[Brian Reich. Stock photo]
Brian Reich, director of new media for Cone, Inc., a Boston-based PR firm, has rolled his own answers to the SAP Global Survey. His first book, Media Rules! will be published by Wiley in November. Brian is the second person this week to ask if I was still looking for survey responses. The answer is overwhelmingly yes. Please use the questions you see below, or any others that will contribute to the conversation. Feel free to post on your own blog, make a video or surprise us with a different contribution. The survey will continue through September.
Brian explains how social media has changed his life, giving him a new profession and saving him from a life in political back rooms. These are great answers, Brian. Thanks for playing.
1. From where you sit in the world, how has social media changed your life? How about the lives of your other family members?
Everything about my life has changed as a result of social media - and continues to change. First and most obviously, while I spent much of my life working as a political operative on campaigns - doing everything from licking envelopes to knocking on doors to making commercials and managing candidates -- I now make my profession as a new media strategist, working with organizations of all shapes/sizes to identify ways to better communicate in our ever-changing society.
In short, I have a career because of social media. Of course, on every other level, social media has changes my world as well. I connect with friends, get my news and entertainment, participate in political campaigns and causes now largely, if not exclusively through social media driven technologies. I used to watch a lot of television, was a couch potato supreme -- and now I am free to engage wherever, whenever, and however I like.
2. From where you sit in the world, how do you think your personal and business lives will change over the next five years? How about for the rest of your family?
My wife and I are due to have our first child this November, and with family and friends scattered all around the world, I see social media as a critical component to my child's life. Just as I connect through social media to the outside world, so will I expect my child to. And as he/she grows up, the sophistication of the technologies will continue to increase, the quality of the content will continue to improve... and what he/she grows up to be will be so much more intertwined with social media than anything my generation (or even my younger siblings' generation) has ever seen. Education will be different. Economics will be different. Politics will be different. Culture will be different. I will get to experience some of it, but it will literally define my child's life - what a thrill!
3. What do you feel are the ascending social media tools and which are descending?
I think audio and video are on the rise and text is on the decline. Audio and video are simply more interesting. There isn't one particular tool, one gadget, one venue, or one service that encompasses all that is possible in social media, so I don't have just one to name. What I do know is that right now we just watch and listen, with a little creation on the side, but over time we will truly interact. That video you watch online will become an immersive experience. You will transfer seamlessly from one device to the next, from one activity to the next. You might read the paper (in print! gasp!) in the morning, and then instead of seeing just an update of the article online, you will get to interact with the author, then listen to the subjects talk, then buy the products they are using every day. You can do that now, but the process is clunky. Social media will evolve and we will see a smoother interaction with everything.
4. The folks at SAP are particularly interested in social media's impact on the global enterprise as well as small to medium-sized corporations. Do you have any knowledge or advice for them?
Media Rules! (which is also the title of my book). It's not about the tools, its not about the venues. If SAP - and the companies, nonprofits, educational institutions, entertainers, and individuals (and everyone I left out) can really produce great information, experiences and stuff, it won't matter how they deliver it. People want the information, experiences and stuff. They want it wherever, whenever, however they want. So give it to them.
5. Do you have any interesting case studies of unique uses of social media?
Lots! Here is just one, an early, experimental kind of thing. I have been working with the Alliance for Climate Protection to use a variety of different social media tools to help move people along in their commitment to addressing the climate crisis. The challenge is to get people who are aware of the climate crisis, but not actively involved in its effort, to take real action and make meaningful changes to their lives. How to get someone to change their life is a huge task that will take time. But our first attempt, which was centered around an online collage, leveraged things like tags to help people explore and learn instead of follow a single path. It was simple, there is much more to improve on and learn, but it's a start.
6. What social media tools do you use? Which are your favorites? Why?
I use a lot, it's part of the fun. I use Facebook and MySpace and a dozen niche social networks. I use Twitter and have experimented with Pownce and Jaiku. I blog. I podcast. I watch and contribute online video. I create and play online games (mostly serious games) and text message, use the mobile web, etc.
There are dozens of things I have done only once and my favorites are the ones (like Twitter and Facebook) that I continue to use actively/daily and experiment with, seeing how they develop and what I can learn about people by using them.
7. Do you see language as a barrier for social media? Will English become the global language of the Internet? Should it?
Yes. Tools and content will have to be developed so that the language that the content/media is not a barrier to anyone, anywhere enjoying it. I don't think English will necessarily be the global language of the internet - in fact, I doubt there will be a global language. I think, if anything, there will be a set of global languages (English, Spanish, Chinese, etc.) that everything has to be created in to touch a wide audience, to be considered to have an impact. That raises the complexity and the cost of doing social media, but it also expands the reach.
8. Are you reading more blogs or less these days? Are you watching more online video or less these days?
I read about 150 blogs a day. That is up -- but not because there are more blogs, but rather because my interests are expanding. As I get older, I involve myself in more projects, and want to learn from more sources. They have been there for a long time (I rarely am new, or even early, to discover a blog)... they are just new to me. ANd yes, much more video these days. I probably take 15-20 mins out of my day to just watch video.
9. What is rarely asked about social media, but is critically important to consider?
We are in the early stages of a dramatic transition from a 'read-only' culture to a new, more dynamic 'read-write' culture. The audience wants to have choice in what they do. They want to have an impact. And they want feedback when they give, transparency when they invest, and accountability on everything. Social media encompasses so many of the newest online techniques where people no longer just interact with content by “reading” and “clicking,” but digest messages and then contribute their own ideas.
What is the magic ingredient? Substance. Organizations have both a need and an opportunity to talk about serious issues – to be authentic, transparent, and sustainable in their operations and communications. We aren’t talking about going green or baring your soul – just meeting your audience’s expectations for how to have a conversation and to address their needs.
Organizations that deal with serious issues face this challenge every day. And we can learn a lot from them. They know how to create innovative experiences that the audience can access and influence while still including a take away message that is meaningful and actionable. They know how to build loyalty and drive participation. And everything they do changes the world. This panel will discuss what drives success in the serious issues space and the lessons all organizations – and the agencies who work with them – can take from that. We will explore what makes serious content popular on social media sites, what kind of activities organizations should be creating, and how can you make sure people see what you are doing once you’ve made it - in the context of the issues that are important to them and to the society as a whole.
