The Power of Social Media… Myth?

Is the power of social media overrated? I keep hearing mainstream media talking about "the power of social media". It is my contention that social media has no power in itself, it just facilitates the power of ideas… good or bad, at a much faster rate than in the past. Social media has no power itself. The "Arab Spring" (as an example), was a powerful idea, not a powerful social media event.

When desperate senior executives of confused corporations hear about this social media power I am sure in many cases they race out of their offices and demand an instant social media policy, or better still the instant hiring of a social media 'guru'.  The thinking of course must be… 'we need professional and effective access to this fundamental new source of power'.

Sure social media is a great communication channel, or perhaps more correctly a series of communication channels however the power comes from the power of their brand or the message their brand delivers when it is well matched to their ability to communicate… not as many seem to think… the channel access itself.

In two instances recently organisations have discussed with me the need to set up or get involved with social media. "We need 'to improve the market penetration" and 'customer touch points' is the common catch cry. 

The problem both these organisations have is I suspect similar to that of many others … they don't know what to set up let alone how to operate what they set up. The social media power problem is two fold. The second problem is most don't understand that the power comes from the passion created by their fundamental message rather than the level of activity undertaken on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or any other social media platform. 

The first issue in many cases is badly handled as the need to carry on a sensible conversation on an organisation's social media channels seems difficult, if not impossible for many. Social media operations are time consuming, expensive, labour intensive and potentially dangerous. The second problem is if you have a boring product or a boring message social media will not help you, in fact it may just make the world more aware of how boring your organisation and its product's or services really are.

So remember if you are wanting 'the power' get your message right as well as how it is delivered and be prepared for a long ongoing conversation with your customers. It's all about form and substance and you need to handle both extremely well to be successful in the social media world.

Richard Townsend - orglearn - 'planning is everything, plans are nothing'

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The Divided Brain and Society

Richard Townsend Richard Townsend - orglearn - Management tips, free blank resume form, fill in the blank resume sections online.
What managers need to do & the issues to consider in the soft skills area of their role. Articles on behavior, motivation, selling, competence, teamwork, EQi & leadership. Blank resume form with positive examples, handy self-analysis to evaluate the commercial realities of what you have to offer employers.

Why are Australian's 'Apparently' So Concerned About Illegal Boat Arrivals?

Having a rational discussion on this topic seems hard for some, lets however try!

"What’s behind our national obsession around boat arrivals?" 

(Cricky article excerpt) - Larry Schlesinger - A "Privileged Economic Migrant" and Journalist - Aug 16, 2012

He writes "For all the eight years I have lived in Australia — I am now a permanent resident — I have never understood the obsession we have with people who arrive by boat and the apparently desperate need for some sort of policy that “stops the boats”. “Stop the boats” — these three words make me think of an invading horde, not a group of mostly desperate people taking extreme and dangerous (often life-threatening) measures to make a life in Australia."

Only one commenter came close!

CML "Having followed the asylum seeker “problem” for many years, I think it is more a dislike of fundamentalist religious types, rather than anything to do with racism. There are known religious groups who do not readily integrate into western societies - witness what is happening in places like France - and maybe many people here in Oz do not want to see the same social problems erupt here."

I might suggest here that it's not just a religious problem, it is a broader cultural problem. Arabs, Afghans, some Iranians and Pakistanis (to use a few of examples) have a different set of ethics and cultural values than most Australians.

Will they Integrate over time? Probably Not

Integration Example: Malaysia and Singapore

In Malaysia and Singapore, the majority of inter-ethnic marriages are between Chinese and Indians. As for the Malays, who are predominantly Muslim, legal restrictions in Malaysia make it less common for them to intermarry with either the Indians, who are predominantly Hindu, or the Chinese, who are predominantly Buddhist and Taoist. It is however not uncommon for Arabs in Singapore and Malaysia to take local Malay wives, due to a common Islamic faith.  In Singapore as at September 2007 interracial individuals were about 2.4% of the population and in 2007, 16.4% of all marriages in Singapore were inter-ethnic.(1)

1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interracial_marriage

Malays in Malaysia are Muslim. If a non-Malay wants to marry a Malay they must convert to Islam. If a non Malay will not convert the authorities will not grant permission. In the case of a female if she caught by religious authorities it is likely she will be charged with a range of 'crimes'. This is more complicated by the fact if a Muslim attempts to renounce their religion (which is strictly forbidden) punishments can be harsh and in extreme situations lead to such acts as whipping and/or incarceration in 're adjustment camps' to undergo and counselling (brainwashing) until the individual is willing to re-embrace Islam.

