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Fred Flintstone is probably better qualified to comment on rocket science than I am to do the same on social media. However, social media “fossils” like me might have their place and provide some value.
Wikipedia states, “Social media are media for social interaction, using highly accessible and scalable communication techniques. Social media is the use of Web-based and mobile technologies to turn communication into interactive dialogue.” A communication and relationship revolution is taking place that is driven by both technology and propensity. Without the technology, nothing new would happen. Without the propensity (the desire and the inclination to act like social beings), the technology would merely sit on our shelves and wither.
What’s Happening. Social media allows individuals and groups to connect, interact and change behavior at the speed of light. Twitter, YouTube and Facebook have been credited, at a minimum, with accelerating the revolution in Egypt that saw the downfall of Hosni Mubarak.
The film “The Social Network,” directed by David Finch and starring Jesse Eisenberg, chronicled the founding of Facebook. It won three Oscars and lost five. I saw the movie, and I’m still trying to figure out what the fuss is all about.
The first social media revolution. In the book “1,000 Years, 1,000 People: Ranking the Men and Women Who Shaped the Millennium,” the authors rank the most influential men and women of the last millennium. At the top of the list is Johannes Gutenberg, 15th century inventor of the movable-type printing press.
Why did the authors place him at the top of their list? I’d say that it was because he started the first social media revolution. Europe and the world were changed for the better and forever.
For the first time, books were mass-produced and put into the hands of the masses. Literacy was no longer the sole realm of the aristocracy and the intelligentsia.
While not operating at the speed of light as today’s social media revolution, the result of Gutenberg’s invention connected men and women in a way never previously seen. He paved the way and laid a foundation upon which the Reformation and Renaissance were built.
Propensity for change. Jim Collins in his classic “Good to Great” tells us that technology is a productivity accelerator. It can only add to what is already there. It is not an end in itself.
If we do not have the propensity for change, technology does us no good. Tom Peters in his book “Thriving on Chaos” tells us that we need to embrace chaos – see it as the norm. We also need to realize that chaos breeds opportunity. To survive and thrive in the current economy, you have to do both.
First, you must be willing to face head-on the current economic situation. Second, you need to prepare your team to look for new opportunities in new market conditions. You and your team need to be willing to reinvent your company and provide new and/or improved products and services.
Change to What End? All of this tumult needs to be tied to morals, ethics and values. That is the primary concern for what is happening with the Middle East revolutions. Revolution to and for what end(s)? Will this social media revolution lead to democracy or another (perhaps worse) totalitarian regime?
Conclusion. Social media today provides unparalleled opportunities for the green industry company that is willing to embrace them. However, you have to be prepared to do so. You have to do your homework, break out of your mold and explore new technologies. Talk to someone – your teenage son or daughter, nephew, niece, etc. – who can show you how to use Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. And remember to put it all in perspective. Without the proper morals, ethics and values to drive this revolution, the results will lead to destructive ends.
As for Fred Flintstone: he, Wilma, Barney and Betty adapted and had a hugely successful TV show in the early 1960s. Not bad for folks who lived with dinosaurs. Just goes to show you that there’s hope for all of us. L&L
Jim Huston runs J.R. Huston Consulting, a green industry consulting firm. See www.jrhuston.biz; mail jhuston@giemedia.com.
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