Social Media Strategy - JenniferVanGrove.com

I’ve been thinking about people like me — super users of social media applications, evangelists for new ways of thinking and engaging with people online, and habitual content creators either through micro-blogging, video blogging, or mobile blogging. We talk a big game, speak a special language, revel in our social media awareness, debate about the best web apps, comment on each other’s lifestreams, and post photos to our placestreams. A combination of events, including Geoff Livingston’s post, Nomenclature, and my interview with Robin, inspired me to stop thinking and start writing.

Are we our own worst enemy? Are we segregating ourselves from the very communities we claim to want to share our knowledge with?

We’re the Problem and We’re Intimidating

We live our lives online. We’re early adopters and super users. A lot of us either claim to be community evangelists, in the business of helping companies connect with their customers using social media, or desirous of helping real people grasp the power of the social web.

But who are we talking to?

We’re talking to each other. And not only are we talking to each other, but we’re talking in ways that exclude the average person from contributing to our discussion. We’re saying things that are incomprehensible, unrelatable, and completely foreign. We’re segregating ourselves in this elite bubble of people in the know and we’re making it impossible and uncomfortable for those curious to ask us questions. We’re like religious fanatics — turning people off to what we want to ultimately inspire them to pursue.

Inclusion is Everything

We need to include everyone. I make efforts everyday to converse with people who are different from me. I constantly try to find new ways to discuss the relevancy of what it is I do and my expertise. There are those who do make a conscious effort to be understood on a human level (Common Craft makes excellent videos that describe web technologies in plain English), but I still think we could all improve.

We need to strive to be less exclusionary. We may not intend to drive people away, but we appear to be a very intimidating and judgmental bunch. We take our knowledge for granted and forget that mainstream acceptance is the only way to keep ourselves employed.

What Do We Do?

We need to make ourselves available and approachable. I’m going to continue to talk about social media and concepts that might be beyond the average person’s grasp, but I’m now going to do everything in my power to help people feel comfortable asking questions. As important as it for me to continue to demonstrate my knowledge to stay relevant, it is even more important for me to communicate in ways that don’t intimidate or frighten people. I need to be relateable. I need to admit when I don’t understand something. I need to talk to people on the streets.

But I’m just one person.

What am I Talking About?

In case anything I’ve said reads like Japanese, you can send me an email (jvangrove at gmail dot com), leave a comment, or add me as a contact to your preferred social network. I’m happy to chat anytime.


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  • http://www.safeism.com James Marwood

    This is very true Jennifer, and very thought provoking. I get the impression that many outside of the cool kids club don’t know about, or don’t care about a lot of the new social media. To me that signifies a failure of marketing and evangelism.

  • http://controltheweb.blogspot.com/2008/04/we-have-time-to-make-10000-new-web.html Dave L

    Teach baby steps. Decide who you are uniquely qualified to reach, and to teach, and give people a foundation: the basics.

    For example: Teach people to interact by commenting on blogs, and sharing posts, instead of one word (“cool!”) replies to blog posts, and forwarding copied text, instead of links to the source.

  • http://www.safeism.com/blog/index.php/2008/05/social-media-evangelism/ Social Media Evangelism » safeism dot com

    [...] leverage these new developments. Jennifer Van Grove is one such consultant, and she has, it seems, spotted a flaw in the way many operate. They are talking to each other, and excluding the very people they are [...]

  • http://www.inSocialMedia.com Chris Patterson

    This is an outstanding article. May I have your permission to repost on inSocialMedia.com?

    Also, feel free to join, I will personally accept your request. We are a small but growing community and it is invite only right now.

    To Your Success,

    Chris Patterson
    inSocialMedia.com

  • http://www.lavarow.com Nathan T. Wright

    Great post, Jen. I think all of us in the soc. media industry need to stay aware of what you just described. It’s important that we continue to speak in basic human terms, teach, explain and stress that we’re looking at an evolution in human communication – not a revolution.

  • http://www.livingstonbuzz.com/blog Geoff Livingston

    Spot on. Social media is catching fire in spite of ourselves. We don’t help, rather hinder adoption with all of our echo chamber be-bop and behavior.

  • KSC

    Interesting post.

    I probably have a different perspective on this. I’m a lawyer, so it’s not advantageous (or even ethically permissible) for me to “live my life online.” So, I dabble. I don’t use real names in my blog, but I sign with my initials. I have a facebook profile, but I limit the viewing audience to friends.

    But I totally see the advantage in some social media apps. LinkedIn and facebook have helped me reconnect with old friends, and are great networking tools. But I’m not too terribly into the “cutting edge” stuff, because I tend to see it as too compromising to my privacy.

    I’d wager that that’s the obstacle you’re facing. It’s not that social media proponents are too “geeky” or “exclusive,” it’s that hardcore adoption seems like a lifestyle choice that’s hard for a large segment of the population to buy into. But that’s just my barely-informed opinion…

    -KSC
    lawyer2point0.wordpress.com

  • http://tonybalsamo.com Tony Balsamo

    Sometimes you are so insightful its scary.

    I ask just about everyone I talk to if they Twitter or blog and for the most part I get blank stares, and then a strange look when I start explaining how cool it is and its the new new thing. I get that look that says ‘if you’re so social, why is your face buried in your laptop all the time?’, a question I don’t have a good answer for.

    All I know is I’m stoked about web2.0 stuff while trying to learn all I can and I’m meeting some of the nicest people along the way.

  • http://www.alterati.com/blog/?p=1897 alterati » Blog Archive » Social Media, Platypodes, and an Excuse

    [...] Social Media Evangelists, We Are Our Own Worst Enemies [...]

  • http://mrsal.wikispaces.com Dom Salvucci

    Jennifer,

    Very interesting point you bring up. As an educator I have to play by a different set of rules online. It is often debated by others in my profession as to the fairness of being held above the normal social standard. I only recently started leaving a traceable virtual footprint for the public to follow. In part because it may benefit me in the future if I ever need/want to change jobs or careers. By participating I also run the risk of looking silly or stupid, by asking questions or posting ideas and media that may not be professional quality by many standards. It is a leap of faith to put oneself out there in the public eye.

    Anyway, I have found that in the field of education to get new users involved I have to show them concretely how a new idea will help them. If they can see that it makes life easier, sooner rather than later, they will accept the changes. If they see no inherent benefit, they may put off new ideas even if being included.

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