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Google+: Circles is getting us back to basics, communities! Removing the noise hopefully.

I think one of the big things many of us in the this social space have been feeling for a while is the explosion of noise in the social space. More and more outlets, channels, places to shout our information.

Twitter was so fun two years ago, not many people were using this outlet…so it was a smaller community base of people interacting. Now it has exploded.

More and more people are wanting to lock down and limit their friends in this “social space”, protecting against the mass markets. Yes we can “Like” pages, but there are restrictions. The one thing that Facebook has going for it, the ability to have community conversations.

I would take part in Twitter chats and notice many of those same people would jump over to Facebook to have more private, engaged conversations…away from the mass 140 character updates. The hardest thing about Facebook is the restrictions on some of the interactive flexibility to share different types of media.  The other concept that helped Facebook, is the idea of being a “Friend”, which is a two way decision.

Twitter has a great concept, but the idea of “Followers” is a bit egotistical fundamentally. People would, and still do, focus on how many “Followers” they do or do not have. That name created a culture of competition, a race that fulfilled most American egos…I want more. This notion turned Twitter into a mass communication piece…just people buying into a culture of amplification.

This idea of “Circles” is intriguing. It takes the real time update concept of Twitter, combining with the ability to attach media with updates from Facebook, and combines the discussion idea of Wave…into Circles. I am actually wondering why they did not call Google Plus….Google Circles.

You have the ability to create a private room, a private place for a group of friends to interact and share. I have read so many people saying that they are going to go back to less numbers of people and move to a more intimate group of friends they know using Circles.

We want to be close to our friends. We want to share and be heard. Mass digital media has created so much noise that we are searching for a place to have conversations with friends we know in person and people we have met online. We want to have a closer relationship and feel open to speak freely, away from the public scrutiny of bad Tweets. The many politicians and public figures have shown us that Twitter’s amplification can hurt our credibility, especially when we share the wrong picture, say the wrong thing, or mis-represent the wrong brand.

We just want a place to be ourselves and share with our friends. It looks like Plus might provide that refuge…Circles is a place to be ourselves again and feel open and honest to share. So we do not have to change our handles to names that no-one knows and put avatars up to hide behind.

I am not sure how Plus will evolve, especially when they open it up to business accounts later this year. What are you doing when you go into Plus for the first time? Are you honestly re-thinking who you will let in, or are you just transferring the same online friendships and tendencies you had in other social outlets. Or, are you looking for a richer experience online with a tight nit group of friends. I know I am, I have a circle just for my Frat Brothers and one for my close friends.

I guess we will see what happens!

social media – an entrepreneurial cultural

If you think back to 2008, well many of us do not want to go back in time. It is October 2008 and in one single week, we witnessed a financial fallout of epic proportions. I remember sitting in the office of a business we just started; our fresh new furniture, big ole office, watching on the 52 inch HDTV as the market crashed. I knew right then and there, we were in trouble.

At that same time, we were in the upswing of one of the biggest online movements we have witnessed since the web was WWW. Yes, the Social Media Revolution. Twitter was growing faster and faster…here is a video in June 2008 of CEO/Founder Jack Dorsey presenting the idea of Twitter and actually beginning his talk by explaining Twitter as an idea.

Now most of you know that Twitter is not the only outlet that has defined this Social Media Revolution…but while Twitter was ramping up, gaining users…Facebook was growing just as fast. YouTube was growing and getting ready to become the second largest search engine behind Google.com. So how did all of this happen, well I have a few theories…and it is this premise that I think has totally shaped how Social Media influences marketing efforts today.

It comes down to jobs. Yes…jobs. It also comes down to community based innovation. As the stock market crashed, millions of American’s lost jobs. Businesses closed their doors. More American’s began using online resources to connect with friends, look for jobs, become entrepreneurs, and connect with opportunities. The job market was bleak so many groups around America began having social events, finding ways to connect and leverage relationships in the search for work. So we began seeing more and more groups created…and Twitter, Facebook, and other Social Media outlets were the connectors of these networks.

These groups were teaching each other how to connect with others, using technology to connect; building new spheres of influence, and generating innovative ideas. These social media connectors were “new” and fresh. The numbers on these networks began to shoot up, more and more people were using these networks and learning the in’s and out’s of how to leverage them.

