Given the state of the economy I’m hearing more clients ask about how to take advantage of the Social Web. Translation: [Marketing dollars are drying up and they need to do something on the cheap. This Social Web thing sounds low-cost and easy to do.] The increased media coverage of Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIN are certainly partially to blame for creating the impression that “everyone” is engaged in the Social Web. Personally, I think this is more hype then reality. There are a number of individuals who are developing networks, contributing to blogs and actually using Twitter to it’s fullest. There are however very few companies who’ve managed to pull this off successfully. I believe there are several reasons why.

Lack of Authenticity
Social media, the Social Web or Web 2.0, whatever you want to call it, only works when you are authentic! Let me repeat, it ONLY works when you are authentic. Your efforts will fail the minute you or your company tries to manufacture buzz or censor the message. Frequent users of social media can smell a fake.

I realize this is a serious shift in thinking for most businesses. In America especially, political correctness has been so ingrained in our culture that we often over-sensor our communication and shred any meaningful substance from the message. Anyone can write a glowing press release full of pat-yourself-on-the-back statements and fluff but it takes real balls to write about your failures and your missteps. Be real with your customers and followers. Give them something they can sink their teeth into, don’t dish them up whipped cream when they want steak!

Lack of Identity and Vision
Who are you? Think about this. With an exception to Howard Hughes I’m at a lost for an example of a hermit who’s made a name for themselves. Likewise a corporate identity is grown overtime through interactions and positions on various issues. Companies need to wake up and develop real corporate visions and position statements, then hire employees who buy into and champion that vision.

This is something we are currently struggling with at Imulus. We admire companies like Patagonia, Apple, 37Signals and IDEO. These companies have clear positions and identities because their founders have laid out the basic tenants of the company’s values. In a sense, these companies are creating a movement and asking their employees to be activist. This is why so often you’ll see the term “cultist” tied to Apple fanatics.

Lack of Interaction
A conversation is quickly killed when one of the parties doesn’t shut the hell up. For companies to really benefit from the Social Web they need to interact with followers and customers. Ask questions, read what others are saying and participate. This isn’t a one-way street.

As an example, I wrote a blog post about Quantcast a few months back. Within 2 days of the post, Adam, the CMO of Quantcast left me a comment. That, is a perfect example of how to use the Social Web.

We’ve been receiving traffic here and there from Spoke.com and I’m really not sure why. The site is a piss-poor rip off of LinkedIN plus its’ loaded with inaccurate information.

For our company, Spoke is listing the names of two of our clients as Imulus employees. I see a problem here because Spoke is giving false data; and therefore misrepresenting a company profile. To me, Spoke feels like an spam outfit, setup to capture the names and emails of various corporate accounts. I’ll explain why:

1. In an effort to correct the data I created an account; now they have my contact information.
2. Upon confirming my account; I was redirected to the Spoke Web site, asked to complete a basic profile, but rather then COMPLETE / SIGN-UP or SUBMIT, my option was to “Install Windows Toolbar.” OK, now that is shady.
3. When I attempt to modify the company data, I’m greeted with a pop-up form stripped of all browser controls. The form fails to validate my completed fields, then it tells me to click “back” on my browser…. hello, you removed my browser controls!

Please tell me I’m wrong, but so far I feel like I’ve given my information to a spammer.

Is it me or has social networking been played out? It seems that every magazine or newspaper that I read makes mention of some local social networking start-up company looking to make millions online just like MySpace and Facebook. There are social networks designed around music, soccer and even shoes!

I personally can’t keep up; even though I feel like I need to be on-top of all things ‘online’ related. I’ve never been a fan of MySpace because the user-interface is just butt-ugly but Facebook has attracted me, and likewise LinkedIN. Otherwise, what can I do on these specialized social networking like ShoeTube which can’t be paired down to function on Facebook / YouTube?

Granted I’m not a student any longer, and now as a papa I find myself with even less time to engage with social networking sites; therefore my view is certainly slanted to us ‘old’ folks. Isn’t there a side effect to trying to socialize on several sites as opposed to just one or two sites? Doesn’t the plethora of social networking sites reduce the depth of content to just superficial ‘pokes’ rather then real meaningful socializing?

Help this old guy see the light, show me what I’m missing out on.

Usually I don’t post two items around the same topic so close together, but I didn’t see this coming either. Today LinkedIN launched a facelift to the popular business networking site. The new design has a cleaner flow and appearance and a much more simplified navigational system.

The homepage (assuming you sign-in) contains all the content of the previous iteration but they also have made advertising a more prominent aspect of the site. In the top right corner there is now a commercial which certainly grabs my attention much more. LinkedIN did a nice job implementing this commercial for the following reasons:

• The audio is off by default. This is something that ESPN, NFL and many other sites should learn from. My primary reason for going to the site is to network, which requires me to read. I’m A.D.D enough and I appreciate that LinkedIN recognizes that the commercial can still work minus the audio. Thank you!
• 2. It doesn’t loop. It runs for X seconds and then stops. A new commercial doesn’t load, it doesn’t repeat and it doesn’t blink and flash at me. Again, thank you!

LinkedIN has also added modules to the homepage, which are akin to most portal sites. The modules let me select and customize content for my homepage which is most relevant to me. Given these latest improvements I’ll be sure to spend more time in LinkedIN.

A few days ago LinkedIN announced the release of http://m.linkedin.com for mobile devices / iPhone support. This isn’t a huge announcement but for those of us who are religious users of LinkedIN it’s a welcomed announcement.

The iPhone version is not as feature rich as the main LinkedIN Web site but it still has the essential tools you need to be effective in networking. Personally, I like the ability to quickly add new contacts and this version allows me to do just that. If I attend a networking event I’m able to quickly add and accept new invitations. If you are an LinkedIN user I suggest you check out the announcement.