Social media has made a significant difference to my life and career path in 2009. It opened doors and windows to unknown possibilities and a brand new horizon, to people and places where I’ve not imagined myself to meet and be.

If you are still new to social media, perhaps upon reading this post, you may find that it’s not so hard to comprehend after all. It is basically a relatively newer platform that humans use to communicate with one another. And many rules of life remains the same.

Social Media is like Life

1. Start with the end in mind : Before you embark on a journey, you always decide a destination. Even if you don’t already, you are always in search of one. Social media is a lot like life, you need to know where you want to go and find the route to reach that destination along the way.
2. Stop and look (listen) : Don’t be too hasty in trying to reach your destination or make achievements. Take small steps and make it a point to stop and look (listen) at your surroundings. You could find yourself discovering beautiful sceneries and observations you would otherwise have missed if you traveled on the highways. Listen to what people are talking about and make conversations to the most unlikely suspects. You would be rewarded with gifts of pleasant surprises along the way.
3. Sincerity wins the day : Wherever you go in life, whichever agenda you may have, whatever you want to do, the basics of communication lies in the word “sincerity”. Lacking this in your heart and you risk closing many opportunities. Whether for your personal brand or for your clients, make it a point not to try too hard in selling. Be sincere in knowing the community and learn to be a part of that culture. Sincerity will lead you to some of the most amazing ends of the rainbows.

And life is grateful, for it will give you back what you have given

A lot like life, you will reap the returns from social media in relative to the contributions in which you have made. You may not be expecting it in the same form as you have given, but those rewards will be translated and distributed to you in various ways and you will see many of these turning into long-term benefits or life-changing events.

A new job in Social Media

Some of the unexpected rewards that was bestowed upon me includes a new job – as a digital PR strategist. In case you do not know, I am currently working for an international PR agency, leading digital efforts in the Singapore office whilst supporting my regional director in many of his projects. I have always wanted to explore public relations as an extension to my marketing knowledge but had procrastinated those plans when I found myself in a comfortable position with my last company.

However, the law of attraction was probably working for me when my an opportunity with my current employer knocked on the door. I was flattered to be recommended by a fellow tweep (one who tweets) who had not met me prior to putting my name in for the job.  It is a wonder how social media has change the way we network in the business world forever. “Knowing someone” today does not require you to put a physical face to a name. However, the level of trust you can build in an online acquaintance will be a tricky issue that we each have to tackle with ourselves. Then again, knowing someone in person don’t mean you know the person either.

Since taking on this new position, I’ve had a chance to put my skills and knowledge into good test with various international clients and with some desirable results that has proved to be very valuable case studies for my company and myself. I’ll share more with everyone at another appropriate time.

Life-transforming friends

Many friendships sprout by coincidences and when you least expect it. When the internet began to find popularity in the 90s, it created a new platform for people to make friends and expand their social circle. The evolution of social media has made this more evident than ever, allowing active interactions across platforms beyond simply chat. Each of these are designed for different purposes, from corporate social networking to challenging your friends on mini games. Everyone is bound to find something that fits their interest. This has made communications online a lot more conducive and effective than before.

And as life would have it, some of the most important people you are destined to meet are not conveniently sitting next to you. But by heaps of coincidences, you find them among the millions on the world wide web. Whether is it making new friends or getting in touch with old ones, social media has facilitated this so we no longer have the excuse of “saying we are too busy”.

Looking back, this year has indeed been a fascinating one for me personally. I’ve met some of the most amazing people in my life and some whom I’ve made steadfast friends with. Of these, I know a few will last a long way into the future.

A wealth of knowledge

The largest library I know today is not the one sitting in the city central. It is the one that sits within my browser. The internet is the world’s largest and greatest library of resources. I am sure no one can debate that with me. However, social media has changed the way we obtain those information and knowledge. Information used to be passive (web 1.0) and requires the user to actively find it. However, with the introduction of social media, information today is now fed to us in many different ways through RSS, Twitter, friends’ links, video clips etc. It floods our screens from every direction, cluttering our tiny brains. Sometimes, this overwhelming influx of knowledge can even be intimidating. But we take less effort today to locate and store resources, as well as making interesting finds that are out of our knowledge range. This helps expand our worldview and perspectives.

