Rina Suci Handayani, the journalist from Human Capital Magazine, found me on LinkedIn and requested the interview. Very flattering. This is actually their last print edition, before they go fully digital, so I feel pretty special. Read the translation of the article, my full interview and check out the original article below.
This translation is from Google Translate and my best effort at making it read smoothly...I'd love any fixes if any of you speak Indonesian. The original PDF and the full interview is at the end.
Welcoming Revolution
Social Media
No doubt the world is currently facing a phenomenon called social media.
Many people believe, this phenomenon is the inception of the social media revolution.
Rudi Kuswanto
In the middle of the torrential wave of social media development, there is a group of people that ask, "Is social media a fad?" Indeed, there are no definitive answers. There is always a flow of who agree and disagree. However, can not be denied, the netizen (a term for Internet users) in throughout the world, always took time stopped by the social networking site now they are surfing in cyberspace.
In Indonesia, media development is marked by the increasing number of social ownership of accounts in most social networking current trends, Facebook and Twitter. Nukman Luthfie, CEO of Virtual Consulting, notes that Facebook users have increased drastically in Indonesia. As of March 2010, there were 22.7 million accounts recorded, with an additional 1 million accounts added every month. Twitter account numbers were at 5.616 million, the highest of any Asian countries, more than Japan, India, and even China.
Founder and CEO of PT Marketbizz Media, Riyeke Ustadiyanto, agreed that the most popular social networks in Indonesia are Facebook and Twitter. Facebook users in Indonesia are also surpassing neighboring countries, such as Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia. In terms of percentage of population online, Indonesia reached 23.8%. That is, approximately, 23.8% of the total population in Indonesia registered on Facebook. And, this number will continue to grow.
Not to be outdone, the number of Twitter users in Indonesia was surprising. The Indonesian Twitter Account rank is 6th in the world percentage of 2.41%. "Jakarta is the Twitter capital in Asia, beating Tokyo. When looking at the number of Twitter users per city, Jakarta ranked 13th in the world," Keke (Riyeke's familiar name) added. According to Keke, information technology trends (IT) currently is social media. "Social media has become a lifestyle so that the world community in short time will grow like a mushroom. Need known, the existence of social media, increasingly tied to one individual to another. Networking tightened in which all the materials or information can be easily found in the digital world, " he explains.
Moreover, Keke continued, Facebook is able to develop applications using foreign languages, such as Indonesian, Korean, or Italian. This makes social media users increasingly interested in using Facebook on a daily basis. "Many Indonesian people are infatuated with Facebook and Twitter," said Keke. He sees the key as, this trend being able to penetrate the boundaries ranging from young to old people, from housewives to office workers, even children.
As the largest social networking followers in Indonesia, the Facebookers - the term for those Facebook users - will form a strong network. This can be seen from the number of Facebook pages that deliberately mobilize a social movement and prove to be responded to by large numbers of people in a short time. "Nationalistic users will be touched and unite in social media. Through Twitter, for example, the user can access and obtain information or the latest news. In fact, faster than print newspaper," Keke asserted.
Enda Nasution, the blogger behind the fundraising support for Prita Mulyasari on Facebook, recognizes that social media has provided much convenience. "Indonesian people are basically social. Therefore, when simplified and expanded its reach, almost everyone in great numbers trooped to use it," he explains.
Keke replied that many positive things that can be taken from social media. "From the positive side, social media forms a strong network and is able to spread the latest news quickly. Facebook has now become one of the most powerful ways of marketing, in addition to conventional marketing. However, there is also a negative side that must be addressed. For example, mis-information that could lead to persistent problems," he reminded.
In Keke's opinion, social media is only a tool. "Users should not be encouraged to write things which ultimately may harm himself. They should use legitimate promotion of healthy, truth and compete on the network right," he added again.
Talk of social media, it seems, is trite if it does not involve direct input from the experts of Uncle Sam's country, the biggest social media producing country. Through LinkedIn, our journalist met Tarah Feinberg, a social media expert, who lives in Brooklyn, New York in the United States. He provided epiphany about social media. and Advertising Strategy to reveal his identity. Before talking about social media, Tarah, who works as Creative Director and Head of Social Media at Brand New World - a company engaged in the field of Marketing and Advertising Strategy - revealed the company's identity. "Brand New World creates strategies for advertising, entertainment, and marketing campaigns," he said to open the chat. His job includes interactive development, video production, social media, strategic consulting and various other initiatives, mostly focused on digital media.
