Deborah Schultz

Life isn't binary, neither is the Social Web

In the past few weeks as the economy has tanked, startups, VC's and pundits galore have taken a new look on what this means for the almighty ad dollar and the world of social media. None of this is new - it seems we live in a a cycle of pushing off these questions until we hit tough times. In a lot of ways it reads like a familiar scripted B-movie voice over.

"Can successful startups like Twitter and Facebook figure out a "real" business model? ; Will users put up with more and more ads inserted in the middle of their personal interactions? ; Will all this new data compromise individual privacy?: Will big advertisers flee back to old tried and true models in the face of economic uncertainty? Tune in next week to find out if advertisers will figure this out before struggling startups are forced to close their doors"

It sounds bleak, I know, but I actually have faith that we will weather this current storm and it will even be a forcing function for innovation in the industry. What is however troubling to me is that what is often lost in the above voice overs is the voice of the actual customer and what makes relevant sense.

So, when this Adage article with the provocative title "P&G Digital Guru Not Sure Marketers Belong on Facebook" hit the feeds, I got inundated with emails from a lot of folks asking me "what the heck does this article mean"? Given my current work with P&G [I am their advisor on all things social & emerging media], I am not surprised at being asked this question. What was more interesting was that there were two very different types of emails that took two very divergent views 1) business oriented-"what does this mean for advertising on the internet?" and 2) individualistic and purist-looking at the issue from the lens that says "big companies don't belong on my social network". Well, what it means to me is that we are at a pivotal change in how companies and customer's connect and we are still learning the new rules of the road. These issues are not black and white, all or nothing. I think Battelle summed it up rationally when he states that the social networks/social media and marketing can go together - the question is when and how.

A metaphor that we have used inside P&G is that "if you are invited to a dinner party and you show up and start selling Tupperware, there is a good chance you will not be invited back". In other words, you need to demonstrate value before you jump in and start yelling "buy me". Understanding how and when someone is interested in hearing from you inside a social network is radically different than when shouting across the airwaves with a 30 second spot. Ted demonstrates why I enjoy working with him and P&G - the consumer is always first. The mechanisms on the social web are different and we all still have a lot to learn. Smart companies  - be they big or small -  know that looking at the current version of the web with an old media lens ain't gonna fly. That is why I believe so strongly in the core principles I am working on both with P&G and the Doc Searls and the gang on Project VRM [Sean, Chris, Adriana and more] . Understanding that the user/consumer is in control is a foundation on which any business, ad or marketplace models will operate in the future.

This is the participatory web and the old media models are being shredded. The social web is my web - it's PERSONAL to me. I am not creating media when I am online so much as I am connecting with people using media as my medium. As today's "consumers", we lean forward, we skip ads, we have a strong point of view on products and services and we expect to be heard or left alone on our own terms. The social web can actually provide much deeper and more interesting connections for customers and companies than simply being a marketing channel - it ties into the entire product lifecycle. And that is where stuff gets really interesting...and much more complex. This is where relevance and context and trust and intention all come into play.

In a world where relationship and connection are at once more subtle and scalable than ever before the answer to the question of whether companies & social media can mix is not simply a Yes or No answer. Shame on Adage for oversimplifying this complex ecosystem in the hunt for business relevance. Both Facebook and P&G are working to figure what works for their users and their consumers. In the end it is respecting the individual and the consumer that is most important and I would hope we would take our time to innovate & figure out what works for the long haul and not jump to oversimplified "banner ad, yes or no" solutions.

The social web - just like life - is just not that binary.

Snackbyte: How will it all play out?

As we gather our nuts and prepare for the long hard economic winter ahead, there will be an inevitable consolidation of companies, communities and customers.  I wonder down which path this slowdown will lead us?

This being conference season, I have had a number of interesting conversations with analysts, advertisers, investor's, publishers and start-ups.  The topic of the economy, globalization etcetera -  is of course top of mind.  Opinions vary on how this will all play out, what we can all pretty much agree on is that the social web has now entered adolescence.  This is a fragile time for a teenager - she is highly susceptible to influences - both good and bad.  Will she be dazzled by bling and a quick buck? Will she broaden her horizons via exposure to new ideas and people? [I will drop the metaphor before I beat the life out of it, but you get the idea]

In our enthusiasm over the potential of the social web, our rush to generate viable business models and find customers wherever they may be lurking - what forces will have the greatest long term impact on our social web?  Will we forget the fundamental human drives that gave birth to the social web to begin with? Will companies sell out their customer base for an advertising dollar? Will innovation be spurred by the need for creative re-invention or will it come to a grinding halt? During the great depression - the entertainment industry was a much needed escape from the daily grind [see Sullivan's Travels and rent it NOW if you've never seen it].  If we can look past current mass media models - we may have a real opportunity to create some amazing and viable participatory fun with all these great tools.