I feel almost deprived of knowledge when I am away from my social media platforms for too long and often when I hop back on again, I found myself trying very hard to grasp the crazy amount of new information that has been released in the past 24 hours. That is just how fast information travels today. REAL-TIME. Everything in your print is now “yester-news”.

However, from another point of view, I do agree that the dependence on technology just makes us more geeky than ever. So do balance that with some good ole travels. Nothing beats the real experience, for a journey of a thousand mile starts with a single step.

My personal sentiments

Many people around me are unable to understand how am I able to make a living out of Facebook and Twitter. What they are seeing are only the platforms, but they have failed to understand the nature of human’s desire to communicate and interact. It baffles my family on how I was able to find strange encounters online. Obviously they didn’t believe I had jobs looking for me just because I talk a lot on Twitter. Which, they obviously have no idea what is Twitter despite reading so much about it in the papers.

Social media is an overly used and overly hyped term in my opinion. It is simply but communications and dissemination of information. Something really simple, but branded with a unique terminology that differentiates it from the rest of the “traditional” channels.

Social media is not something I do to look hip or cool.  It is simply a way of life I have chosen that happens to work perfectly well for me. I can travel miles everyday while seated at my desk. I venture into unknown waters and meet interesting people, as if I am transported into “Alice in the Wonderland” or “Wizard of Oz” each single day. Sometimes I meet with the Queen of Hearts, while others, I may bump into the Tin Man or Scarecrow. But each revealing a little about myself.

Social media beyond my job, is a journey of discovering others and unraveling myself.

Beyond personal experiences

In the next chapter of Social Media Lessons in 2009, I will share some of the prominent cases of social media locally and in the region that has created waves and changes. There are many lessons to be learned from social media this year, lessons which businesses should take serious learnings from especially those to do with digital crisis management. Governments around the world has also taken social media a lot more seriously than before as they see the dire situations it can potentially put them in. Consider the move in which China has imposed an embargo on all major foreign social media platforms within the country.

2010 will see major shifts in the landscape with many big players vying hard to be the commanding power. Lots to touch on, but till then, it’s time to return to the Yellow Brick Road.

Hello my friends, the following article was written for the Chinese papers in Singapore but was never published due to sensitivity in comparison between traditional and digital media. Hence I am posting it herein for your reference. Will try to translate an English copy soon for the greater audience.

Thanks!

数字媒体的侵略 (September 19, 2009)

许多品牌和商家在经济不景的2009年都纷纷缩紧荷包，减少广告和营销开支。为了迎合消费市场，各家使出了浑身解数，在有限的资源下舒展预算。而其中，把部分营销转移至网络线上成为了普遍的策略。

利用线上平台直接与消费者进行交流不仅省下了透过传统媒体传达信息的广告费用，且能够为品牌树立更亲民的形象定位。在今年初的一项调查显示，24%的新加坡人表示拥有网络存在性的品牌能够“显著地引起他们的兴趣”。

无论是网络广告、数字公关、线上活动等，在费用与持续性上相对之下都比传统管道来得经济一些。亚洲拥有全球41%的网络用户，而本地的宽带网渗透率更超越了102%。在所有本地用户当中，就有74%积极参与社交网络(social network)的交流。是属于全球百分点最高之一的城市。在这种种趋势的推动下，不难理解品牌和商家们为何提高了网上的活动范围而渐渐将视野分散至数字媒体(digital media)。

《宝洁 – 护舒宝》(P&G Whisper) 近来就利用了Facebook社区在本地首次展开数字运动(digital movement)，鼓励妇女以正面态度看待生理变化和月经这个羞涩的课题。连同为此运动特别设计的迷你网站(http://www.happyitshere.com)，以可爱的插画和轻松的语调，《护舒宝》成功地在一个月之内团结了超过3,000名妇女参与这个社群。此频道大受妇女欢迎，许多人都乐意大方地，毫无忌讳地公开讨论生理状态和经历。这有效地建立了一个妇女们能够寻找共鸣和强系的群体。从短期的分析来看，在全无产品促销与个人利益的推使下，这在本地可以算是相当成功的例子。但是单凭持续对话的这样一个方式是否能够长期引起消费者的兴趣就不晓而知了。或许在强调真实性和诚意的当儿，品牌依然不得以而必须考虑到消费者利益和关注的事项。在整个运动的伸展计划上需要持续的努力和不断植入更多的新元素。

