The Use of Social Media

I’ve been spending more time thinking about the use of social media, not only for entrepreneurs, but also for my world inside a College. In this regard, my friend Mark Carbone, the president of XE Corporation, has been taking me through an educational process, and it’s interesting to see the things hitting the press on this subject. Take a look at a relatively recent piece from the PR company, Edelman. The article on their website, The Social Pulpit: Barack Obama’s Social Media Toolkit examines the role that social media played in President Obama’s campaign. The piece has some interesting lessons for those of us still learning the craft. According to Edelman, the primary social media lessons from his campaign include:

1. Start early
2. Build to scale
3. Innovate where necessary and do everything else incrementally better
4. Make it easy to find, forward and act
5. Pick where you want to play
6. Channel online enthusiasm into specific, targeted activities that further the campaign's goals
7. Integrate online advocacy into every element of the campaign