I am no macro-economist, but if we can self-organize  - what is the role of the multi-national? Can smaller economic trends mediate the big picture?   The participatory web will have a huge impact on shaping our economic and social future.   It is the next few years that are a big question mark. 

What forces will have the greatest influence on our teenage social web as she grows into adulthood? Will tough economic times - shape a more robust future? Or will she crumble under the pressure?

So - now that I got that out of my system  - what do you think? Did I lose you? Am I nuts?

Cocktails, cupcakes and food for thought..

A quick note to say thanks to Brady, Bre et al - for another great Ignite event.  Cupcakes were gorgeous and the talks were a blast.  I even got to express four years of "alley vs valley" in a compact 5 minutes!

Thanks to Sean

A great view on the motivations of the social web

I am a huge fan of Michael Wesch ["the machine is us"].  This video of a talk he gave in front of the Library of Congress is worth the time [yes, 55minutes]..enjoy!

Thanks to Michael Cayley for the link!

Test vs Scale - herein lies the rub

While working with P&G to develop the Social Media Lab, I am constantly wrestling with the  BIG and SMALL issues relating to how the Social Web impacts business, marketing, start-up business models and our lives as individuals. When there is a  new set of dynamics that fundamentally shifts how you communicate and do business - how do you ensure that the smaller tests you are doing have BIG learnings that can be reapplied.

So it was interesting to trip onto this thoughtful post from Francois Goussieaux on the nature of how big companies are approaching Social Media. 

There are very few social media marketing programs that scale to the point where they can truly be useful to multi-billion dollar companies. But why is that?

Part of the problem, as I have described before, is self-inflicted. Many CMO’s know they need to dabble in the space, but that is all they do - run small pilot programs that don’t make a difference. The problem with this approach is that the dynamics of small scale social media programs are very different from large scale social media campaigns. So what may work in large programs will not work in pilot programs and the lessons learned from pilot programs may not be applicable to large scale implementations.

This argument sits squarely in the Social Media Lab's backyard.  Knowing that big companies do indeed have trouble making big changes all at once - the goal of the Lab is to help with baby steps - so the big programs can truly shine.

I also personally believe that there is no such thing as a social media campaign.  Social Media is forcing a fundamental switch in the power center of business and how information, markets and products are created and brought to market.  Whether you are a P&G brand or a start-up - the social web impacts how you connect with customers.  This is not only about social ads or viral videos.  And I sure as heck hope we can come up with better business models for Web2.0 companies than some newer form of banner ad.

That said, how do you run before you can walk?

As I wrestle with the issues of  innovation,  scalability, customer advocacy and new business models here is a sample of some of the questions currently rattling around in my brain:

• What is the best method for generating true innovation and new business models?
• What is the best way to test & learn smartly and efficiently?
• How do you best build bridges of learning across very different cultural groups - i.e. brands and startups?
• How do you best eliminate the fear of failure to encourage bold creative initiatives?
• When does connecting with the consumer cross the line to icky behavioral targeting vs helpful discovery?
• When are you enabling passionate fans vs exploiting them?
• How do you ensure that neither big business or small start-up leaves the customer in the dust in a rush to the shiny new thing?
• Do test programs help in developing innovative approaches to business or are they simply dabbling? [this applies to start-ups and big business]
• As Social Media is all about relationships and connections - can it even scale authentically to support a billion dollar business [see peter's post for more]?
  

I've got lots of questions and some hypothesis grounded in "ya gotta start somewhere", but I am also impatient, so what do you think?   How would you generate a big shift? 

Snackbyte: It's all personal

In preparing for my upcoming "Death of the Grand Gesture" talk at Web2Expo, I've been deep in my usual observational analysis of the dynamics impacting the social web meets "big bidness".  I've also realized [thanks to Mario] that my blogging has become a sad chain of "weekly links".   