At the same time, big box businesses were suffering. If you remember…there was a huge scare around Christmas shopping. Were people going to shop for gifts in 2008. I remember we bought most of our gifts that year using American Express points. No one could afford to buy cars, buy houses, buy gifts, etc…so big box companies were struggling with ways to connect with the consumer with their brand, then turn it into dollars. At the same time, Social Outlets were growing in numbers and they became a hot bed for consumers…a place to “hang out.” This is the critical point where those who were looking for new income streams began to realize…they could market how to use these Social Media outlets to big box businesses. Social Media entrepreneurs were being born left and right. They understood the consumer and how the consumer used these Social Outlets.

As the market began to recover, business began to recover with more dollars to spend. These dollars could be spent with people that understood these social communities and the technology that supported these same communities. Big and small business were being formed with the sole purpose of helping organizations use Social Media outlets. We began seeing more people speak at big conferences about these outlets, and small civic groups were entertained by local advocates for this community and technology.

Now as we fast forward to 2011, the market is flooded with individuals, plans, strategies, and businesses that implement social media strategies for companies. The numbers have grown so much with this big shift with more online engagement of social exchange. Now in 2011, there are social outlets that measure other social outlets, measuring the influence of individuals and communities. This velocity has completely shifted the way many organizations market their goods and services.

This Social Media Revolution created a culture, a series of communities, that now command the perception of brands. So why should we care? It is this culture, the Social Media entrepreneurs that are now influencing how many people are doing business. It is shaping the way we broadcast news and information. Everyday, someone else wants to figure out how to measure the success of a community in dollars in cents. But we have to think back…how did all this happen. How the hell did Twitter, Facebook, YouTube begin to shape the way we communicate?

Some of the best and brightest innovation comes from a time of economic recession. I am not a Rhodes Scholar…but I think it because people are forced to find ways to generate revenue to support life, and they have time on their hands to generate these ideas. This time leads to new market ideas that leads to new innovation. This culture was a community of innovation that is shaping the way we communicate and do business today.

What are your thoughts? Am I totally off base?

Social Media – A Digital Discourse Community

Over the last month I have been diving into my work and stepping back from this digital community…basically observing. This digital community that has been coined as “Social Media” has been emerging for years, and there are so many contributors. The growth of digital connection points are inflating faster than an “e” ratio.

I think back to 1993 when I was first introduced to the “Internet” and “Electronic Mail.” It was a way to communicate with a college girlfriend at Appalachian State University in Boone. By the time I was a junior at Clemson in 1995, they were teaching some of the first web development courses and creating online Dungeon and Dragons for communities to interact. These digital community continued to grow and language continued to evolve, especially with the advent of online chatting like AOL Instant Messenger. There was a distinction between Synchronous and Asynchronous Communication. Bottomline, individuals began experiencing a digital divide that separated their thoughts from their audiences…it was called a keyboard and a computer screen. This was the enabler that allowed us to become empowered with our thoughts, ambitions, and the ability to engage in discourse that would not normally be socially accepted within an in-person interaction. This was the true beginning of the digital divide as we know it…the new social media revolution. A platform to freely express and lay claim to our thoughts…and the best part, we could turn it off when it was convenient for us as the author.

The New Digital Discourse Community has been growing for the last decade and has not only empowered movements, but given voice to those who were not willing to share previously. It began to coin the term “Thought Leadership” providing ample space for free-thinkers to gain a equitable landscape against those who owned it for so many years, the mass media outlets. The printing press did the same thing with the Bible, printing books against the will of the Catholic Church and now we use this online paradigm to lay claim to that same thought leadership.

Now…communities are growing all over. From Facebook, Twitter, NFL Fantasy Football Leagues, Ning, Blogs, and the list goes on and on. The discourse communities are growing faster and the conversation is more powerful with less words. Take a look at Twitter. Communities of conversations based on 140 characters. Hashtags that help us organize thoughts or organize like minded conversations. Language is evolving and it has nothing to do with abbreviations, it has everything to do with context. The context is the new age marketing paradigm that brings voice to small people and businesses of the world to compete against big box competitors.

