We’ve probably all said this once or twice in our careers. And really, why wouldn’t we? Interns can be a great resource and many companies eagerly await summer to tackle outlier projects. But you might want to think twice before you pile up that new summer intern’s plate with Facebook, Twitter, and full social media responsibility.

The bigger question is “who” should manage your social media presence. It’s not always an easy answer, especially when there are time and resource constraints. As a result, social media execution can sometimes fall too quickly, and too often, to interns – just check out craigslist to see what I mean.

Am I saying not to use interns in conjunction with your social media needs – no.
Can interns help to make social media implementation much more manageable – yes.
Can interns play a valuable role in execution of your strategy – of course.

What am I saying? I’m saying that it’s not necessarily in the best interest of your organization to hire an intern to develop, create, AND implement your social media program. As previously discussed, social media is a powerful channel due to many reasons, including its immediacy. Are you ready to hand over complete brand control, presence, and voice to an intern without a game plan?

Setting the stage. Make sure you setup a game plan ahead of time and that you’ve determined who will manage your online identity and accounts. That answer shouldn’t be “the intern”. Your intern or interns will help to support you, but shouldn’t be your primary go to (remember they are only available for a finite amount of time). A good exercise is to ask yourself the following questions:

• Do you know what tasks/projects you need an intern to do?
• Will interns be maintaining your entire online presence?
• Do you have user guidelines or policies re: social media?

Executing strategically. Interns should be utilized for execution, which means a strategy needs to already be in place. Your voice and brand is important, so much so, that it might not be wise to leave it solely to the digression of your interns. Even the best and brightest need assistance, education, and direction on how to effectively align the strategic needs of your organization. Interns come and go, but your product and/or service is here to stay. Promote sustainability and consistency by taking the time to execute wisely.

Ensuring value. Interns fit into a bigger resource management puzzle. Recently, I wrote a post for CurrentMom.com that focused on resource management and the importance of human capital. A piece of that post focused on intern compensation:

Please be sure that these are not one-way relationships: offer something valuable in return. That reward can take the shape of class credit, an hourly rate or a lump sum. A thoughtful internship review can be a wonderful reward and should be given to interns who meet or exceed expectation.

Promoting growth. Remember internships are supposed to be a learning opportunity. Help to foster an environment of learning. We’re all busy and interns help to make us a little less busy, but we need to remain mindful of why they are here in the first place – to learn. Too often we take interns for granted and miss out on igniting potential.

Quick tips: Take time to ensure that they understand your brand as well as your voice. Offer resources and opportunities for your interns to learn, not just about social media, but also about the industry, and your organization. Grow together through weekly check-ins. I personally like one-on-ones in tandem with a group format, if you have multiple interns. Encourage questions. How else are they going to improve? Besides, this is a great habit to encourage early on (in my opinion, not enough people ask questions).

Perhaps no surprise that Southwest serves as a great example. They are not just creating a job, but rather an entire experience that there interns will remember for the rest of their careers. We’d all like our interns to walk away singing our praises in such a way – and why can’t we.

These are tips that ring true, not just for a social media interns, but for any intern. Whether your coordinating a large intern effort through a formalized program or one off interns do so mindfully, strategically, and with both of your end goals in mind – you will ensure a better experience and higher reward for everyone involved.

Social media has enabled a new channel for customer feedback. It’s more than just a one-way feedback opportunity, but rather the start of a two-way dialogue where the change process can be witnessed and the outcome quickly implemented. As a customer, how do we maximize this channel and these new dialogues to foster a valuable outcome?

Well, we could moan and vent about our frustrations via Twitter, Facebook or even Yelp, but does that offer workable substance. How is that productive? I mentioned in an old post that just because you have the means to tweet or voice your opinion online (and have a potential product/service grievance), doesn’t mean you should do so carelessly or without some thought to your desired resolution.

Samantha Ogborn wrote a great post, Social Media Karma: Why Your Voice Reigns that offers insight into how you (as a consumer) can effectively leverage and increase the value of your social media voice.

Collective responsibility: As Matt Cheuvront comments, constructive criticism is powerful. If we’re going to take the time to offer feedback, then we need to do so in a way that’s thoughtful and offers value. That’s the beauty of constructive criticism – it encourages us to offer suggestions in a manner that’s direct, constructive, and not accusatory. Rather than solely criticizing, it outline solutions and offers opportunities for improvement.