I have always found it difficult to juggle "big thoughts", getting stuff done and ensuring I make the time for posting my observational nuggets as they occur to me.  I admit it, I  enjoy real world back and forth conversations more than the more solitary skill of writing [probably why I will never write the great American novel]. 

Which leads me to my recent personal observation. Gasp - I have lost touch with why I fell in love with blogging in the first place - a blog post does not have to be a fully formed argument or a perfect pearl of wisdom - it just has to be.

So in the spirit of it spontaneity I am rededicated to providing both in the future.  I won't promise a schedule or a minimum number of posts or even where they will be posted [she hints at future news], but I do promise to not sit on the nuggets and personal observations till they are all well crafted and wrapped in a bow.   

Today's nugget:   

No matter how you slice it - everything is personal.  Not personal as in taking things personally [tho there is plenty of that taking place], but personal as in this is 'personal to me'.  Social web tools are just that social and personal. They are a reflection of their creator - without a personal voice and tone there is no "there there".  And they are changing the dynamics of how we interact, relate and do business.

The challenge for a business or political campaign is how do you infuse the personal without over-sharing and how do you find the balance of what is appropriate? 

Navigating this landscape of "personal" is tricky 'bidness'  - some words to keep in mind - respect, context, and empathy.

If you want to attend Web2Expo you can use my "personal" discount code: webny08mc23 for $100 off registration fee.  Hope to see you there!

A rose by any other name ....

 

The recent flurry of posts on "the death of blogging" or blogging versus twitter versus [insert latest cool tool here] are mute. It is the motivation behind the effort that is interesting - our human [and business need ] for connection and expression and the impact that micro-connections have on our memory, analysis and objectivity.  There is a big difference between living in the moment and stepping back and analyzing an event, business or feeling.

There is benefit to both - and they are not interchangeable.  Living & communicating in the moment serves one purpose and so does thoughtful analysis.   More varied media creation adds layers and multiple facets to our experiences and personalities.   The important distinction is when personal crosses into professional without full disclosure - i.e the impact on journalism, promotion, PR and marketing.  This is not about whether it is a blog or "an official newspaper" - it is knowing the role of the individual communicating and understanding whether the 'content' is analysis or spur of the moment observation. 

As blogging and social media grow up, tools as labels are less important. 

Am I a "phoner" because I use the phone?  No.  A phone can be used for an interview with a journalist, to order cable service to phone sex.  It is the role I play in each, who I am communicating with and the objective of the call that makes the difference.

The same holds true for blogs or tweets or videos - the tools is simply that a tool.

Related posts [in case you missed em]: 

Fred on real time blogging - well said - the distinction between sharing experiences later versus during. Just compare the difference between sharing your recent vacation with non-connected friends and family to the ones who follow your flickr or twitter stream - BIG difference - not better or worse- just different.

Scoble on Tech blogging:  What Robert taps into here is the blurring of the lines. He got into blogging to learn cool stuff and share his experience then he got an audience and then somehow the lines got blurred and is he now journalist, PR shill? There is a value in both professional formal analysis and observational discussion - we just need to know the role the communicator is playing.

Social Media - dig a little deeper

I was on a plane to NYC last week and missed Brian, Jeremy & Jeremiah's great posts on "social media is NOT conversation".  AMEN!  Point being that the current social software tools impact SO much more than simply talking.

I too dislike the phrase Social Media and have shruggingly accepted using it because - frankly, I am often accused of over-complicating this stuff. Well, this stuff is complicated!  The social web is not ONLY about Media and it is not ONLY a new channel.  It is powerful stuff.  I have posted about this before [here, here and here for starters] but the way some are embracing social media reminds me of the first incarnation of the web when everyone thought it was only brochure-ware or "new media" until people realized, "Oh my goodness, e-commerce? I can sell stuff here? This impacts customer service, product development, government, organizations, family? friends? lifestyle?

The internet is fundamentally about connection and communication, but that is only the surface.  We need to dig a little deeper.  The low hanging fruit is to see it only as communication and "conversation".  Communication fuels human connection and human connection fuels everything from - well - procreation to war.

Now, here is a perceived irony...

I have spent the past 8 months working with the world's largest marketer - P&G- to develop a Social Media Lab.  The objective of the Lab is to spend some real thoughtful time and analysis on understanding how the social web impacts the relationship between company and customer, how P&G can better serve their customers within the social media space and what are the potential new business models for technology partners and start-ups in this space. We have partners and brands developing experiments exploring the realities of this new world.