Just imagine, at any point in time….you could enter one of these online groups, post a comment, picture, or video and be heard around the world instantly. Just ask those who used Twitter during the Haiti earthquake, they used it to be found…someone was listening and some responded. Communities of discourse, language being traded and now we are trying to not only leverage the language  but the communities that exchange the language.

Let’s look at what Wikipedia terms as discourse community: The term discourse community links the terms discourse, a concept describing all forms of communication that contribute to a particular, institutionalized way of thinking; and community, which in this case refers to the people who use, and therefore help create, a particular discourse.

Leverage…we are leveraging the hopes of this and these communities. We are filling rooms of people, signing up clients, engaging conversations with those to pay us to help them with this discourse community. Why…for leverage. I am not complaining. I have clients that have paid me for my hands on training and knowledge to a truly un-defined marketing medium that is escalating faster than college course can be created. Hell, I am teaching students to use it to leverage others. But what are this or these discourse communities that we are talking about? Just another place to share knowledge, exchange ideas, leverage relationships, and gain market share…this discourse is the same discourse exchanged in a new, digital community…online. Are we really saving money by cutting printing costs for the new digital medium or just re-allocating resources for another marketing venue? I would be willing to bet that the communities built around traditional media, those same mediums being phased out for newer digital mediums, cost the same to run online. It costs money for servers, bandwidth, power, people and just as eco-non-friendly as cutting trees.

This is not a rant, yet an examination. It is not meant to diminish media(s) but to get right down to the core. We as practitioners must recognize the inherent value of media and the discourse communities that surround…and decide if it fits our needs. Most importantly, look at the discourse being exchanged in the communities surrounding these media(s), understand the language, and decide whether to interact or move on! It is more that just pulling out the whole fit the square peg in the round hole sales routine with Social Media. Look at the discourse being exchanged and let’s decide if we want to join the community.

If you have some thoughts, please let me know. I am noticing many people from the academic community are reading this blog post. Please share your thoughts!

Building Communities – Anderson Area Chamber Style

About a week ago…I get a call from the Anderson Area Chamber to help take part in their yearly membership drive. At first, I was kind of perplexed about this request, but I believe in the life of the chamber so I was happy to jump on board. Plus, I have never taken part in a membership drive so I was interested to check out the process and maybe build some relationships along the way.

To the pleasant voice on the other side of the phone, I happily agreed to show up for a training this morning. So 8am this morning, I made my way into a conference room at the Area Chamber of Commerce where the room was full and the coffee was brewing. JAVA – Good!

What I walked away from this hour and half experience is that the Anderson Area Chamber is building communities, raising awareness, and not just making simple cold calls asking for membership dues.

The Anderson Area Chamber brought in a Membership Campaign Consultant to help the 25 plus members (that agreed to take part in this effort) come together as a group and use their sphere of influence to ask non-chamber members to consider joining their “Tribe”…their “Ecosystem”…their “Sphere of Influence.” Sheryl Ross is her name and empowering communities is her game.

This is here membership game:
Communities —> Awareness —> Membership

As I looked around the room, there was a wide representation of membership taking part in this event. Each one was hand selected, each one has a sphere of influence, each one is passionate about small business development, each one consistently understands the meaning of leveraging relationships. Sheryl Ross was brought in to empower the membership represented in the room about the benefits of a chamber membership; and to empower this membership to expand the “Sphere of Influence” by tapping into their personal/business address books.

What is the point of joining a Chamber of Commerce, especially one that has a broad “Sphere of Influence”? How about to have a voice, generate revenue, and save money. That is the bottom-line. The Anderson Area Chamber is building their “Tribe”, expanding their sphere of influence, and gaining momentum for the following:

Empowering Membership —> Empowering Awareness —> Empowering Business

This is a training session that I enjoyed…I guess I drank the kool-aid. But whatever the reason, I want to be a part of this “Tribe”. I want to grow my “Sphere of Influence.” That is the benefit for each member that showed up for this training session. An opportunity to grow their “Tribe” by networking and engaging in fluid conversation with others in the room, those potential “Tribe” members that will be recruited, and ultimately to feel like they are a part of a “Tribe”. While the chamber is leveraging their membership in the room as means to grow and find new members, the membership in the room is recruiting new members and growing their sphere of influence…this is a mutually beneficial relationship. Business and engaging/building/leveraging relationships is fun. I want some more kool-aid….actually some more coffee.