It’s not about blogging (or social media). It’s about communicating…
At the recent Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco Sun Chief Executive Jonathan Schwartz, who is well regarded as a pioneer in corporate blogging, said ”At some point the word ‘blogging’ will be anachronistic. I communicate.” This is reminiscent of recent words by Steve Rubel, who too recently said that ‘social media’ should just be called ‘media’.
While I still believe that ‘blogging’ and ’social media’ are names that will remain with us if for nothing else but to distinguish the various communications channels available, the reality is that whatever we name these sets of tools, channels or communication principles, it’s about communication focused on people and aims to deliver success-based outcomes, which are geared towards meaningful participation and experiences.
Successfully executed social media, as we have come to know it, is generally a result of using the medium as a communication tool between companies and current and potential customers, regardless of whether it’s from the executive board or from the marketing department. It’s not about dressing it up or positioning it differently. It’s about being genuine, focused and responsible - the byproduct of some of the world’s largest brands.
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Comments
Hi Neil
Thanks for your comment. For the purposes of this post I was referring to social media used for communication from a marketing or PR perspective. That said, I do believe that any social media activity within the corporate arena - even an automated tool - when backed up by a solid and dynamic strategy should be used for communications purposes too. As an example, an ORM tool, while not directly communicating with an audience, can and should be used for future communications.
It makes for an interesting debate 
Your experience may be different to mine but it saddens me how underused social media are in traditional marketing environments.
But your point is 100% valid in terms of ORM tools
*adds blog to google reader*
Hi Gino
I totally agree that as web applications improve and blogging and social media become more about function than about tools, that any form of online contribution will be first a communication, less significantly a blog post or a tweet. That’s what the internet’s all about.
But does your post imply that social networking cannot happen without communication between peers (in the context of a particular application)? Consider any web application which aggregates user-generated content or information without attributing any part of the whole to a particular person. A good example is http://www.brandtags.net/, which is clearly social in the sense that you are aware of peers’ contributions, but there is no direct communication between yourself and those users.