近期也在探索Facebook的企业更包括了《职总平价合作社》(http://www.facebook.com/thatsmyfairprice)。据报道了解，他们在短短3小时内就聚集了超过1,000名粉丝的加入。唯一不同的是，他们积极地利用这个平台进行线上比赛和促销活动。《职总平价合作社》是本地家喻户晓的商家，而目前为止在Facebook上的新加坡用户已超过110万人次。选择大力运用社交网络促进与消费群的关系，并且加强商标信誉是最适当不过了。但是，许多企业都轻视了长远计划和持续性。通常都交由广告、公关或整合营销公司处理，但这只能是短暂之计。品牌和商家必须意识到数字策略应是一项内部政策。需要专门人士的照料才能够在一段延长的时间得到预期的成绩。

另外一间颇有远见的机构便是《星和电信》(Starhub Mobile)。在3间电信公司当中，只有《星和》勇于冒险跳上Twitter(@StarhubCares)这项微博(micro-blogging)服务。他们利用这平台与消费族群建立深远的关系，并同时为公司增添了多一条顾客关系管理频道(customer relationship management channel)。这允许他们在第一时间对于顾客的负面反馈做出直接的回应。也很有可能在长期内减少了危机处理所需的时间和柜台职员的负担。在某种程度上甚至能够为公司减少资源上的开支。但是根据经济报章，The Business Times近期关于Twitter的报道，《第一通信》(MobileOne)似乎对此平台仍心有余悸，目前正在观望状态。除了电信公司以外，有一些其它的企业非常适合运用类似Twitter这种微博平台与顾客直接对话。这包括了零售银行业，旅游业，科技产品等。只是目前还未发现有哪间本地银行愿意做出这样的尝试。

除了以上例子，还有一间值得一提的机构就是《HP惠普公司》。数字媒体在HP并不是一项短期营销手段而是完整地融入在他们的环球商业战略中，成为重要的公关策略之一。HP的每一条产品零售线都拥有自己专署的网络社交平台。各个产品线独自建立有用的线上人脉，透过这些直接管道收集民调，与消费者进行紧密的交流，在产品或营销运动推行时便能够事半功倍，有效地吸引影响者(influencer)的关注并且间接利用口碑行销(word-of-mouth marketing)手段将信息传播开来。其中，《HP改变世界》的企业社会责任(Corporate Social Responsibility)推广活动 是最突出的例子之一。HP展示了整个团体上下对于数字媒体拥有共同认识的重要性。介入社交网络，在数字空间占有一席之地并不是营销部门或公关部门单独承担的责任，而是全体同仁应有的共同努力和意识。

参与种种网络社区的交流，在我看来绝对是利多与弊。我们亚洲社会的商业文化相对较为保守，对许多新茂的科技与手段都更为谨慎。这并没有什么不好的。但当世界因为网络社群变得更整合，消费者的需要越来越高，企业必须不断地以光速求新求变才可能符合这新新人类的苛求。

数字媒体绝对不是一种潮流趋向。我们的日常生活和工作环境早已经和网络世界融为一体。所谓的现实与虚拟不再是两个空间，而是同时平行前进的一个大世界。但是更重要的是，企业必须要了解到无论是哪一个平台，无论是用什么方式，都必须是一个整合战略。根本无须分歧传统媒体和数字媒体的优异。因为这一个大环境里，需要双方的相辅相成才能够有效地将主要信息和项目宗旨进行到底。应从各角度去了解传播信息，而非过于重视一方而忽视了另一个平台的重要性。

回到根本，无论是什么管道，无论世界如何进化，人与人之间需要的是更多细心聆听和真诚对话。而社交网络提供给我们的恰好只是这回到人类基本的平台。

每一个正在蓬勃发展的机构都应将数字战略列入企划考量当中。这不再是短期减少部分营销开支的课题。这种环球趋势将会延续下去。若你不参与，你将会险遭淘汰。

[此文章仅代表作者个人的观点而非所任职机构。]