets me though is when people say that social media isn’t for every company (which someone said in the Melcrum study…whose name I can’t remember right now…and have Googled like crazy to try to find…but can’t…but I promise to add it when I find it). Not everyone should blog. I agree. Especially not every CEO or senior leader…if you’re not inclined to write on a semi-regular basis don’t blog. Don’t do it. It will end poorly for you. But acknowledging that there are some people who shouldn’t blog or podcast is very different than saying social media isn’t for every company.
To me, this is like businesses saying (back when the telephone was being widely introduced): “Oh we don’t need telephones. Employees will just waste their time talking when they should really be working.” Can you imagine a successful corporation today running its business without a telephone? No.
Social media is today’s telephone….but instead of just being one communications tool, it’s a set of tools that can be used to participate in discussions that are already going on in the hallways and the company’s cafeterias. People are talking. You could be part of the conversation…or ignore it, see how business turns out for you.
