There Is Nobody In The Lobby… Introduction to Social Media

One day I went to a friend of mines office building because I was supposed to be conducting a session on the emergence of Social Media and the Networks that drive it. What happened that day was so much more profound – because I received a clear visual representation of what the last shift in online communication ushered in – AND it gave me a base level introduction for anyone trying to wrap their minds around Social Media. SO – what I am about to share with you will help you understand what’s going on online as it pertains to what I have now started calling “The Social Life Cycle” of your brand. This is what happened…

When I walked into the building it was a tremendous site. The floors were highly polished and directly to the front of me was a huge, glass Receptionist desk – and oddly enough there was nobody occupying it. As I traversed across the lobby I could hear the faint clamoring of people that was coming from the long corridor that preceded the immaculate lobby area – from behind closed, what I found out later – to be office doors. My meeting with my Colleague was in about 15 minutes, I was fashionably early, so I had a couple of minutes I could use to catch up with myself – so I sat in the sitting area of the huge lobby area. I was alone.

As I sat there I pulled out my business card and looked over it. Being a perfectionist I wanted to make sure that the print was indeed perfect, and without error. As I reviewed my business card I could still hear the faint clamor of people in their offices – as I gleaned at my business card, smiling at it’s design, because I am a Sucker for great design. Right then in an instant – It hit me…

There is NOBODY in the lobby. Welcome to Social Media.

This experience and observation of the absolute obvious – stirred an idea in me that I have always known but could never line up a situation that demonstrated what is now an absolute “realization” in what’s happening on the web today. Let me explain …

For the past decade we have become familiar with the traditional Web Site. We have built amazing online properties that tell people who we are and what we do – with color, “pizzaz” and “flare”. We have managed to build applications that can take in data and spit out amazing reports that we can use to truly “empower” our businesses. We have battled with Goggle, Yahoo, and other Search Engines to insure that our wonder works of “art” can be found by the masses – and that we indeed get an opportunity to tell our stories. And we spend countless hours insuring that what we have created is INDEED – “perfect”.

For the last 2-3 years the people that we want to see our Web Sites have started to “figure things out” and they are building Blogs, and Facebook pages faster than we can say… “Pixel”…. And they are getting involved in the domain that we have held dear to us as – THE WEB. They are talking among themselves making decisions via services like “Twitter” and “Rejaw” and they are doing it WITH or WITHOUT our amazing web sites. They are communicating and building conversations around the things that are important to them. They are no longer in the Lobby, They are where they want to be – when they want to be there, talking about WHAT they want to talk about.

SO – How does all of this come together?

In today’s web environment it’s no longer about your “pretty” web site. It’s no longer about JUST how “shnazzy” you can make it – BUT it is about the CONVERSATION. When I finally stood up from the lovely couch in the lobby, leaving my awesome business card on the table that was before me – and started walking down the hall and getting closer to the offices that lined the corridors of this immaculate building – is when I started getting a crystal clear view of what the web has become. An orchestration of web services all tied together, powered by the individuals who have something authentic to say, and are not afraid to say it. Each door on this corridor represented a service. MySpace was room 101 and Facebook was room 102, Twitter was full of clamor, it was room room 105, and with THIS revelation I understood even the more, that IF we do not get off the couch – and start walking into these rooms and saying something, we will be left in the lobby.

This is only the half. This experience also gave me a look at Social Media Optimization – and how this new paradigm in online communications basically makes SEO or Search Engine Optimization obsolete. But I will write about that another day…

Are web sites going away, like our traditional Business Cards are quickly fleeting? No. We will all still have pretty web sites, however; the stock that we put in them will lessen over time – and we will start to find that customization of our list of services will be the new standard. Do not be surprised if your Company “Higher Up’s” start a Facebook page complete with your companies logo’s and brand communications… Do not be surprised if a new department springs up, and this new generation of Worker, Team Player, carries a title like: Twitter Technician or Mashable Architect. Do not be bewildered if you are a Web Designer within your organization and your work-flow turns into a Mind Map of services that you have to maintain – because, THIS is the future of the conversation…