Trumblog

Monday night during our Passover Seder meal, discussion turned to social networks and what several of us at the table were doing online. There was some excitement (from a friend who just started twittering), some guilt (from a friend who thought it would help her business, but felt it was too much work), some denial (from a friend who had no interest and couldn’t understand why someone would waste their time) and I did some supporting, explaining, and defending. Last night at the second Passover Seder I attended, the story of the 4 children leapt out at me as a metaphor also for how different people see the use online social networks and social media and how we need to customize our approach of discussing them to each, keeping in mind of course that learning about social networks is not nearly as important as learning about the exodus from Egypt.

Here goes:

The wise child asks, “How do I best use online social networks for my business? Which tools should I use to make this simple for me to listen to the community and how do I measure the engagement?” This child is ready to be a part of the online social networks both listening and adding to the conversation. With this child you should discuss full social media engagement for they are ready to take this on for their business.

The wicked child asks, “What good is online social networks to you?” and not “to herself”. This child does not understand the basic principle of social networks and sees themselves as outside of the community rather than part of it. To this child you must explain the benefits of being engaged with social media “for her” so that through these personal examples they may understand the benefits.

The simple child asks, “What is social media?” This child learns best from direct experience, not from books.  Set them up with a Twitter account, launch their Facebook fan page and they will learn from doing rather than reading or being told.  They will make mistakes, could overshare and probably offend someone, but through this active, hands-on approach they will truly understand online social networks and integrate it into their business.

And the child who does not know to ask we must move him from apathy to awareness and therefore avoid irrelevance.

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