Note that while a tantrum might get attention, it doesn’t necessarily result in a positive outcome – no one really wins. Sometimes we need to take a deep breathe and think about the outcome we’d prefer. What do we want or need, why were we upset, and how could the party on the other end make it better? Better yet, how could the party on the other end make it better for everyone – not just for you?

My advice to companies: Continue to listen, but also do so with a curious and keen mind. Don’t assume that everything we, as customers, say is of value. We appreciate that you are starting to open yourself up to the good, the bad, and the ugly, but sometimes a rant is just a rant. Maybe there isn’t always something subliminally valuable within that tweet, post, or comment – anger and venting can’t always be translated or harnessed (even when it’s justified).

Earlier this week I complained about Apple‘s unveiling of the new iPhone 4. Honestly, I was just complaining, really for the sake of complaining. As an Apple consumer, I have accepted that updates and shiner, new versions are par for the course with just about all Apple products. I’m sure my rant was picked up by someone at Apple, but my guess is that Apple will more likely act on actual constructive feedback from someone else, v. my quick fire love/hate of Apple remark.

We keep encourage companies to listen. Now let’s give them something worth listening to.

Image: red ears listened to the gods courtesy of uBookworm, Flickr

There seems to be a number of self-proclaimed social media experts. The result is strategic confusion. Sadly, people and organizations in need are falling victim to misinformation. Sometimes unintentionally, and sometimes not.

Market your skill set honestly. I by no means would consider myself an expert really in anything at this stage in my career – still far too much to learn, experiences to be had and mistakes to be made. I believe I have a responsibility, which is to appropriately, and honestly, communicate my abilities, skills and knowledge. I’d like to believe we all have such a code.

I’m not here to point fingers. In fact, the responsibility is twofold. As entrepreneurs, small business owners, or large organizations it our responsibility to select the best candidate or candidates for the job. Typically our goal is to address knowledge gaps and fill areas of need that are perhaps beyond our own scope of experience.

Arm yourself with information. Just like with any employee hire or consultant contract make sure you take the time to better understand your candidate options. Don’t fall victim to buzzwords. Just because someone may know how to talk in social media speak doesn’t mean they are necessarily an expert.

Know your organization’s needs. Do you really need a social media expert? Do your homework ahead of time. Maybe the need is deeper than that. As an organization have you clearly mapped your goals, objectives and/or strategy? If not, then social media isn’t where you need to start.

There are people who I would consider experts. Individuals who are respected, offer wisdom by way of experiences and have the results to back it all up. More often than not I find that they are incredibly modest. They are busy doing rather than boasting or bragging. Instead the communities around them are helping them to build a credible reputation infused with collective confidence.

Expertise takes time to cultivate. Be willing, open and patient to learn from others.

Image: monster in a bag courtesy of arimoore, Flickr

What about me. Twitter can be a great communications tool. It’s been great for me personally and professionally. Caveat: knowing that everyone’s not using Twitter. Knowing who’s using a tool is equally as important as knowing who’s not. Don’t forget who isn’t here to contribute to the conversation – they may have something amazing to contribute, but are voiceless.

And it’s not just Twitter. There are plenty of platforms and tools where folks are missing. For instance, Facebook, yes, there are millions upon millions of users, but who’s missing. For example, me. I don’t have a Facebook account (…really, I don’t). I might have something valuable to say.

Aligning audience and means of communication. Are there voices being left out of the conversation that could add exponential value to your organization, goal or community? Twitter can be used in the execution of a portfolio of communication means to tap into a range of audiences, but that should only happen once audiences have been identified. Have you taken a moment to determine who your audience is – and where they are?

Who’s making the decision. What happens when you don’t take the time to identify where your audience plays, well, you miss an opportunity. Someone misses the message, the chance to be engaged or an invitation to participate (either physically or virtually). Case and point, my ten year high school reunion, the reunion invitation was only sent via Facebook. As I said earlier, I’m not on Facebook. Meaning, I found out about the reunion only after it took place. The point isn’t that I missed the reunion, it’s that I never got a chance to decide for myself if I wanted to attend or not. The means of communication decided for me.