An Islamic Legal Opinion I Found

The law on marriage is as follows: 'Inter-marriage between Muslims and non-Muslims is prohibited in the Quran and Sunnah, thus not permissible in any way. The only exception to this general rule is the marriage of Muslim men with Christian and Jewish girls and that also with certain conditions.'

"A question may arise here, that if the difference between Muslims and people of the book is considered to be lighter as compared to other faiths, then why is it unlawful for Muslim girls to marry Christian and Jewish men?

The answer to this question is that, women are somewhat weak and emotional by nature. Then the husband has been given a care-taking and controlling role over the wife. As such, it is very likely that the Muslim wife may fall prey and become impressed with her husband's faith. The chances of the husband becoming affected by his wife's faith are remote, thus the difference between the two situations is clear."(2)

By the way, marriage to Hindus, Seikhs, Buddhists, Taoists and other non Abrahamic religions is strictly forbidden

2 http://qa.sunnipath.com/issue_view.asp?HD=1&ID=2267&CATE=10

An Indiviual Malaysian Example Revathi Massosai

Revathi Massosai is a Malaysian woman who was raised as a Hindu but her identity card designates her as a Muslim. She has declared her religion to be Hindu and has petitioned unsuccessfully to have the word "Islam" removed from her identity card. Massosai married a Hindu man, but her marriage is not recognised by the Malaysian government because of the religion issue. Massosai was incarcerated for six months in an Islamic re-education camp because of her attempts to renounce Islam in favour of the Hindu religion.  Revathi was denied the guardianship of her new born baby and was not allowed to meet her Hindu husband.(3)

3 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_religion_in_Malaysia

A Norwegian Perspective

Walid al-Kubaisi is a respected Norwegian journalist and a Muslim who came from Iraq.  He is concerned about radical Islamic elements within an otherwise law abiding Muslim community.

"We have a problem," he said emphatically. "All deny. Nobody says that we have a big problem. But this will give a bad result in the future."

"As in other European cities, parts of Oslo are now Muslim zones and may be subject to Sharia law or to the rule of local imams.

"Most of the areas where the Muslim is the majority, the Norwegian feels that they are not in their country, that they're not in Norway. They feel like [they are in] a Muslim country," al-Kubaisi said." (4)

4 http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2011/August/Culture-Crisis-Norway-Tackles-Muslim-Immigration-/

The Author of this 'Sacrilege'

Now before you leave a comment know this. I am an Australian born here of white Anglo Saxon - Church of England, Irish Catholic and Jewish decent. The closest I can get to a religion is I guess agnostic. My Wife is a Chinese Catholic and my daughter-in-law is Japanese (I have never asked her about her religious beliefs). My Grandson is therefore all those things plus half Japanese. I don't mind what religion he takes up (if at all) however I would do all I could to dissuade him from adopting Islam (or Scientology or…).

I have lived in Malaysia, China, Thailand, Indonesia, amongst other places and count amongst my good friends people of many races and religions.

Am I a racist no, am I anti Islam? yes… (until adherents can chose to renounce/leave it)! For that matter I'm not overly impressed with the local Catholic hierarchy either, bring on the Royal Commission.  Am I against the boats… well that depends who's on them… one case at a time.

So why are Australians so concerned about 'illegal' boat arrivals... you tell me if I'm wrong... the elephant in the room!

p.s. Thank you to my pizza friends for the stimulating discussion.

Why Bloggers Need Triberr

Perhaps the heading of this post should actually be… "Why Bloggers, Tweeters, Google+'ers and Social Media Buffs in General Need Triberr"

I recently asked a bunch of Facebook friends if they used Triberr. Here are some of their responses:

Sarah: I tried to get on, got confused, have not pursued it. Have been invited to join a few [tribes] - got confused again. And, while my confusion may be my problem, I am not generally easily confused or thwarted. IMO, it needs interface work.



Laura: I joined a while ago, when I was joining everything in sight. Have never really used it. :>)



Laurens: Too difficult, even for me. BTW I don't like the "Triberr FB-Bombs" by certain Triberr Members, but the content is great!

