August 7th, 2008
'Conversation Prism' helps corporations visualize social media strategies
Every day I stumble across yet another company jumping into the uncertain waters of social media “because others are doing it.” Public relations agencies are pushing social media practices as a “must have” for clients are part of the capabilities presentations. But, contrary to what many social media pundits say, social media is not a silver bullet nor is it ideal for every company. It’s a strategy that should be carefully considered and its tools are designed to take companies to where their customers are already conversing.
To that end, Brian Solis, principal of Future Works and author of PR 2.0, has introduced the Conversation Prism — a tool that he says “helps chart online conversations between the people that populate communities as well as the networks that connect the Social Web.” Designed with Jesse Thomas of JESS3, the Conversation Prism was created to help companies visualize the immense landscape that is social media and to be used as a tool to help these companies truly consider where they need - or need not - to be. This morning I spoke with Solis for a bit about why he developed the Conversation Prism, its purpose and its use. Oh, and he’s giving it all away for free.
Q. [Jennifer] Why did you develop the Conversation Prism — and how is this a step beyond Robert Scoble’s Social Media Starfish?
A. [Brian] The Starfish got the conversation started visually. There’s nothing wrong with the Social Media Starfish, but we wanted to come up with something more representative of what is out there beyond some of the more popular social networks. It’s one thing to have a lot of discussions about participating in social media or why you need to be on Twitter or Facebook, but it’s much more extensive than most people think. Social media is not just about being on the popular networks; it’s about knowing which networks apply to your world. I wanted to give a graphical representation of just how big this landscape really is and even this version still needs some work. The next one will include international networks and a few other channels we haven’t yet hit.
Q. Why is it important for companies to be able to visualize all of these networks?
A. Because the Conversation Prism is both a little dose of reality and an education tool. What the prism does is give you an idea, a beautiful representation of where conversations are taking place around you and its intended to make sure everyone understands that the social networking landscape is so much bigger - and just as important - as some of the more popular tools. It’s basically showing that if you are thinking of jumping on the social media bandwagon — stop. Evaluate. The landscape is massive. Each company’s participation is going to be different. The goal of this is to give companies a good place to start in finding the conversations that are relevant to them.
Next: How to use the Conversation Prism –>
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Jennifer Leggio, aka "Mediaphyter," writes about the "social business" side of social media - including enterprise, security and reputation issues. See her full profile and disclosure of her industry affiliations.
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| 08/07/08
