Comments for Cartoon: Social Media Aliens

Cartoon: Social Media Aliens

2009-11-15T19:57:04Z

There are organizations out there embracing social media with open arms, open hearts and open minds.

But others aren't nearly as welcoming. And if you're working for such an organization, you've probably felt a little like a space alien when you try to advance even the most modest of social media projects: "See, if we had a Twitter feed, then we could monitor customer service issues and resp-" "Twitter?! Why, it's full of viruses, spam, pornography and Ashton Kutcher! Speak to me no more of this apostasy!" Which means you, my friend, are what I've come to call a stranded evangelist: a stranger in a strange land.

]]> Chances are you spend your days banging your head against the brick wall of an organizational culture of fear, hierarchy and entrenched power, and your nights tweeting your frustration to friends living with the same pain.

There are ways of changing your stranded status: building trust and alliances within your organization, going for the smallest of small wins and expanding from there, gaining insight into your organization's strategic goals so you can find both pain points and sweet spots where social media can help. But while you're waiting for those efforts to take off, you can at least take some comfort in the knowledge that you have company.

So the next time you're proposing a Facebook Page or a blogger outreach initiative, and getting the kind of reaction usually reserved for stories of alien abduction (or, worse, getting the same kind of probing often featured prominently in those stories), then just smile, nod, and remember:

We are not alone.

More Noise to Signal.

Comment from Armando Alves on 2009-11-18

2009-11-18T10:10:28Z

Hi Rob,

Thanks for listening. I only was amazed because it was exactly on the same day. If it was a week or month, i wouldn't even care (as i've been saying on my twitter profile: "Don't worry about people stealing an idea. If it is original, you will have to ram it down their throats").

Since the presentation was created during the last few weeks, then maybe we both drank inspiration on the same subjects, so, as you say, great minds think alike.

Don't get me wrong, i was mostly pissed off because it was exactly on the same day i shared the presentation: if you were in my shoes, you'd probably feel the same.

But since we're not speaking alien language, let's move along. Nothing here to see. Keep writing great articles, and wheneever i finish my talks, i could even sent them to you to get a free cartoon :)

Cheers.

Comment from Rob Cottingham on 2009-11-17

2009-11-18T07:59:39Z

Armando, I sympathize, because I've been in the same position myself. I post something, and then see something a day, a month or even a year later that looks awfully similar, and wonder - Did someone rip me off? Is this a riff on what I'd said? Or was this just a case of great minds thinking alike - which, given the sheer volume of stuff being produced online, happens pretty frequently?

Here's the thing. Sharing openly online is next to impossible if you're always looking over your shoulder - whether it's out of fear that you're being ripped off, or fear of being falsely accused. (Which is why the only time I've ever levelled that accusation myself is when it was patently obvious.)

To be clear, I hadn't seen your slideshow or heard about your presentation. (I did my usual routine of sketching on Saturday morning, and drawing and sending it to the RWW team on Saturday night.) And while I understand why you might have done a double-take, for whatever it's worth, I can tell you it's unwarranted.

--r.

Comment from Armando Alves on 2009-11-16

2009-11-17T00:07:06Z

Oh come on, you have to be kidding me. Posting this article the same day i've shared UFOs: abduction by the marketing hype cycle. http://bit.ly/2JonOf

I really don't know what to think of the fact that i presented the day before, shared on the 15th and then you posted the article .

Whatever.

Comment from Rob Cottingham on 2009-11-15

2009-11-16T01:28:16Z

Interesting comments, all.

Marcelo, I see where you're coming from... but I don't see social media as "just" automating existing relationships - and I wouldn't characterize it primarily as automating, for that matter. It's entirely possible to forge new relationships, and deepen and enrich existing ones, if you're using it well.

Still, I take your point. Anyone who stresses the tools over planning, application and results - call that approach spray-on social media - isn't helping their cause. And they aren't doing their organization any favours either.

Maria, it would be wrong to edit the hosts file on your client's computer to redirect all Google searches on various social media topics to a page of pre-selected favourable results. I'm just saying. Very wrong.

PJ, I've definitely seen that behaviour too. Usually it's both "Get me some of that social media!" and "Sweet lord, you don't seriously expect us to allow our audience to have a voice, do you?"

@matthewcp, ignorance is definitely part of the brew. But typically I also find healthy doses of fear (sometimes actually quite justified) and ingrained institutional conservatism.

Thanks again for the comments - keep 'em coming, and Na-Nu Na-Nu, y'all.

Comment from mariagudelis on 2009-11-15

2009-11-15T21:32:57Z

Oh so true...I love the 'you are not alone' - funny too - how one client of mine I had all in fever about implementing our company's Social Media Package...then OMG - alien abducted invasion batman...

...he said he 'googled' social media and saw some references to fraud (oh....the dark side)

and declined hiring us for social media as he said he didn't want to do anything fraudulent!

Too funny!

Cheers, Maria Gudelis

Comment from P.J. Hinton on 2009-11-15

2009-11-15T21:20:17Z

At some organizations, the opposite is true. Upper management fires off edicts to its minions, calling for a social media strategy post haste, but it has hardly an inkling of what goals it hopes to achieve by creating and executing a strategy.

Comment from Marcelo on 2009-11-15

2009-11-15T20:52:17Z

I am all for social media, and it is an integral part of my work. But what is surrounding social media today is beyond hype, is hysteria. I loved the cartoon, but it worked different for me. I read it as we as an industry saying that social media is as important as faster-than-light space travel.

It isn't. We are just automating relationships that existed. A company that does not talk to their customers has problems bigger than social media. And if they change attitude the "triumph" is one of management, not one of a bunch of tools.

Social media is great for meaningful relationships, I think that's what's written in most paperback back covers, right?

Comment from matthewcp on 2009-11-15

2009-11-15T20:51:30Z

Feel this way at work all the time, though I don't think it's intentional resistance, just a lack of understanding.