Take the time, do the work. Don’t let voices go unheard or leave communities ignored just because you missed the mark. Take time to understand your audience and then communicate to them in the space where they play. Why should they come to you? If they are that important, then you should go to them. In time, that may reverse, but you have to reach out and cultivate the relationship first.

Tools are going to change, audiences will change too – and where they intersect is going to change. What shouldn’t change is critical thinking around how best to link the two.

Remember, 80% of Twitter accounts are inactive. That’s whole a lot of people not paying attention to those thoughtful, value-filled, community building tweets you’re spending hours crafting. Make sure your audience is where you’re focusing your attention, before you start trying to get the attention of an audience that may not even be there in the first place.

[Image: The empty playground #1 courtesy of soulholder, Flickr]

The result was the realization that social media was only one component of a much larger picture, a much greater need. The question that surfaced was where does social media fit within the organization’s strategy? Was it appropriate to develop a social media strategy, if other critical strategies hadn’t yet been pursued?

Sequence of Execution. Sequence of execution is an approach to strategy development that leads organizations through a hierarchy of strategy development. The result: a more successful and sustaining implementation. Furthermore, it puts social media into context. Meaning that it ensures that any social media strategy is integrated and derives its purpose from the organizations larger mission and goals.

Sequence of strategy execution:

• Develop your organizational mission
• Develop and align your marketing communications strategy/plan
• Develop primary messaging to go across all channels
• Identify your target audience or audiences
• Develop a social media strategy that supports the mar/comm strategy

Social media strategy is a powerful opportunity for an organization, but only when it’s been implemented in the right order. I am increasingly convinced that social media is not intended to live inside a vacuum, but rather as a piece of a much larger ecosystem. How can an organization implement social media tools, like Twitter and Facebook, if they don’t have a social media, communications, or organizational strategy to drive the success use of such platforms?

The actual deliverable offered to the FSA was a comprehensive presentation that included an in-depth needs assessment, recommended actions, training documentation, and best practices in communication and more specifically social media. Most importantly, the guide started with a step-by-step review of how to best develop an appropriate and effective strategy for the organization given their intended mission, audience, and goals – and later concluded with a look at social media integration.

Recently, Colin and I transformed the outcome of that project and took this same ideology to create something that could benefit an even greater community of nonprofits. The following presentation is the marriage of that work (no pun intended), which Colin offered to Cambridge area nonprofit organizations last week.

[Image: Jump on the social media bandwagon courtesy of matthamm, Flickr]

Choosing to respond. The typical feeling in social media these days is that responding is better than not responding. When a customer mentions your product in a negative way the web grants a unique opportunity. You can engage openly. You can listen and learn from the individual or community. The result is the overwhelming potential for a productive dialogue and outcome to the initial criticism.

Reigning in instantaneous communication. Here’s the caveat. What happens when engaging results in something that isn’t productive? The web enables instantaneous responses, but that doesn’t mean we should respond instantly. This is where I found myself – I needed a reminder of the power of pause.

Opting out of the conversation. Twitter was a flurry of activity last night. I tweeted a few items that were reflective of my nervousness and unrest. I received a response. It wasn’t particularly negative, but it was in direct contrast to my particular political pursuations – and was intended to instigate. I took a moment before responding:

- What did I want to say? Would it be valuable or purely based in feelings?
- What was the intention of the responder in writing such an aggressive statement?
- What would be the potential outcome if I responded to the statement?

In my ears rang my mother, “…if you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” Granted, this wasn’t simply an instance of me not having anything nice to say. I have learned the value of thinking through my responses and self censorship when appropriate (especially in the context of a digital age). This was about someone on the other end wanting to instigate an unproductive conversation. I chose not to participate.

Lessons learned: First, I need to think about which topics I want to pursue digitally. Politics is not one of them. I keep away from it at larger social gatherings and I think it’s time to follow my personal rule of thumb on that for my social networks as well.

Secondly, there are instances when silence is an appropriate solution. If the result is an unproductive conversation and/or the intention of the provoker is an online altercation, then don’t respond. Find other ways to reflect and/or to address the situation, um, like blogging about your experience for instance.

