Social Media is not the Second Coming

Have you seen it? The huddling together, the talking in breathy tones, the starry-eyed looks? It’s people talking about the new saviour, social media: “We should be on social media... let’s get a Facebook page... we must have a social media campaign... everyone is doing it... we’ve got to get on there...”I hate to pull an Emperor’s New Clothes (actually, I rather like to) but SM is not going to save your organisation. The strong foundations of your organisation are going to save your organisation. Whatever you pegged as your vision, purpose and mission, and how you pull that into action is going to keep your organisation doing what it does best. That’s your saviour.Social media is simply a bunch of online communication tools. Josh Bernoff, co-author of the BusinessWeek bestseller Groundswell, says, “Social technologies are not magic”, adding that tacking on social media channels ad hock without thought as to why and for whom, is starting your strategy backwards.Used well, SM tools are accessible, interactive, proactive and convey something of the personality of your organisation. They might even make you more money, put you at the centre of a hub and build your street cool. But still, they remain tools. A short history lessonIn the mid-1980s faxes and photocopiers revolutionised office work. These tools removed the need for carbon paper and (some of) the need for post. That is, they sped up processes; information was shared faster and the ability to respond went from five days to five minutes.From the mid-90s, email did the same. Words could travel through means other than on paper; later began the email newsletter. And when Hotmail launched free online email in 1996, it meant anyone anywhere with computer access could have a personal email address – accessible anytime, anywhere in the world.At this time and into the new millennium, as Dot-com fever took hold, some marketing and communications staff worked tirelessly to convince the grey beards in senior management why their business needed a website. I know, I was one of them: while approval limped across the line, our site was built and ready to go live after the final painstaking nod. Meanwhile, albeit briefly, some who had taken the leap counted their millions.Online social chatter beginsAs the World Wide Web webbed across the globe, chat rooms started to pop up on any given topic. Online social networking had begun. Some organisations grabbed this early opportunity – such as a music station I work for in 1996 – and hosted their own chat rooms; talking online in real time to people across the world and even meeting offline. And in the late 90s, blogging started its triumphant rise.By now, people were communicating online to each other 24/7 from anywhere in the world. Fifteen years later, online social media has more tricks, but the concept is nothing new. As tech-marketing advisor Sarah Chong puts it: “If we look closely, it is nothing more than a mere tool at its popularity peak.”Adapt your tool boxThe fax, copiers, email, internet, social media; these are our tools. They challenge every business to adapt or die; to strive to be something more than ordinary. Some organisations respond to technology shifts and make their staff and processes more efficient. Others? Well, they hobble along or plummet into an early grave.And like all tools that have gone before, social media can revolutionise your organisation. But, remove the rose-tinted glasses and wipe that glazed look off your face, social media won’t save your organisation, only you can do that.