Welcome to the conversation. Meet your new best friend, and hopefully not your worst enemy: Social media.

Social media is everywhere: Mobile phones, digital media players, PDAs and PCs and in every form of media--text, images, audio and video. Here and abroad, blogs , message boards, podcasts and wikis are bridging audiences, helping people share opinions, insights and experiences.

You know all the big-name social media sites: Myspace, Wretch.cc, Yahoo/Kimo Taiwan, Facebook, Wikipedia and YouTube. Maybe you think social media doesn't impact you or your business, and it's all just a bunch of kids watching funny videos and posting photos of their vacations, right?


Wrong! Social media is the new "word of mouth" which is and will always be how people get advice and information on virtually everything.And everyone is in on the game. Consumers, government officials, CEOs: They are all blogging, they are all networking, they are all connecting in the global conversation.

In Taiwan, we are having more clients and potential clients ask everyday:
1. Who is using social media (is it just teenage girls taking pictures of restaurant food)?
2. Should I/how can I use social media to advance my marketing and communications goals?

We've been running some very successful social media campaigns for a major tourism client in Taiwan. This has been mainly focused on blogger engagement and has reaped tremendous benefits. Traditional media is listening with ears wide open. "Citizen journalists" can report news, facts or even just opinions that not only get carried on YouTube, but often continue the conversation into major local and international broadcast and print media. In the new 24/7 media cycle, we have all seen how quickly facts and rumors gain legitimacy or outsized import and zip around the world.

Often it all starts with just one social media communicator--a blogger, a messageboard poster--and the result for you and your business may depend on whether that individual is your "best friend or worst enemy".

Ignore your potential new social media friend and it can turn into your enemy. Companies that have dismissed the connected world have paid the price (Dell Computers). Those that get plugged into the virtual world have reaped the benefits (JetBlue Airlines, Coca-Cola, etc.).

Social media is supplementing one-way traditional media (newspapers, etc.) and providing the platform for dialogs about issues, the good and the bad, what's hot and not about brands, services, company, executives. If you get with the program, it may not be too late to join the conversation and speak out for your company and connect with key audiences around the world.

Remember, if you are not out in the social media space representing your interests, someone else will speak for you... and they may not be your friend!

More to come.
-jag

 

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