[Twitter bird logo icon illustration courtesy of matthamm, Flickr]

Twitter = is like information snacking

I can nosh on tidbits of information all day and night. It’s a great way for me to maximize my information intake in small doses through even the busiest of moments. The reciprocal is also snack worthy. I can share resources, thoughts and ideas throughout the day. Satisfying my need for continually knowledge consumption.

Blogging = is like sitting down to some good comfort food

Snacking is great, but there’s always a slight gnawing for more. No matter how much I tweet or read there’s always an insatiable craving. A craving and hunger that can only be satisfied by sitting down to an awesome blogging session.

As a blog reader and consumer of information – there comes great satisfaction with reading thoughtful, intelligent and original blog posts. It’s like reading Pride and Prejudice or Jane Eyre. It takes time, thought and focus – but the end is a stimulating satisfaction that stems far greater than the context of 140 characters.

It’s not a matter of one or the other, it’s a healthy balance both. Tease me with your tweets – but also open my eyes and mind to links that lead to well thought out meals that will keep me coming back for more!

Photo courtesy of matas.p via flickr

• What Web 2.0 applications do you use? Use the most?
• What do you see as the benefits (personal, professional) of using Web 2.0?
• What are the challenges. restrictions, downsides to Web 2.0?
• Where do you think Web 2.0 is headed?
• How would you recommend a business make use of Web 2.0?

The exercise of responding was cathartic. It was reminiscent of one of those “What the 4th of July Means to Me” essays that were so popular in fifth grade. Oh you know the ones – with complimentary drawing that used a haphazard mix of crayon colors [usually whatever hadn’t yet been snatched up] to depict stick figure families, hot dogs and fireworks.

The point being that everyone drew the same picture – they all wrote the same thing.

They created what was expected – what they thought they were supposed to draw. To me, it sounds all too familiar. Web 2.0 or social media [whichever is your preferred term] is being depicted in a similar fashion. By now, most folks are working diligently to create what looks like the same picture perfect social media strategy. Facebook fan pages, check, Twitter, check, digital video, check, …

Too much thought is going into what appears to represent a “good” social media strategy. It’s not coming back to the audience. Yes, I’ll be the first to tell you that you should not ignore social media, but it can’t be hastily implemented in a disconnected, tool centric fashion.

Get social. Get messy. Don’t give them what you think they want or expect from you. Listen. Wait. Participate. Then give them what they ask for – in innovative new ways. If there was ever an opportunity to color outside the lines this is it.

Heck, break out the finger paints!

Create your own way. Definitions, frameworks and rules aside. Remain mindful of the fundamentals, but be creative and innovative. Time is precious – for both the creator and the audience. It should be fun. As a creator you want to be challenged to provide value in new, unique ways. As part of the audience, we want our attention grabbed. We don’t want the same templated execution, but rather something that doesn’t fit the model – provide bright excitement and raw honesty.

What Social Media Means to Me – by Vanessa Rhinesmith
Please note: this is raw and unedited [grammatical savvy is out with this one]

What Web 2.0 applications do you use? Use the most?
Right now, Twitter, my blog [WordPress] and I’m a HUGE fan of Delicious [social bookmarking is far from dead for me]

What do you see as the benefits (personal, professional) of using Web 2.0?
This is a loaded question. It depends on the company and/or the person. Either way it can be a great way to connect and collaborate with others – remember it’s about collaboration.

What are the challenges. restrictions, downsides to Web 2.0?
The challenges and restrictions are human centric – not everyone wants to listen or participate in the conversation – nor do folks have the means. Remember that not everyone has a computer or access to the internet. The additional downside, is too much hype around Web 2.0 – people aren’t thinking it through they are too wrapped up in the buzz word…[I'll get off my soapbox now].

Where do you think Web 2.0 is headed?
It will become Web3.0, Web4.0…until it’s replaced with a new word. Seriously though, Web3.0 – it’s going mobile and don’t think that virtual is dead. It’s not, oh, and cloud computing.

How would you recommend a business make use of Web 2.0?
First ask, are they ready to LISTEN to their customers and/or employees. Secondly, are they ready to JOIN the conversation in a transparent and collaborative way? Can’t even bring in the tools if you don’t know the actions.

