Living Social

anePaperbysidneyevematrix

“If you’re not genuinely, honestlyengaged in the social network,you won’t get far withthosewhoare.

DavidArmano,HarvardBusinessReview

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Armano advises companieswho are already engaged in orabouttoembarkonasocialmediainitiativetothinklongandhardaboutwhatitmeanstobefullyengagedinoursociallynetworkedculture.

Social media “isn’t a one shot deal” saysArmano.Itrequirescommitment,sincerity,transparency,andreal‐timeresponse.

“Are you living social?”1InTheHarvardBusinessReview,bloggerDavidArmanoasks

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3 ..To borrow a metaphor from Drew McLellan,

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social media participation is a marathon, not a sprint.2

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Thebestway to launchand maintain a socialmedia presence is torecru i t and reta inemployees who arealready adept at usingsocial computing toolsintheireverydaylives.

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“Do any of the people who make up your company, agencies, partners and so on actually

Do they demonstrate that they work and play in a

DavidArmano,HarvardBusinessReview

live social?

connected fashion? ”

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Thekeyfactorsofparticipatinginsocnetculture:

The kind of credibility, implication, and understanding thatcomes from everyday investment in socialmedia communitybuilding, online content creation, contribution, curation, andgenuinetwo‐waycommunicationwithvariouspublics.

authenticity, reciprocity, and consistency.

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Tofosteracultureofconnected livingand working, we need only look tocompaniessuchas Starbucks, Zappos,andBestBuywhoareout infront—oranyofthehighly influentialcompanies

profiledbyRazorfishintheiryearly index of socially savvyorganizations.

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identity spaces suchasFacebook,YouTube,andTwitter.

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For individuals, the dynamics of living social are no differentfromthe“rules”forbrands.Increasinglywejudgeotherpeopleon their lifestream, digital footprints and e‐presence in socialnetworks—onwhatSethGoldsteincalls

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Tostayup‐to‐date,relevant,andinorderto get ahead in today’s informationandonlinedrivenworld,wemustparticipate or be extinct.

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DanSchawbelpersonalbrandingexpert

9. .Moreover, to opt‐out of social computingmaymean a loss ofcredibility,sinceformanyofthosewhoarelivingsocial,

If Google Can’t Find You, You Don’t Exist.

Oneoftheemergent trends for 2010accordingtoSchawbel iselevatedimportanceplacedbyemployersonindividuals’onlineparticipation:

You will be judged on voice, not just your resume.

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But it’snot just intheworldsofworkandmarketingthat livingsocialmatters.InaculturewhereGooglingnewacquaintancesandromanticinterestsiscommon,itshouldcomeasnosurprisethatthenexttrendinonlinematchmakingis

(life)stream dating.

AlthoughLavaLife,eHarmony,Match.comandothermajoronlinematchmaking services have anonymity as the foundation ofpersonal profiles that form the basis of compatibility quests—todaytheFacebookGenerationseeksconnections(romanticandotherwise)vettedvialifestreams,andpersonalsocialgraphs.

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Allofwhichraises thequestions:howwouldaprospectivemateoremployerrateyoursuitability,sociability,work‐lifebalancebasedonaGoogle search? How would they assess your potential, relevance,influence, and vitality—and if there isn’t enough accurate/currentinformationonline tobuild a full picture ofyou, do you think theywon’tdosoanywaywithwhateverdataisreadyathand?

Today,forbetterorforworse,our selves are in the hands of Google

but “social networking allows us more control over the image wepresent,”observesAndyOram.

Configuringandrefreshingone’spersonalSEOisanongoingeverydayact in an increasingly real‐timeweb—one that effectively identifiesthosewith21stCdigitalliteracyskillshonedby livingsocial.

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1.DavidArmano.HarvardBusinessReview.2009.http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2009/12/do_you_live_social.html2.DrewMcLellan.Drew’sMarketingMinuteBlog.2008.http://www.drewsmarketingminute.com/2008/08/are‐you‐expecti.html3.RazorfishSocialInfluenceMarketingReport.2009.http://fluent.razorfish.com/4.SethGoldstein.TheMediumisNoLongertheMessage...YouAre.TechCrunch.2009.http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/12/12/social‐media‐message/5.DanSchawbel.TenReasonsWhyYouHavetoManageYourPersonalBrand.2009.PersonalBrandingBlog.http://www.personalbrandingblog.com/10‐reasons‐why‐you‐have‐to‐manage‐your‐personal‐brand/6.RosettaThurman.IfGoogleCan’tFindYou,YouDon’tExist.JobsForChangeBlog.2009.http://jobs.change.org/view_article/if_google_cant_find_you_you_dont_exist7.DanSchawbel.PersonalBrandingTrendsfor2010.SmallBusinessTrendsBlog.2009.http://smallbiztrends.com/2009/12/personal‐branding‐trends‐for‐2010.html8.Formoreaboutlifestreamdatingtrends,seemyblog:Cyberpop!http://cyberpopblog.com/?p=28989.AndyOram.BeingOnline:Identity,Anonymity,AndAllThingsInBetween.O’ReillyRadarBlog.2009.http://radar.oreilly.com/2009/12/online‐identity1.html

Works Cited

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about the authorSidneyeveMatrix,PhD.Queen'sNationalScholar,Film&Media,Queen'sUniversity,Canada.Professorofdigitalculture,masscommunication&marketing,popculture,television,&filmcourses.Website:sidneyevematrix.com

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