Monitoring Our Influences

For everyone in my Social Media for PR class (#COMM3309), we know tomorrow is the lucky day when most of our projects are due. In addition, it's also the amazing day when our social media audits are due. After stressing out all weekend, I took a break and decided to complete my weekly blogs. While I was reading through Brian Solis' Engaged, I realized how much this chapter relates to the social media audit project we have been working on for the past four weeks.

I didn't really understand what "social media monitoring" was, nor did I see it's importance. Solis provides a good background look at social media monitoring. He refers to monitoring as the eyes, ears, and heart o the organization. I did not realize how true this was until after I completed my audit. If I was running a company, I would be monitoring all over the web. It was fascinating to be able to tap into conversations and actually see what people were talking about. Normally, we only rely on what we hear from friends and families. Social media monitoring offers a completely new way to "assess" a company. In addition, it definitely shows where the company needs to improve.

For my social media audit, I chose a local business in Austin. After monitoring the company for a substantial amount of time, I thought of a number of a different ways that the company could improve their social media and thus increase business.

Solis also encourages listening. Sure, we can all read what customers are saying, but are we really listening to their opinions? By listening and taking customers opinions into action, the company can:

- grow
-learn
- create and ideate
- humanize
- enhance processes
- expand market share
- improve products and services

Solis provides even more outcomes from listening in chapter 19 of Engage. Listening not only benefits the clients, but the company as a whole. If it's a win-win situation, why aren't more organizations doing this? Maybe they do not know how. Solis goes on to teach us how to social media monitor and provides a number of websites and tools to help develop a strong monitoring campaign.

Friendfeed, Collecta, Hootsuite, and Twitter search were just a few of the tools Solis listed. After completing my audit, I wish I had used a few of these other tools in my Yahoo! pipe. By engaging in more online sources, the company can find more feedback and information on the internet.

Overall, this chapter was very informative and useful for the social media audit. My only concern is that it was just a little too late. With the social media audit due tomorrow, I cannot use a lot of the tools that Solis provided. However, this will be very useful if I ever run monitor another company.

Engaging Our Audience

As we continue on through Brian Solis' Engaged, we learn a variety of ways to increase of social media skills and to engage the audience. In chapter 6, Solis begins by examining the "understated" power of photo-sharing websites like Flickr, Webshots, and Photobucket. Solis says that people who use Flickr are able to "build relationships" over a number of topics (travel, music, etc.) The word relationships really stuck out to me when I was reading through the book. Social media serves to bring people together and connect us and in turn, develop relationships. By sharing our interests and hobbies in images on a social media website like Flickr, we allow ourselves to connect with others who share the same passions.

Solis talks about how The American Red Cross used Flickr for members to share photos and experiences while working with The Red Cross. By sharing stories and photos, it helped the volunteers build relationships and increase connectedness. Despite being a great social network, websites like Flickr are most effective when they are used in conjunction to other social media networks. The American Red Cross also has a blog, Twitter, and Facebook account that are frequently updated. Users are able to interact across multiple social media networks. 

What are some other ways to increase social connectedness? Solis points out a number of ways to create chatter and effectively transmit information. One of the most popular, and socialized, areas of social media are forums/discussion boards. On discussion boards, individuals are able to openly talk about any number of topics. When I need a question answered, a lot of times I will type the question into Google and a number of discussion boards will pop up. Here, people who have the same question work together to find a solution. It is a quick, and generally, effective means of communicating. Solis uses Yelp as an example of a social forum. Members of Yelp provide personal experiences and stories at local businesses in any area. In turn, readers are able to get "real" insight into a restaurant before they go eat. This type of reviewing website is a great way to connect individuals and share stories. It is also very beneficial for finding out nitty gritty facts about restaurants and businesses. 

How do we maximize ourselves on Twitter? Solis provides 21 tips that will help increase connectedness and spread information for brands. Tips include concepts such as: special offers, focus groups, customer service, curation, fundraising, and events. Each of these tips can help brands make their mark on Twitter. 

It is important for brands to make sure that they do not "cross over streams" when they are using social media networks. Each network requires a certain type of behavior. On Twitter, we use short words and language because of the space we are allowed. However, the same sparse language should be avoided on a blog.

Overall, Solis provides an excellent jumping point for brands and individuals to maximize their social networking experience. 

Social What?

"Social Media" is a fairly familiar word to most us. We use Facebook, Twitter, and a variety of other websites to keep up with friends and exchange news. But what does "social media" really mean in today's technologically savvy society?

In chapter 3 of Engage, Brian Solis helps us define and understand social media in a different light. Solis says, “we should never strive to master something that evolves much faster than our ability to fully grasp its lessons, benefits, insights, and pitfalls” (Solis 33). At first, I was slightly confused by this statement. Surely, I am a social-media-sophisticated 21 year old, of course I can grasp everything. Soon I took a step back and thought of how frequently the social tools I use have changed. In fact, it seems like Facebook is always changing, thus causing millions to relearn the social skills they had just acquired.

For most people, social media networks are just social forums. They serve as tools to help individuals stay connected with friends and loved ones. However, for marketers, social media is the microscope into niche markets. “We’re simply becoming aware of our markets, the people who define them, and our place within each community” (Solis 33). Social media networks are helping marketers really reach out to their consumers.

Solis provides an in depth list of social media tools, each with a variety of different purposes. For the most part, I had heard of the majority of the social networks in Solis’ list. However, I was floored by how many exist and how many were probably not listed. Social media tools can vary from a simple blog, to videos, location devices, and photographs. The possibilities are endless. In addition, social media networks have broken down into specific elements. Flickr is a great forum for individuals to post photographs. Websites like Youtube and Vimeo are excellent tools for bands, film aficionados, and others.


So far, we have been able to see different social media networks, but we still have yet to come up with a concrete definition. Solis puts it best when he says, “Social media is many things to many people” (Solis 36). How someone chooses to use social media network will result in their own definition.

One definition that Solis uses is, “Social media is the online tools that facilitate a conversation” (Solis 36). To me, this is the truest definition. No matter what social network we use, we are someone engaging in some form of communication. Watching videos on Youtube can spark comments, thoughts, and opinions. On Facebook we comment, read, and converse with others. No matter what social media tool we use, we are engaging in some form of communication. Perhaps that’s why it is simply called “social media.” Socializing through media.