I have been reading this fascinating book on social media entitled The Social Media Mind: Ho social media is changing business, politics, and science and helps create a new world order.
It was written in 2012 when there was still hope the Arab Spring would bring positive change. It looked five years into the future, which is almost today and how social media would be a part of our lives.
Whether you agree with the outcome of the 2016 US presidential election or not, we can agree that social media has changed politics. It has allowed unprecedented collaboration and gives a voice to anyone who wants to make their opinions known. It makes two-way communication possible with formerly unreachable people.
The book helped me conclude the social media mind is one that has broken free from the traditional view of media. In order to use Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or any of the social media effectively, businesses cannot look at social media as a one-way megaphone. Nobody wants to hear a rehashed version of your marketing campaign. And I would argue people don’t go to social media to discover your products are thirty percent off. They want a conversation.
The social media mind is one that listens as much as speaks. It responds to negative feedback, rather than react. After all, everybody wants to be heard. If a company responds positively and addresses a customer’s issue, it goes a long way to making a social media conversation the best kind of modern marketing.
