Is there a danger that the rolling excitement around social media is missing the point?
Of course, I’m assuming that you’re aware of the unbroken exhilaration currently accompanying the almost daily changes to Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn and the rest. Social media geeks and gurus are spewing a torrent of tweets and bleats about this and that new feature, as the big platforms jostle untidily for position.
But however exciting the rollout of the ‘new look’ Twitter page or the multi-administrator function on Google+ may be (today’s current hot topics), the big question around for social media is how well, or indeed whether, it is improving communication.
Only a few years ago we conducted most information exchange, both business and personal, through a limited number of channels. We met, we sent letters or we spoke on the telephone. The broadcast media did just that, sending out its messages through print, radio and television.
Today, the number and variety of communication channels is growing daily. I might, and sometimes do, exchange messages with the same person through Skype, Twitter, Facebook, SMS or email. The choice of channel is sometimes determined by content, sometimes by convenience.
The challenge for all of us, and particularly for those of us managing commercial communication, is to choose the right channel for the right message at the right time.
What we must avoid is infatuation with the new and the novel. All the heat and light around social media is attractive, but we mustn’t forget that the majority of consumers still don’t get it.
Even the ubiquitous Facebook, with its gazillions of users, doesn’t reach as many households as the humble letter or the antiquated landline telephone. National newspapers might be scrabbling to retain readers, but virtually every home in the country has newsprint pushed through its letterbox once a week, in the form of a freebie paper.
We are living through a communication revolution. It’s exciting, bewildering and downright frustrating at times. But we communicators must never lose sight of this essential truth: if our message is not received in the manner we intended, it has failed.
It doesn’t matter how clever the technology, or how slick the presentation. If the target audience don’t understand it, or worse, can’t even access it, we have failed to do our jobs properly.
So what I am saying, as much to myself as anyone else, is don’t get caught up in the thrill of exploring the new bells and whistles on our social media toys. By all means, keep a finger on the fast-beating pulse, but don’t allow yourself to be distracted from the real work, which is all about presenting clear messages that achieve their objectives.
And if that means putting together a hand-written letter, so be it.