Why Social Media at all … ?

As the evolution of social media continues, (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.), it came to me as I logged on Facebook for the first time, how fast it has grown and how vital it is all over the world. Social media has become its own small world. It is the quickest way to reach someone or spread the news to a mass amount of people. I have tried to keep away from "it" as I have seen how it has consumed lives and lessoned the actual in person communication, but like everyone else living in this age, I was forced to conform. Whether it was by chose, I am not so sure … If I am not involved what networking opportunities will I miss? The way social media has connected the world is simply amazing.  When I first entered in the Facebook website I was like a fish out of water, but in no time I found myself connected with thousands of people I had no relationship to, but somehow social media has brought us together. The use of social media has become the “it” thing to do.

Dig in and Mobilize!!!!

So, while researching online I came across an article “How Social Media Mobilizes Society.” In this article, a computer scientist, Iyad Dhabi from the Masdar Institute in Abu Dhabi and his colleagues researched the question of how social media could be used in a balloon-finding task. (2009 DARPA Network Challenge). If the information is strategically targeted to the right people, how it could mobilize a community and connect with people all over the world to find balloons. The critical task is to connect and influence individuals that have the support and following of others individuals so that your information is pushed through and reached by a large number of social media individuals; by just a few social media heavy hitters. This is not to say that you will be able to sit back and do nothing, but an aggressive “word of mouth” strategy can bring thousands of people together. I believe that if this task is done correctly the hard part of mobilizing a social media society it 70% complete. The other 30% would be staying timely, providing quality information, and staying connected with your aggressive social media networkers.

What information should I gather?

It is important to recognize the behaviors of individuals and their social media preferences. How often are the target individuals online, how long? How do the target individuals interact with each other? Are they reaching people with their content? Are the individuals passive or aggressive? Are they pushing the information or is it being pulled?  

Stay connected!

The old saying, “it takes a village.” Well that is the exactly what happens in social media. Content is important, but if your content is not reaching the individuals who will push the information to others it is not effective. “It is simply impossible to do without the ability to broadcast to your acquaintances”, says Adu Dhabi.

Key Points:

• Study and implement an aggressive plan to reach your social media heavy hitters
• Stay timely with quality content
• Consider yourself part of a team, pass the ball sometimes.
• Make sure your target individuals feel like they are involved and apart of the plan.
• 70% is mobilizing, 30% is maintaining.

Recommended Reading

1. How Social Media Mobilizes Society: http://www.livescience.com/28341-social-media-helps-mobilize-society.html
2. 2009 DARPA Network Challenge: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DARPA_Network_Challenge

Image by Paola peralta (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons 

(All accolades and credit to Ebony Jones for writing this tremendous blog post!)