Why Merriam-Webster Should Make “Social Media” A Verb (or Advanced Facebooking For Stunt Doubles)

book and typewriter

A prospective client and I were on the phone last night talking about the crappy results they’ve gotten from social media.

Mary: “We put up a Facebook page and nothing is happening.”

Me: “When people become fans of your page, do you post a sincere thanks on their wall?”

Mary: “Uh… you can do that?”

Mary: “Well, I don’t think it’s illegal…

Let me ask you this: Have you searched and connected with folks who are interested in your cause?”

Small non-profit: “Honestly, we put up the page and have done nothing since. That’s why we’re calling you!”

After the call I thought about similar calls I’ve had and how social media is often treated passively. Then a light-bulb blurted out loud:

“Social media should be a verb, not a noun!”

Social media produces results when it’s active – when you are doing it. Could it be a language thing that creates this “wait and see” attitude?

Now, I’m  not up on all the current grammar laws, but what if Merriam-Webster changed “social media” from a noun to a verb? Maybe people would then do their Facebook page. They’d be LinkedIn.

Posted January 22, 2009
  • @Ria - thanks for the intro and the plug.
    Really enjoyed this blog post tonight. Wow. Why does this sound like so many conversations I've heard.

    My day job employer even has signs up reminding us about the cost of advertising but how that leads to more income. Freaky.

    But that mentality has definitely carried over into how companies and even individuals treat their social networking presence.

    So many seem to believe that it's enough to have a presence and be in the bubble of social networking/media. They believe that gathering enough followers, 'friends', and connections will in its self lead to some magic response or involvement from those connections with no other actions required.

    This belief and behavior is epidemic in my opinion. So many people are only going far enough to 'connect' and then they never go beyond that. It surprises me that relatively few people that connect online, even with very close local connections, really want to establish a deeper relationship or even meet in person.

    I'm embarrassed to say that I'd forgotten solid principles about networking that I used daily when I was in the Navy. Being a System Analyst for the last 8 years has allowed me to use some people skills but very few networking needs arise.

    What I'd like to do is teach and encourage people to actively network. To go beyond collecting names, countries, and 'colleagues' and get to becoming friends and partners. Beyond that even, I'd love to see people realize more value in their connections but that's only going to happen if they get off their tails and get active.

    First steps should include determining where the network they've gathered overlaps with their own personal and organizational goals. And for that network to be analyzed beyond the 1st layer. LinkedIn has this as a great selling point that you can navigate your extended network and find a way to get to someone that is spot on for where you need to get to.

    Another first step is yours above. Thank your followers. Even more basic is appreciating your friends and connections. Let them know you appreciate them and beyond that to give them something of value. Sometimes that value can be a smile and a thank you, but more so things that impact their reality.

    For a company there are tons of possibilities, including coupons, offers, collaborative social media projects, collaborative real world projects, and more.

    For individuals, its pinnacle is face time. I recommend getting there with all of the people in your network that's it's possible to do so with.

    Me? I'm not only waiting for someone to plan events these days, but I'm getting them organized, helping with them, and pitching them to others. I use my blog, my Twitter stream, Facebook and more to stir it up. My postcard project, http://www.toddrjordan.com/thebroadbrush/postca..., is just another avenue to reach out to folks, to make it personal. Best thing? It's cheep.

    Bonus tip: Better imperfect and sincere over perfect quality but plastic.

    Enough of this for tonight. Keep in touch.
    @tojosan on Twitter.
  • Ria
    LOL! Yes, it's "social" media, meaning you actually have to be social. Of course, I think that's where the beauty and fun of it is but in defense of many organizations/companies, it is a shift from traditional media efforts wherein you throw stuff out there and see what happens.

    I had an interesting conversation with another social media advocate about the fact that even users of social media are missing great opportunities. They are passively networking (versus leveraging their network more proactively). Ask @tojosan about his great ideas sometime!
  • @Katie - exactly. It's almost as if we've got the "cause and effect" thing - the "sow and reap" - backwards.
  • I think this is a great post. People too often expect social media to be a magic bullet to fix their ails. They don't realize they need to actually do something with it! It's a 2 way street. Until small businesses and others begin to realize that, social media won't be useful to them.
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