So I’m on Social Media sites galore…Now What???
It never ceases to amaze me how one topic such as social media/social networking can have so much debate associated with it. While there are recruiters out there who swear by LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter or countless other social media sites, there are equally as many who are either finding it difficult to justify how much time it takes everyday to manage their social media profiles or they’re just plain overloaded and underwhelmed by it all now. In other words, they’re burnt out on social media.
The problem here is that people tend to latch onto new technology as if it was a magic silver bullet. The truth of the matter is, I don’t at all believe in the efficacy of Twitter. I believe it’s useless, a waste of time, and that it will fade into oblivion (or be bought by a competitor) and disappear as quickly as it started. I could be wrong of course. Twitter might be here for quite awhile but I don’t think that will be the case. The central tenet that technology is somehow this silver bullet is naive and dangerous. Technology is what we as users make of it. I am an avid fan of LinkedIn and Facebook but I don’t use Facebook for business very often. I use LinkedIn for that. I am able to offer my assistance to others in my network and in return as for small favors as well. I am able to bounce ideas off people in my network. I am able to share best practices, opinions, and other ideas. I see the value in LinkedIn (for business) and Facebook (for personal use). But Twitter is different. The jury is still out and will be until someone shows me quantifiable, empirical evidence that Twitter is useful across industry-lines and has repeatable and consistent success in recruiting.
So now that we’re on all of these sites and have pretty profiles all built, now what? Well, the answer to that is “maintain”. The smart recruiter uses these tools (emphasis on the word “tools”) to reach out to candidates, connect with them, and start to build a relationship with them. The reason I say they are tools is because this is just a mode of communication, much like a telephone or an e-mail or a fax is. People seem to forget that. The other thing that people need to remember is that the “relationships” you have online aren’t the same thing as actually creating and managing a real relationship. You have to at least pickup the phone and call these people to directly speak to them live so they have a voice to a name and to a profile picture. Only then can you really start to develop a good relationship. Anything else is fairly superficial.
So I say to all of you, keep the social media journey going. Some of you have experienced some success with it; others not so much. Every journey starts with your first steps and requires dilligence in walking step by step. Whether we like it or not, social media is here to stay (though not without permutations and changes in the future). We need to cozy up to the idea that this will be a favored mode of communication for relationship building for many. For others, the comfort of a phone call will still win out. Though times change, preferences don’t always change with them.
Add comment July 2nd, 2009
