When you are recovering from an operation on your neck, you really only have two options for passing the time: escapist entertainment on the iPad and staring out the window.
During the past few weeks, I’ve spent countless hours doing both – each of which has proven to be, in their own way, rather enlightening.
- Jean Grey/Phoenix…the ultimate X-men evolution plot line (Source: X-Men: The Characters and Their Universe by Michael Mallory)
The former consisted of me rather obsessively catching up on the X-men. In addition to learning about all sorts of cool, lesser known mutants (Hello, Domino!), it got me thinking about the concept of evolution – how it happens, why it happens, how people react to it, and how it can and cannot be controlled.
And all that evolution thinking reminded me of social media…and the fact that if I write one more blog post that contains a dippy segue line in it like, “and that reminded me of social media,” I’m going to jam a fork in my eye.
The evolution of the revolution.
You know something’s got to change when you come home from the hospital after a big operation and one of your first thoughts is, “W00t!! I’m not going to have to blog for a few weeks!”
While some of that can be chalked up to me not being a very enthusiastic blogger, my larger realization was that I am just really, really tired of talking about social media all of the time.
I think it’s time for the KaneCo Conversation to evolve.
Coincidentally, the whole conversation on social media is evolving right now, too. And, the big guns in this industry have been saying for some time now that there is a huge shift occurring in how we approach and communicate about this stuff.
Social media isn’t dying or dead. But it also isn’t this revolutionary new thing anymore that just exists unto itself.
People have realized that (from a business perspective, at least) social media doesn’t work all that effectively in a vacuum. It needs to be integrated into those big business categories that have been around for ages – communications, PR, marketing, sales or customer service.
Firms like ours help companies with that process because we understand how these new tools work, and, have also been playing for decades with the old toolboxes to which they are being added.
We pride ourselves on being able to see this big picture, but I fear we might have grown too comfortable describing it from one small vantage point.
One step at a time…
As I was reminded from my X-men homework, evolution is a slow process.
If you wake up one morning and suddenly find that you can shoot lasers out of your fingertips, you don’t just throw on some pants and go rushing out the door to battle crime.
You need to take some time to decide how you’re going to live your life now (note to self: do not point at people anymore), share this information with those around you, and refine your skills so you can put them to good use (or bad use, if you decide that you’re more the super villain type).
That’s also true when it comes to the evolution of social media and how Kane Consulting will be discussing it via this blog.
Our evolution needs to be a slow one. Companies hire us to do social media. Period. That is the outer skin of the communications onion they want to peel back first. They’re not looking for lasers yet.
So, in our monthly e-news (you can subscribe at the bottom of our homepage) we will continue to share the hottest news on the digital space, and how social media fits into it. It’s likely that you’ll continue to see posts on social media on this blog, as well. But, perhaps some will focus more on the big picture and less on tools.
I’m not back to 100% yet, post-surgery, so I still have ample time to look out the window and think more about where we’re headed. In the meantime though, I’d love to know your ideas…
- Are you tired of talking about social media all the time or that just us?
- If so, what kind of things do you want us to talk about instead?
- What types of posts do you like to read? More education? More observation? More stories? More thought-leadery stuff?
- Does anyone actually read this thing or should we just go take a nap? (Cause, I gotta tell you, a nap sounds really nice right now.)
Thanks, in advance, for your help. We look forward to having you join us for the evolution and seeing where the conversation takes us.
I’m reading Jen! As the cacophony of blogs grow, it’s going to become increasingly more important for us all to differentiate ourselves.
In the past, what I’ve enjoyed most about your blog is the blend of social media insights and snark.
Case studies using advanced tactics/strategies coupled with matter-of-fact “If you’re not thinking about things on this level, then you’re not doing it right” type posts are what I dig the most from Kane Consulting.
Yeah! Feedback! Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Part of why I think I hate blogging so much is that I always want to write about things that haven’t been written about before or write about them in a different way (this would be soooo much easier if I could barf out, “Ten Tips for Twitter Success” posts all the time). But, I agree with you, there is so much noise out there, just repeating what everyone else is saying seems like creating content just for the sake of creating content.
Good ideas to think about. Thanks again for taking the time to share them.
I agree; sometimes I’m sick of talking about and reading about social media. Then again, I think it’s because as communicators, we’re knee-deep in it all day (whether or not we want to be). Just when I think something I have to say is “common sense,” I find clients or potential clients asking questions about those exact things. So I think as marketers, we’ve evolved, but it takes time for others to “get it.”
I agree with Josh. I like your posts because they’re informative, make me think and have just the right level of snark.
I choose to read blogs that have good examples, case studies and tactical information of things I can implement into my own business and for my clients. Now, I may not be the primary target audience you’re looking to reach, but I’m here and I still read what you’re sayin’. 🙂
I totally agree, Melissa. It seems like we’ve been talking about these things for a long time, but, like I said, the reality is that most companies who call us are just now starting to tackle the idea. That’s one of the main reasons we pulled back on using the phrase “communication’s firm.” Companies would call and ask, “but you do social media, right?” so often that finally we were like, “yep. we’re a social media firm.”
Thanks for the feedback on the post. I think our primary audience for the blog is the group of people who regularly read it. And, in reality, I think that’s not necessarily potential clients. And I’m cool with that. (In a way, it’s kind of liberating.) But that has always left us with the question of what type of editorial focus we should take. Hoping comments like yours will help shed some light on the process. Many thanks for your feedback.
There is a flood of blogs on social media, and until this week, I could not bear to add a lot to the pile. I did just risk being banned from the interwebs by suggesting on Shareology that we can live without Facebook: http://bit.ly/sCMxD
Please keep your posts coming. Social media is just that latest set of marketing tools, albeit my favorite set. Without a solid strategy plan, with a marketing componet, and yes, a subset of social media strategy, no organization goes forth into the future. (Well, Ok, they go forth, but it’s hard to watch or live through….)
Your comments are so wise and well-written and ever so delightfully snarky: keep it coming!
She who Never pays for Social Media Training….
Unless the session is run by Jen Kane.
I would never ban you from the Interwebs for such a suggestion. I could totally live without Facebook 🙂
I love your line about “it’s just a set, but it’s my favorite set.” I think that’s true for me too. Thanks for the feedback and for always being so supportive. You’re a busy woman out there on the Interwebs. I appreciate you taking the time to stop by and give us “your quarter” 🙂
Totally agree, and yes, I read your stuff. Don’t stop.
But I am compelled to say I feel the same way about my blog. There are too many people spewing out too much tripe these days. I don’t want to add to the problem, so have to really force myself to do my own spewing.
Thanks for sharing your perspective. Glad to hear that I’m not alone in the concern.
You’re totally right. There is a lot of spewage out there. It’s hard to figure out what to throw out there and how to make it stick.
Thank for reading the blog and for taking the time to comment. I appreciate it.