So, you would think I sold out, drank the cool-aid and am enabling the exact behavior I rail against.  This couldn't be further from the truth.

This stuff is so new and complex -- no one knows all the answers or even exactly all the questions.  P&G has always been an innovator when it comes to understanding people and as much as I am bringing new ideas inside their walls, I am learning just as much from them about how to think about these issues. P&G understands the social web is indeed about you and me and looks at this  new world from the lens of earning a place in their customers’ lives and where they should or should not be engaging.

Call me Don Quixote, say I am tilting at windmills, but when they approached me I saw it as a huge opportunity to transfer knowledge between some really smart folks in the social web space and the world's largest advertiser to create the world I want to live in.  I would rather be part of enabling and educating and leading the way on what works and what doesn't than to sit on the sidelines. 

Is this easy? NO. Big changes never are. There is no manual, no guidelines and no rule book - and don't let anyone tell you differently!   Will there be stumbles before there are wins - definitely.  This is a marathon and not a sprint - there will always be shiny new objects to play with but as you know "technology changes, human's don't". And we people are complicated! 

I plan to share more in the coming weeks and months on this blog as well as in a few new places to be named later.  I look forward hearing your feedback and thoughts.

Snackbyte - social ball of string

Everyone is all 'aTwitter' about Google's FriendConnect  announcement and last week's MySpace & Facebook announcements. I am ALL for open social standards.

However...

More social connections without greater intelligence built in is just gonna be more noise"

or if you prefer an equation:

 

I got my hands full tracking my fragmented world as it is.  Luckily as everyone races to claim the open data, social graph charge, there are those thinking about enabling better, smarter management tools that start with ME - the user/consumer/individual/PERSON. 

Related posts:

Dan Farber, Mashable, RWW, and Charlene Li

Related events this week: IIW,  Data Sharing Summit

 

Seriously, we can do MORE

Update 5/5: - Umair has a nice discussion going on over here that started right after I spoted this - it must be in the air! I promise to do a follow-on post as my post seems to have struck a nerve, basedo n all the comments below - yeah!]

Confession: For the past few months I have been growing increasingly bored and frustrated with the shortsightedness of many on the power and impact of social software for business and connectedness between people and ideas.  Yes, I am oft too earnest and impatient on this stuff - but I mean - why settle?

The last few weeks have really driven that feeling home. Time to reflect on long airplane trips, meeting with folks doing BIG stuff around the world, taking a pause from the echo chamber and some inspiring conversations with some really smart folks, have emboldened me to finally write some of this down. Many overheard conversations at Web2Expo yesterday further added to my feeling of malaise.  I am dropping this rant quickly but promise to focus more in these topics in the coming weeks and months:

• The social web and web2.0  - c'mon, this is so much more than throwing sheep and twittering that we are stuck in airports.  As I have ranted on this before, in various ways, if you *only* look at these tools as a bigger megaphone for communication you are not looking hard enough! Think real innovation, business and cultural transformation!

• Back in September, I was sitting with a friend at a conference  and he said it best: "never before have so many done so little with so much" [I will provide attribution once/if I get approval from him]

• The power of tech to bring people together is REAL and VITAL [my trip to Israel reminded me of this]

• This is only the beginning of some really cool stuff - the beginning. Per Clay's point yesterday: "the size of our collective cognitive surplus is so large that just 1% participation can bring about HUGE change. 

• How do we encourage and nurture greater participation and develop an "architecture of participation" [nice turn of phrase clay - more on this to come] that benefits business, cultural and political innovation.

• O'reilly yesterday finally discussed using this stuff to solve big problems - as the pied piper for many developers - I thank you for leading them to a higher cause -  hope they hear you.

Now, I am not saying we have all the answers or even know how any of this will pan out.  Existing infrastructures [technical, financial, organizational and cultural] mean certain changes will be slow while others will circumvent the roadblocks that stand in their way. 

What I do know is that if you do not ask the right questions up front and reach for the sky - well - you just ain't gonna get very far.

---------------

This post is a nod to Greg and my work designing and launching the Info Center - the project that is still my touchstone for the power and promise of integrating the physical with the digital at the intersection of technology, people and business -  "saving lives, baby, saving lives"]

[Addendum: As I was writing this I noticed Umair's post.  Lately, we are channeling each other on this stuff - I nod to his eloquence and ability to lay out the issues].