Many social media skeptics will come around
I sat in on an Atlanta meeting recently while a presenter explained the merits of LinkedIn to a company.
The audience, mostly young and very smart, asked great questions. Several attendees hung around afterwards and asked even more questions. Someone pointed out that an employee had walked out after eating and avoided the talk. Someone else quickly added, “That’s all right. He’ll never use it [LinkedIn] anyway.”
Another professional showed similar skepticism during a talk I gave. He didn’t leave the room, but he was openly dismissive of social media. And I guess he dismissed me as well when he asked “You actually make money off this?”
Anderson Analytics’ recent research found three groups of people least likely to embrace social media — the time-starved (although Anderson says nearly half of that group will be using social media by year’s end), those concerned about computer security and, finally, Group 3, those who think social media are stupid. The research found 94% of this group will never use social media.
Both skeptics I’ve mentioned undoubtedly fall into Group 3. So there’s a 6% chance their minds can be changed. How do you reach those whose minds are made up?
First, I’ve seen too many people change their mind in the past year. In the Atlanta area, the statistics prove it. Those over 25 and even over 55 are flocking to social media, especially Facebook. We’ve previously written about that phenomenal growth, pushing Atlanta to No. 2 in registered users in the U.S., trailing only New York. My guess is that both of these skeptics have been getting — or will get — pressure from associates and friends to communicate more through social media, whether they want to or not.
Second, the business case studies are coming like a flood. Every day, you read accounts of new success stories in the media. See last Friday’s New York Times piece on Twitter and small business, for starters. Twitter is being used successfully in … Blowing Rock, N.C.? Books and studies are proliferating at a rapid rate, detailing strategies that lead to results.
In short, using social media as part of an overall strategy is a must for most professionals and small businesses. I’ll probably never know what happens with these two skeptics, but I’d wager at least one of them eventually changes his mind.
Now those are odds that I’ll take any day.
Hi Jay,
I was wondering if, among all the people that are naysayers, if there are people that you’ve come across that have been using social media but have now backed away from it? I’ve met a couple of people like that who state they loved their Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. tool but grew so tired of the constant noise that they gave it up. Is there a way to alleviate their disdain?
Good question, Hillary. Yes, I’ve run across people like that. Using social media takes time and energy, and for some people it becomes draining. And there is definitely noise. However, there are ways to control the noisemakers. On LinkedIn, I’ve reported troublesome people trying to connect or constantly spamming a Group with pitches. On Facebook, you can turn your Friends list into segmented groups, so you don’t need to always involve everyone in every post. Yes, there are irritants, especially Living Social, but they can be ignored. On Twitter, you have control over who you follow and who follows you.
It’s a little work to control the noise, but it can be done. I’ve done it myself. After a while you don’t notice spending those couple extra minutes filtering the noise because you’re more focused on the good stuff you find.