Are you a social media purist or pragmatist?

By Sona Hathi, Editor, Melcrum

Having read, heard and seen so much around social media over the years, both innovative and predictable, I was initially skeptical about the event I attended this morning, mainly because it was held by an agency. But I felt I owed it to Melcrum's members - many of whom I spoke with at our own Social Media conference last week - to continue to play the devil's advocate and try and gain answers to many of their concerns and criticisms surrounding social media. So I went along, and I'm pleased to say that I was impressed.

Charlie Osmond, founder of Fresh Networks, and his team help organizations get started with social media but in particular, they focus on building communities. Charlie made several key points that really resonated with me and I'd be interested to know where internal communicators stand on these ideas.

Pragmatists Vs Purists
The first point he raised was that when it comes to social media, there are two camps.

1. The purists, who believe that using social media is absolutely crucial if an organization wants to progress - or even survive - in a world where anything from anywhere can be accessed within seconds. They just love to wax lyrical about how there's a revolution taking place and that your corporate reputation and performance depends on how well you're listening to and responding to your audience, and how social media is the gateway to reaching them...etc etc. 

2. The pragmatists, who constantly think about the practicalities, obstacles, financial benefits, stakeholder buy-in etc.. all the things that purists understand, but just hate talking about because they get frustrated as to why people can't just "get it" and get on with it.

Personally, I think I naturally fall in the former group, but thankfully, Melcrum's members continue to remind me that a pragmatic approach is essential to get people on the path of social media purism! 

Don't expect miracles
Another point was that social media is about change – not big sudden miraculous change, but gradual, long lasting change. Charlie likened it to the lottery. Everyone's waiting for the miracle to happen, that defining moment where they can say, it was all worth it. But as he said: "The lottery only comes into the spotlight when a solo winner becomes £50 million richer. What about those who win a few hundred or a few thousand pounds? Those smaller wins still make a difference to their lives."

In the same way, many organizations use social media with the expectation that this golden moment will also occur for their business. That turning point when something prompts the brand to be the subject of blogs, tweets, Facebook statuses and forums around the world, and suddenly the business changes forever, all thanks to social media. Sure, this can happen, and there are a few examples of businesses that have changed forever, but those examples shouldn't form the basis of your reasons for using social tools. 

Online tools are simply alternative channels that will help you in small and steady ways to engage your audience, build awareness, encourage dialogue and share knowledge. In time, when you look back at what you've done, you'll see that those small and steady wins have made a big difference in your organization. It's important to set out your objectives for using social media, and not get swept up by the hype. Think about KPIs, step away at regular intervals and ask yourself what you've achieved and how far you are from reaching your goals. 

Reward and recognition
Charlie finally touched on the idea of rewarding and recognizing people for being social. In a recent copy of Strategic Communication Management Melcrum published a case study from Sun Microsystems a company that's doing precisely this – measuring employees' use of social media and rewarding those who do it exceptionally well. Building relationships and networking is a responsibility that each of us have, and if some employees are going the extra mile by seeking opportunities to do this via the web, then why not reward them for their efforts? So, should the use of social media should be incorporated into performance reviews and appraisals? As a bit of a purist, I'd say yes. What do you think?