Social media is not media, it’s social

by Robin Grant in News on 11 January 2009 at 16:46 Google+

A controversial titbit from our friend and firestarter, Mark Earls, author of Herd: How to Change Mass Behaviour by Harnessing Our True Nature:

Social Media – blogging, tweeting, facebooking and so on – is not (primarily) about information (what we write, say or read – just as advertising and all those things we criticise are not either); real communication is gestural in nature – it’s about what you do and what you see others doing.

Of course, it seems like the crafting the information bit is important and of course we’d all like to believe that the information processing bit shapes those big and well-considered opinions we carry around. Sad thing is the info bit comes second in terms of shaping our behaviour: most of our thinking is after the fact (as Eliot Aronson puts it, we are more rationalizing than rational); most of our opinions attempts to make sense of what we’ve done not the wise and considered precursor to action.

So, this new landscape can’t be about information and broadcasting, albeit in a way that’s less wasteful or more credible; it’s not about advocacy and brand advocates making the case on behalf of your brand; it’s not about the 1-in-10 or any other minority group who will tell the rest of us what to do; it’s not about “talk” or WOM or any of these poor substitutes for the old TV transmission model – sending messages out to change minds in order to (somehow, eventually) change behaviour. It’s not media at all (as in a medium down which we can send information to folk).

It’s about people. People watching and listening and interacting with other people (that’s why Hugh’s championing of the Social Object is spot on).

It is at heart profoundly human.

We’re not ready to throw away awareness, consideration and recommendation as objectives and measures just yet, but we do agree with his main message – we are inherently social, and social media just lets us be social in new and different ways (even if we’re still restricted by Dunbar’s number).

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  • http://twitter.com/lisahickey/statuses/1111232282 @lisahickey (lisahickey)

    Twitter Comment

    Social media: “It is at heart profoundly human.” From our friends @wearesocial ~ [link to post]

    – Posted using Chat Catcher

  • http://twitter.com/susancohan/statuses/1111263550 @susancohan (susan cohan)

    Twitter Comment

    I’m in a retweet mood today. RT @wearesocial: Social media is not media, it’s social [link to post]

    – Posted using Chat Catcher

  • http://twitter.com/Daria/statuses/1111321039 @Daria (Daria)

    Twitter Comment

    RT @herdmeister: RT @RobinGrant Social media is not media, it’s social [link to post]

    – Posted using Chat Catcher

  • http://mediaczar.com/blog mediaczar

    Social media is a medium in the same way that (say) the fossil record is a medium. When it works (and I'm not convinced by definitions that include blogging and podcasting), it is a searchable record of conversations and thoughts that — in the past — would have been private and evanescent.

    Like Mark Earls says, though, the motivation is primarily social. Makes a lot of sense.

    One reason that I dislike the term 'social media' is because clients hear the word 'media' and believe that it's brand-able; that you can buy space like you can on any other medium.

  • http://www.rainierpr.co.uk/blog Stephen Waddington

    Be careful, there's a real danger that we're over complicating this issue when actually its very easy to define.

    Social media. Its predominantly social yes. People are creating, recording and sharing content with other people. But its almost media. In that that content is shared, recorded and discussed in a network.

  • http://twitter.com/crawfordbrand/statuses/1111382314 @crawfordbrand (Scott Crawford)

    Twitter Comment

    RT @herdmeister: RT @RobinGrant Social media is not media, it’s social [link to post]

    – Posted using Chat Catcher

  • http://www.copywriteink.blogspot.com RIchard Becker

    Robin,

    I frequently frame up social media as that media represents the tools/platforms and the social represents conversations/relationships that occur between people. People seem to grasp the concept well enough when it's presented that way.

    Another term some businesses are starting to use is “real-time communications.” I'm not sure about that. It seems counterproductive to rename everything all the time, but it's good to know.

    Enjoyed your post very much. All my best,
    Rich

  • http://tedshelton.blogspot.com tshelton

    Did you know that the first use of the printing press, which is to say the use which made that technology economically viable, was actually NOT the printing of bibles, but the printing of “indulgences” — little scraps of paper that the Church sold to forgive you for committing some sin… and the mass scale issuance that the printing press enabled was at the heart of Martin Luther's critique of the church… Why do I bring this up in this context? In order to make the point that in the early years, the way a technology evolves will have a lot to do with the rest of what is happening in the society and culture and that the true implications and ultimate form of that technology will only emerge much later. So in trying to understand “social media” today we should strive to understand the forms that it takes as being transitory toward a future form which is as yet unclear.

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  • http://crawfordinsights.blogspot.com/ scott crawford

    Thanks. It really would be a shame to cook this goose by calling it a swan. Or something like that. Point is, we do ourselves and everyone else a disservice when we overcomplicate what is a genuinely radical but ultimately simple bit of liberation. Play. Explore. Express. Connect. Share. Grow. Together. Sure, some will make money off of it. But that's not really the point, is it?! “We are lifted up on two wings: Simplicity and purity. “

  • http://www.socialmediamarketinguk.com Tom Chapman

    Hi Robin, I'm with Richard Becker on this one, that when I try to define social media simply put, it is conversation powered by online tools, and these tools are powered by you, me everyone. Agree that we are a long way off from casting off measures such as awareness, consideration et all but influence will always play a part.

  • http://twitter.com/socialhelp/statuses/1111879892 @socialhelp (socialhelp)

    Twitter Comment

    Social Media News: Social media is not media, it’s social / we are social [link to post]

    – Posted using Chat Catcher

  • http://ianhblog.blogspot.com/ Ian Harris

    Yes, I do wonder whether the term 'social networking' is really more appropriate.
    Media implies some immediate commercial purpose and promotion of one's products. But this medium is, in my humble view, as much about making contacts, learning and developing relationships that might amount to something in due course.
    Humans need to connect. That's what this is all about!

  • http://www.thunderfactory.com Mitch

    I think this post brings up a lot of great points… However, I believe that a lot of people are forgetting about the term “Social Networking”, networking being the keyword, there needs to be a medium/platform to facilitate interactions and build a “network” of followers/friends (i.e. Twitter).

    “Social” is when you join a book club and you participate in a conversation at a coffee shop. =)

  • http://redcatco.com/ Benjamin Ellis

    We're not restricted by Dunbar's number – he never framed it as a limitation, just an observational norm (which is all that evolutionary psychology can really claim on its own), but I give a hearty cheer to it being about the social, rather than the media!

  • http://redcatco.com/ Benjamin Ellis

    We're not restricted by Dunbar's number – he never framed it as a limitation, just an observational norm (which is all that evolutionary psychology can really claim on its own), but I give a hearty cheer to it being about the social, rather than the media!

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