It's the community stupid!

Today, I've stumbled upon, and not using the social media tool of the same name, two articles about social media. One from Business Week http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/feb2009/tc20090218_335887.htm that talks about the myths of social media.

Everyone seems to think that social media will cure their marketing or public relations ills. "Just join Twitter." "Get a page on Facebook, no MySpace, no both." "Start a blog." "Don't forget to put it on YouTube."

All of the advice in the world won't help according to another article from Bill Sledzik on his blog ToughSledding. http://toughsledding.wordpress.com/2009/02/14/are-social-media-changing-the-dna-of-public-relations-not-one-bit/

His contrarian view is that social media will not change the face of public relations because public relations isn't about the tools--it's about the relationships. In other words: It's the community stupid!

As communicators we often forget that what we are trying to do is create community through our communications. This is even more important in social media settings, known as groups or COMMUNITYs. Getting people involved is one thing, but keeping them involved is something totally different, and it isn't as easy as it looks!

So finally, I feel better! Whew. I was beginning to think that I had to implement all of these new social media tools in a campaign and make them work. Bill Sledzik reminded me that it's about the community, which means I can use whatever tools work for me to achieve that goal. Even if those tools are social media.