The far reaching impact of social media is at best, only partially understood. Almost daily new ways are discovered by which a “bottom up” means of communications flow and control fundamentally alters communication dynamics in commerce, culture and daily life. At WordWrite we were early proponents of social media and their appropriate use in commercial communications.
But we are also very heavy proponents of authentic business communication. Believing that trust between businesses and the markets they serve generally needs strengthened, more authentic forms of business communication seems relevant and well-suited for this important task. But what also may be needed is reconciling if social media helps, hinders or simply neutralizes authentic communication construction. In short, do newly minted social media (an important tool) undermine authentic business communication (a much needed paradigm)?
Consider some of the characteristics of social media whether in the omnipresent Facebook and Twitter forms or in some other way. Do the following qualities help build a more authentic form of business communication?
Invitation to Use a Persona. The social media communicator never has to play himself. Under the guise of persona or even anonymity one can contribute to a social media dialogue. This doesn’t mean this is done with sinister intent (although sometimes it probably is) but it does offer the chance to psychologically disconnect from the true “self” in creating a communicating self. In this sense the social media communicator is not channeling inner views as much as one is role playing—a characteristic great for starring in public theater and more limiting for communication authenticity.
A New Dialect not Universally Understood. The inevitable shorthand of social media messaging through emoticons, phonetics and inside messaging means a certain group of users are missing the point, literally.
Super Brief Shelf Life. Social media messages many times lose relevancy almost as rapidly as they are formed. A reader comment that might yield prescient insight is rapidly doubled, then tripled, then quadrupled stacked under successive comments. It’s great that everyone gets their time with the talking stick but it makes separating the content “wheat from the chaff” either near impossible or pointless.
The Lack of Context. The charms of many social media and its limit to 140 characters ensure a message makes a quick point. It also means message context has a hard time within the medium’s brevity.
It’s Idiosyncratic. Much of current social media practice appears a lot like jazz musicians jamming on open-mike night. The communicator (or musician) is trying to channel something internal, perhaps even primal into a point. Sometimes it works in creating a shared meaning; the root of all communication. Many times it doesn’t. But it is frequently original and offered largely as self-expression exercise. Self-expression should always be admired but in the context of authentic communication building it must be tempered by what facilitates audience understanding.
For sure social media is here to stay and offers robust opportunities for the professional communicator. But being an authentic communicator and one fluent in social media may require periodic reconciliation between form, function and intended meaning.
