We put the solution ahead of the content

My wife is a webmaster and she just doesn’t get the whole social networking thing. I mean, she really doesn’t get it. Especially as it relates to companies. Why, she questions, would a company want to use a service like Twitter?

Why indeed?

Social networking is all about relationships. As a rule, in the past, big companies seemed very distant to their customers and clients. PR firms could work hard to put the best public face on the company, but for many outside the company, connecting with the company was difficult at best and impossible in most cases. Much of what the company would want its potential customers and clients to know was never available or communicated.

Then, social networking appeared on the Internet. At first, it seemed like one more way for individuals to stay in touch and meet new friends. Twitter allowed people the ability to tell the story of their daily lives in succinct soundbites. (or wordbites, if you will………you heard the term here first…at least applied to Twitter). Facebook and MySpace allowed people the ability to create a promotion page reflecting their likes, dislikes and a glimpse into their lives.

It wasn’t long before some smart marketing and PR people saw the value of social networking and its implications for companies of all sizes. They reasoned that if you really want to connect with your customers and potential customers, this was a very personal way of doing so. In the process, social networking crossed the line from being about individuals to being about companies also. Companies also learned that they could create a ‘buzz’ about their products or services and that the buzz was infectious……….in a good way.

While social networking sites are a great source of promotion and public relations, they are also the perfect non-traditional method for people to connect with companies. Those same foreboding mega-giants that seemed unapproachable, are suddenly, right there. You really don’t have to understand Tweeting…….just the concept of connecting.

So when my wife questions ‘why,’ she just needs to look at Plaxo or LinkedIn or Facebook or Twitter or Youtube or a couple of dozen others, and ask ‘what.’ What are these companies saying and what are consumers saying in return? That’s what it’s all about.