What Makes it a Human Interaction?
If the real key to social media and the monitoring and measurement of it is what happens offline I am hopeful. My personal philosophy and I think the key to my success personally and professionally is the importance of kind, and compassionate human interaction. Understanding people and empowering them to live a meaningful life. The way in which we choose to engage and help one another, in my view, is the most important element of life. So, how does that fit with the prevailing move from traditional communication to social media?
Holding on to the Comforts of the Past
I resisted social media professionally and personally, I use it but primarily as an observer. Although, of course, it is by definition, communication, I wasn’t ready for the shift from what I saw as a career that aimed to create more and more human understanding and interaction through education, writing, and particularly events where people talked to each other, presented their experiences and ideas, and celebrated one another. Social Media seemed like a wall between people instead of the interactive tool it is meant to be.
A New Perspective
To some degree, I think I will continue to focus on communications strategies that are more traditional so to speak – articles, newsletters, newspapers, promotions, contests, events (a personal favourite), publications and communicative design, and on an on. The view that I have come to after initial studies in the field of social media, is that social media simply offers more channels or more choice in the vehicles where communications writing can be read and where people can react and respond to it. That’s as traditional and human as it gets.
A Bright Future that Includes Social Media
I cannot predict the future. And, despite my training in Future Casting as a public relations professional, I do not have any real insight into what will be created next in technology or social media. The Future of Social Media
I do know that communication and real human engagement and interaction will always be a cornerstone of the human experience. Each of us wants to belong to our world, our communities, our families and groups. Each of us wants to be heard. And for that, communication must not only continue, but improve. Social Media and Belonging
Social media, be it Facebook, Twitter, You Tube or other channels, can be part of that improvement. I have come to see the similarities between the tradition in which I am trained – news reported by journalists and the use of media by journalists turned public relations professionals to create images and reputations and to promote ideas and things, inspiring a response from an audience, and the online media where any of us can be a reporter or an influencer. I have some fear of the citizen reporter.
But I have come to see, with a little less resistance than before, that it’s all communication. It all requires the dissemination and interpretation of ideas with the intention to create and inspire an action and reaction from another person or group.
I still don’t love social media but I get it. I get that writing must still be inspiring and influencial. A writer must still understand her audience, find them and speak to them in a way that inspires an intended response – actions that can be seen and measured to determine the impact of an idea, a person, or a product and with that measurement, the communicator determines the next move. And interaction continues offiline. Doesn’t it?
Offline Activity – Humanity Prevails
I can see, after this initial study, that before anything happens online, in terms of corporate communications, the planning must happen as always. What is the vision and mission of the organization? What are the current strategic goals and how will Communications contribute to the achievement of them.
From there, social media is simply a tool to use, among other Communications tools. My job is the plan a social media strategy that reaches the key audience and achieves objectives in a measurable way.
And it is measurement that not only indicates the impact of the strategy but the actions and interactions of people in response to it. And that’s the result of effective communication – then and now. It is the offline activity – what people do in response to what they see, hear, and read that is important. It is human beings belonging and being heard.
So, after some initial study, I think it’s all okay. Phew! Us traditionalists can do it! Those of us who are accustomed to old media, and who perhaps resisted the new media – social media – can relax in the understanding that it’s all just communication and that’s very human.
Do you think social media creates improved communication, connection, action and interaction or just a greater volume of communicaton? Do we have more belonging and connection due to social media?
Promotions
Is Social Media human or is it the end of the human experience as we know it? goo.gl/eeuazq
Is Social Media human or is it the end of the human experience as we know it? goo.gl/eeuazq
Algonquin College Social Media Certificate Program 