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The five tribes of social media
August 25th, 2008 • Uncategorized
Tags: sean moffitt, social media marketing, social media tribes
Just came across a terrific post from my friend Sean Moffitt at his Buzz Canuck blog. Sean argues that there are five basic character types swimming around the social media fish bowl – each speaking a different language and each having a fundamentally different understanding of what is social media.
He writes:
The fact that these different 5 tribes exists is a good thing – it points to the multi-faceted nature of social media’s benefits. The inability for these social media tribes, particularly the more seasoned ones, to accept that they operate inescapably in the same social media bouillabaisse is a continuing issue that threatens the future financial health of the social media industry. It’s just too bad we don’t have some kind of United Nations of social media where people of different tribes could try to understand the other’s positions with the help of translators…because right now, we’re still talking different languages.
He’s right, of course. I’m constantly amazed at how every social media “expert” defines social media in a different way. Even buzz words like “conversation” can mean very different things to different people.
How do public relations types come across in Sean’s analysis? He gives credit to our tribe for recognizing that influencers deserve special attention, but says we don’t pay enough attention to the community aspect of social media and don’t spend enough time on relationship building.
I don’t necessarily agree with that analysis (I think PR actually pays more attention to relationship-building than many other marketing disciplines) but Sean’s overview provides some good insight as to how we’re viewed.
Now tell us Sean — which tribe do you belong to?
With more than 15 years of digital communications experience, I've delivered award-winning and sophisticated marketing solutions for Fortune 500 corporations, major government agencies, nonprofit organizations, and household-name consumer brands. I ensure the successful execution of digital and social media business strategies to build profitability and grow market share on behalf of our clients. I stay abreast of relevant new technologies in the Web 2.0/social media space in order to contribute a point of view while remaining focused on ROI to drive the right message to the right people at the right time.
I’ve been working in or around the social media revolution since 2005 and I am grateful to be exploring this new media landscape with com.motion’s clients. As managing director, my role is to guide our clients through the use of new technologies and to provide innovative ways to engage their stakeholders online. Shiny new Web 2.0 toys are great to play with but our recommendations are always strategic and focused on reaching the right people, with the right message across the right channels.
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