Box of crayons photo courtesy of turbojoe via flickr

You are working at the edges of a lot of this stuff, and your experiences, reflections, and wisdom is very important to share. The currency of human relationship is really evolving here. Its possible to know a gazillion people online, but how does this impact our truest sense of community and our deeper desires for authentic connections and real relationships. I would love for you to say more about why you chose to do this now in this way, and your observations of what has changed for you since making this shift.

There are several pieces to which I wanted to publicly respond, starting with the statement, “the currency of human relationship is really evolving.” Human relationships are evolving. The greatest question that arises is how do we define the currency of human relationships: is it reflected in the quantity of those relationships or is it found in the quality. Right now it would appear that quantity is the preferred currency with individuals being judged by the number of connections via Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn.

If quantity is becoming the universal measure, or currency, then we may in fact be looking at the de-evolution of human relationships. To me quantity of online relationships alone is shallow and hollow. It lacks the substance critical to a sustaining relationship. It forgoes true community and lacks authenticity. Though this is largely an argument based on perception it does in fact resonate with the way most of us approach our physical relationships, but not always synonymous with our digital ones.

The evolution of community, relationship and communication lies in quality. It’s about the blending of technology and fundamental community/relationship building. The web, and our online connections (ten or ten thousand), aid us in achieving impact of that quality, whether personal, mission or business centric. All of which are therein rooted in an association with a community that can be represented in something as simplistic as an online community/website (such as Etsy) or a brick and mortar institution like the Berkman Center. By the nature of our online habits, many of us are associated with communities even if we don’t recognize or vocally associate with that community.

I chose to define my personal online presence to live what I believe. I was being spread way to thin across the web and all incarnations of my relationships were feeling the strain. Concentration of my efforts and connections to my more intimate relationships can in fact have a far greater impact. I think this is key. Concentration of intention – the ripple will be huge. This is where I love the web, it enables the ripple to be manifested in a wide range of mediums, inclusive of both digital and physical means.

Doyle asked me about my observations, “what has changed for you since making this shift.” Personally, I feel lighter. I’m able to take the time to process and refocus my attention and energy. Professionally, I feel refreshed. I’m able to further develop an understanding of what’s needed in order to achieve the goals of both the organization I strive to support and the community I work to nurture.

Intellectually, I feel calm. I’m able to observe and digest the sociological shift in a way that focuses in on the foundation of such a technological revolution. Too soon do we forget that it’s about mindful, intentional and quality implementation of technology – and that community and authentic relationships require nurturing beyond the paradoxical limitations of the internet.

Pure and simple is something that I not only crave on daily basis, but strive to achieve. Am I always successful? Of course not. I work full-time, attend graduate school part-time, am a devoted wife, daughter, sister, and friend. I’m an advocate for digital literacy, a seeker of infinite information, a lover of art and music (oh, and let’s not forget food and wine). However, the day does not simply allow for mindful, intentional implementation of all of the above. It’s hard enough to squeeze it all into a month.

The internet, the web, social media, technology, new technology, web 2.0, whatever you call it, is the conduit for my true passion: communication, collaboration, access to information and an ability to share stories, experiences and knowledge on a global scale. That’s truly what I love about the internet.

I’m finding it all becoming way to intermixed – my personal, professional and academic lives, my purchasing behavior and my constant knowledge consumption. To some, this is the point and opportunity within the context of the web. I don’t want to be an opportunity. I want to present opportunities to others, be attentive to those around me, the missions I hold dear and the stories I wish to share – perhaps all in the altruistic hope of changing the world.

To do this, I’m setting boundaries – digital ones.

Facebook will be for my personal relationships of fairly direct connection. Twitter, that’s still to be determined. LinkedIn, is the place to continue to connect with me as is my blog. My blog was the space that first spoke to me and this is where I return. The increasing constraint of character restrictions is not me. Anyone who knows me knows this and knows the my thoughts are far too verbose.

The question that lies is my profession and career aspirations involve the web and it’s infinite platforms. Am I less knowledgeable of the web, social media or technology, because I’m no longer juggling 100+ social networks at a time. No, in fact, it’s just the opposite. Expect more from me, so much more, because that’s the point of establishing boundaries. There will be more of me, my true self, to go around. I’m carving out a space to breathe, think about it, when’s the last time to carved out space of your own to reassess, re-energize and to simply be.