Social media: revolution or evolution?
Social
media is undoubtedly in vogue at the moment and will likely remain the
toolkit of choice for the generation landing in the workplace now, and
generations to follow. But isn't there a danger that in diving headlong
into the world of blogs, wikis, social networking and the rest that we
merely get hung up on the medium not the message?
Social
media offers a new set of opportunities to engage people within
organisations, but they're just the latest wave of tools that follow on
from intranets and emails and newsletters and team meetings before them.
The
key for professional communicators has to be how to blend them in order
to involve people effectively in the organisations they work for. There
is a danger those paid to manage communication will be bypassed if we
don't embrace them, and the future world of internal communication is
highly unlikely to be one where the professional communicators can be
on top of every message bubbling up across the organisation. Most
certainly we won't be crafting every message.
But
surely the fundamental need for professional communicators will remain
the same: won't we still be employed to understand the pulse,
temperature and mindset of organisations so that we're best positioned
to champion the right tools to engage the right people in the right way
at the right time so that they understand where their organisation is
going and how their personal contribution is vital in getting the whole
organisation there?
It's
back to the old argument - are communicators responsible merely for the
drill, the pick and the shovel, or is it the hole in the wall that
really matters?
