Last month I wrote that Social Media Needs a "Slow-Food"-type Movement. This piece was well received by a lot of people I know and respect, such as Ian Schafer of Deep Focus:
Great post from @Rick_Now: RT @kdoohan: Social Media needs a "slow food" type movement http://gr8sh.it/hPr5rYJanuary 31, 2011 7:34 pm via TweetDeckischafer
Ian Schafer
The point of the post was to make an argument against the rush to quantify Social Media results for our clients and Social status amongst ourselves. I'm not suggesting that Social Media is inherently problematic, just that it has evolved (mutated?) into something where immediate reactions or gratification are the default for the marketing industry. Tim Malbon, co-founder of Made by Many, was kind enough to send me a very thoughtful email regarding the post that helped me to clarify my thinking on the subject. Tim helped me understand the distinction between my call for "slow social" and the power of Social Media to bring about change and allow people to engage in real-time. It helps to also understand that Tim is a proponent of Agile (with a capital A). Speed, flexibility and nimbleness are not 'nice to haves' in today's world, they are a necessity, and Tim and the gang at Made by Many are at the forefront of thinking and doing in this vein. Adapting quickly to market conditions, taking advantage of opportunities and building systems that allow for a change of plans mark the state of business today and Made by Many are putting a lot of hard thinking into this issue.
The "Slow Social" I'm talking about relates more to the results, or more specifically the way we measure results. I see it most frequently with brands who consider "getting to 10,000 followers" a Twitter strategy. And while many (most?) of the people who'll read this post will nod and smile knowingly, this is still a predominant philosophy amongst marketers who should know better based on their position and the data available.
My feelings were reinforced by the recent Social Media Week event on communities I attended. There was no discussion of 'how to get more followers' or how to 'monetize fans in 30 days,' the talk revolved around developing partnerships and 'win-win' situations. Those are tough metrics to quantify, but that's the point.
Quantifying relationships with people (not target demos, audiences, customers or consumers, but people) is missing the point. No one keeps a scorecard to measure the relationship they have with a spouse, child, friend or co-worker. And as absurd as that would be, imagine checking the score on a daily basis! You'd be frustrated because it wouldn't change dramatically from Tuesday to Wednesday, so you'd find ways to game the system. Come home with roses everyday for your wife or a new toy for your daughter. Great on day one, but 10 days later and those gestures would become meaningless.
It's a recipe for disaster if you're going to assume that immediate action will generate immediate results in Social Media.
But it's a hard habit to break. Tweeting daily, blogging all the time, looking at Klout scores. It's a vicious cycle that so many of us, myself included, fall into. I don't have any real answers here, just think the question is important to ask: Do we have to view Social Media this way? Can we make long-term qualitative metrics the new standard?