World Bum

...believed to be able to turn stupid ideas into successes.

I lead the social media “team” (of one) at the national office of the largest private charity in the world. I am bombarded with questions from my coworkers about what social media can do for them.

“I want more people to download the presentation I gave on cultivating major donors!, or “I want you to thank FedEx for their support during the year on Twitter.”, or “Can we get an iPhone app that can raise money, capture people’s email addresses and help guide them to volunteer opportunities?”

I am just as guilty of rolling my eyes as I am of not being a bit better about educating why random and often ridiculous ideas like that — not thought through and divorced from strategy — are not exactly worth my very limited time. I am, after all, a one man band and must remain deliberate about how I spend my moments. But for some reason, everyone, you know, seems to think that social media is this unicorn that can make even your stupidest ideas be ravaging successes.

Yet, I look at my colleagues from other organizations and all they talk about… is how Charity Water used Twitter, or how PETA raised 10K on Facebook. BLAH.

So how can I point a finger at everyone else for asking questions, when “the experts” can’t stop forwarding articles to everyone they can think of that glorify the tactics and the technology? In the meantime, I am stuck with having to respond to every solicitation my boss receives from companies that offer to help us reinvent our brand around our Ning network, or our Facebook page. “Should we be talking to these guys?”, she asks… and I have to say “No!” about 95% of the time and again explain how, generally, we wouldn’t want the tail to wag the dog.

Um, hello, colleague Experts, are we forgetting what business we are actually in? I’d like to see more articles forwarded about how to lead, instead of about who follows us on Twitter. I’d like to read more stories about the impact of our movements, instead of going on about how some viral video on YouTube that had gotten 6 million hits.

We roughly belong to one of three groups: marketers, communicators or leaders. The core of our fields is the same — the relationships we build with individuals. But I’m a worried that going back to that first priority tends to get buried in the glistering sands of new tactics. The gazillions  of new social networks that crop up and die out in a matter of days don’t all have to be conquered and explored. Social media has already changed the landscape of all businesses — people now can connect, communicate and draw strength from each other. Tactics and launching presences in new networks is just not the way to go about it. Perhaps we should all try to chill out and focus on our business strategies instead. The rest will fall into place. We are the experts on how to use the social space in support of business priorities, right? (at least that’s what I see on everyone’s résumé these days)