Social Media: Reducing Conversational Fluff.

Social media has made it possible for the last decade or so, to inform my friends, en masse, about big events in my life. I have said, dozens of times, “did you see my blog post on (insert subject)” allowing me to jump in to the actual conversation I want to have, rather than spending precious time with people I care about giving out background information.

The same principle is in effect when you find out about a friend’s wedding, or birthday party, or break-up, or career change through a blog, twitter, facebook, etc. This is a sub-unit of conversation that you no longer need to waste time exchanging in person. More than that, it’s the extension of a relationship to a wider world than direct, real time conversation.

When I hear about using data from social networks to target, I feel people are missing the point. I’d rather the (truly staggering amount of) data available online related to my interests, my personal life, etc, be used to cut the wasted time out of transactions and conversations. The same way I would expect any potential co-worker to have researched the firm I work at, the same way I research every client and client corporation before meeting them, I expect people who specifically want to interact with me, to (at some point in the near future, at least) take advantage of the mass of data I leave in my wake.

Social media, in my experience, is most powerful when it’s being used to build or intensify real-world connections. When I say real-world, I don’t mean ‘in person’, but instead ‘not confined to a single platform’. You can walk into your first face-to-face meeting with someone, and know enough to conduct a genuine, meaningful conversation. The information is out there, and with the right mixture of looking for it, and asking if you can see it, you can be prepared.

Don’t worry about scalability or lead generation. Worry about reducing conversational fluff.