Leia: I'm not using it although I have an account.



Joanne: I love Triberr!


So what are the Triberr positives?

Mark Schaefer  of "Grow Blog" says in a post that he liked Triberr because it provided four things: "Fresh voices… who are delivering AMAZING content". "Meaningful traffic" that has "boosted my [his] blog visitors by about 7 percent". "Feedback…"Triberr provides some nice analytics about how your posts perform in the blogosphere".  Finally he states: "It solves a problem. There is a chronic unfairness about the blogosphere. Many bloggers are popular simply because they were there first" and I assume it gives him a chance to compete.

Now I agree Triberr can be a bit confusing to start with and if you are committed it also means you need to share others post in the hope of having them reciprocate. Here however  are a few more reasons, if you are a blogger, why you should be involved.

It sets you up to be a very effective at content curation.and although good authors will perhaps always take the lead as the video below explains 'good curators serve an important and perhaps even a taste maker: role'.  http://mashable.com/2012/05/25/content-authors-curators/

Finding others that blog on your topics can be arduous however Triberr's search makes it quite easy so you can have access to pertinent content to share with your audience.

Thirdly from a social aspect you can make great contacts in the field you are interested in with others who share your passion.

Ric http://www.orglearn.org

Social Media Success It's About TRUST

It's not only about Trust in Social Media it's about the real economy and life itself!

So what are you doing about building a sound reputation for the wired world? How you behave it will effect everything from your ability to get a job to being able to borrow money.

Social Media Engagers Connectors Bludgers and Grubs

If you are involved in social media you will come across many characters who see themselves as leaders, at least in their apparent circle of 'influence'. Unfortunately many social media 'leaders' are not so social.

The appropriate dictionary definition of social in the context of social media is: "Attitudes, orientations, or behaviours which take the interests, intentions, or needs of other people into account (in contrast to anti-social behaviour)." - Wikipedia

Obviously if you are using say Twitter to distribute information or ideas the reality is; once you get above a few dozen or so connections it will be extremely hard, or too time consuming to constantly interact with everyone.

One social media platform that describes itself as "social media rocket" fuel however almost demands by its design and style of operation a level of intimacy, co-operation, trust and reciprocation that is higher than most other platforms. If you are interested to take a look… it is:

http://www.empireavenue.com/RICTOWNSEND

One of the unique features of this social media platform is that you can offer rewards through missions to those that will help you achieve goals in other areas such as Facebook, Twitter Goolge+ etc. This is where the true individuals show their colours. Here is a recent mission I offered:

I won't mention individual players by name however my heading mentions four characters. In reverse order: 

Grubs: They are types that sponge off others, (e.g. in EAve. don't complete missions and just take the reward and run). This group also wants you to everything for them, share boring crap, help them become more notorious by voting them up silly competitions, offer nothing of value… other than that they see themselves as some sort of star or as "giants in their own lunch boxes". These characters often move away from what makes them popular in the first place and expect us love them for who they are rather than for the information they offer. I even saw one guy who offered tech advice do a video scolding his audience for asking what he considered dumb questions. He then started doing personal life videos and wondered why no one wanted to watch.

Bludgers: Well they sort of do stuff however always the minimum. They, in the case of EAve. as an example will do a few likes on a page that you want promoted however thats it. I even did a mission and gave away a large reward for doing nothing, just for being a shareholder and what did a get, a couple of guys didn't even leave a thank you note. These are not my idea of desirable social media types.

Connectors: Well they are numbers freaks. They want to have the most of everything, the most followers, the most accolades, the last word in every exchange and the biggest you know what on the planet. They spam, they manipulate, they just want bigger numbers. Often these types will have in their message or agenda a great idea you just must get involved in and they will flog it to death. These types see you as a potential customer and someone that can help get them what they want.

Engagers: These are the people we all seek. They believe in working for mutual benefit, they'll swap information and advice. They will complete task you want done as they understand the value of mutual leverage. They communicate and they are great to deal with. Many of these characters I believe would be great to meet face to face. These people without knowing it almost compel you to help them through their shear strength of character and demonstrated high levels of personal ethics.

So think about how you appear to others. What do your social media actions reveal bout you? Where you fit? I hope its in the social media engagers category.