Tuesday, January 13, 2009

When NOT to use social network sites

At times, when I read too much web2.0 stuff, I get concerned about the positive cases and the hype. Is it really so revolutionary? Is being a good professional and reading a good book not more important than being able to produce a lot of crap online? In one of those moods I found the Techsoup article: Should your organisation use social network sites?

I liked the down-to-earth tone and the audacity to say that an organisation might decide not to use social network sites. Some of the situations your organisation might find itself in:
  1. You're still trying to get a handle on basic software infrastructure
  2. Your target audiences aren't using social network tools
  3. You don't have time to experiment with something that might not work
  4. You're not willing to deal with technologies that don't work as well as they could
  5. You're not ready to invest in gaining a real understanding of the medium
  6. You want clear editorial control over your brand and message

I think I would put number 5 as number 1. If you want to explore whether or not to invest your time, try understanding social networks and their cultures.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I think having some of your staff test out social networks by setting up personal accounts can be an effective way of getting to know social networking culture. And not an intern, but some fairly high-up person.