Echo-chamber paralysis

 

I, for one, am looking forward to an awful lot of doing in 2009 rather than analyzing. Don’t you feel like you’ve read the same things a few times over?  (I’m guilty of rehashing things too.)  I know it’s still new and everyone’s excited about thinking about how social media will play a role in the future of business.  But I’m so impatient… I want the future technology trends to arrive already.

Everyone’s making their predictions for 2009.  Well here’s what I hope will happen:  That people will stop analyzing and screwing around and just start experimenting already!  I want to see new case studies crop up every week.  I’d like to see more WSJ, NYT and CNN articles on Social Media.  Not dispelling myths and fears, but true journalism and reporting.  Now, I know there’s lots of good examples (if you don’t know – check out Peter Kim’s list) but the industry is still very young and many brands are still just dabbling if they’re doing anything at all.

So, how does an organization jump start (and not end up one of the predicted failures Gartner says will happen to more than half the companies trying on social media)?

Be smart.  Don’t tell everyone in your company to start blogging and tweeting at once without direction.  But do take some volunteers and run a trial. Ask those folks to do some self-education. Bring in a social media consultant for a group seminar to help get you started and maybe some sporadic guidance. Read the key social media bloggers, read a few good intro docs, read a smattering of other stuff.  Then let them loose.

The world of social media is ready for you. Come and get it… Just give it a whirl.

Photo Credit: Meister Des Zirkuss