In Tarah's opinion, "Social media" is a rather broad term, covering a wide range of human communication methods. On the most basic level, social media are any communications (words, visuals, video, sound, etc.) that are shared and discussed by people.
"I think the basic stages of social media existed before the internet presence. During its development, its form move increasingly large. It becomes even very large and open for discussion by many people in the world, especially in the last five years. Activity and content sharing have become daily habits. All this happened because of web support and the latest technology, " Tarah said, who has worked at HBO, NBC Universal and Savar Media.
NOTE: What I actually said: "On the most basic level, social media are any communications (words, visuals, video, sound, etc.) that are shared and discussed by people. In my opinion, this existed long before the advent of the Internet, but the term has gained immense buzz in the last few years as user generated content and content sharing has become an everyday part of life, enabled by the web and new technologies.
In an increasingly digital dynasty, Tarah, who in his resume calls himself a Digital Strategist, Social Media Specialist & Executive Producer, says, social media includes social networks, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Blogs. There are also video publishing services with integrated communities, such as YouTube, blip.tv, and Vimeo; and social bookmarking services, such as Delicious, StumbleUpon, and Digg. "A lot of people are currently using "social media" and "social networks" interchangeably, but this is incorrect. While all social networks are a part of social media, not all social media can be classified as social networks," said Tarah, who has enough experience in the social media field to know this.
Specifically about social networking (social networks), Tarah added, its evolution has been very turbulent. He made the point about Friendster's burst and eventual fall. Facebook has now become a source of inspiration, with nearly 500 million users around the world [at the time of the interview]. "In the United States alone, there are many people who can directly adapt and use it. Users interested in this early new.. But there is also an anti, I'll wait until everyone is there to finally join," he said.
NOTE: What I actually said: "In the US, like most trends, there are the early adopters who swarm to the shiniest new object, and there are the resisters, who wait until 'everyone is there' to join."
Tarah believes that social media has huge potential to be an immensely democratizing force - with a note, "if permitted by world leaders." According to him, by providing platforms and tools for communication and publishing on a large scale, usually for free, everyone can share their unique ideas, either through the Internet or cellular phone. Not only can they share their unique ideas, but also their "perspectives, struggles, photos and video. People from various parts of the world can be a relationship with individuals or communities previously could not be accessed without social media," he said.
NOTE: What I actually said: "People across the globe can now develop relationships with individuals and communities with whom they might not previously had any contact or awareness, which will hopefully lead to a deeper understanding and respect for the myriad lifestyles, faiths and cultures outside of one's own."
Tarah hopes this phenomenon will bring understanding so that human beings can be mutually understanding and respectful of the different lifestyles, beliefs, and cultures of each other. In addition, the impact of social media has been very strong for disaster relief, activism and political motivation, and news gathering. As an example, Tarah said that the first time the impact of social media's power was seen in the Tsunami disaster in 2004, one of which hit Aceh, Indonesia. At that time, hundreds of photos and videos were uploaded to social media networks. Social media was a benefit when the devastating earthquake occurred in Haiti several months ago. From there, the world community responded in the form of rescue assistance, donations, and news support news to accurately report what happened. Since then, there are many success stories which stem from social media, including the successful Obama campaign. As we know, voters in the Obama campaign participated in an interactive discussion and social media was used to gather donations. If this change is a sign of the advent of a social media revolution, are you ready?
Coverage: Rina Suci Handayani
Full Interview:
1. What is your opinion about the meaning of social media? Please give the example of social media form.
"Social media" is a rather broad term, covering a wide range of human communication methods. On the most basic level, social media are any communications (words, visuals, video, sound, etc.) that are shared and discussed by people. In my opinion, this existed long before the advent of the Internet, but the term has gained immense buzz in the last few years as user generated content and content sharing has become an everyday part of life, enabled by the web and new technologies.
In the digital realm, social media include social networks (e.g. Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter), but also blogs, video publishing services that incorporate community features (e.g. YouTube, blip.tv, Vimeo), social bookmarking (Delicious, StumbleUpon, Digg), and, increasingly, publisher and news sites, as they become more social. A lot of people are currently using "social media" and "social networks" interchangeably, but this is incorrect. While all social networks are a part of social media, not all social media can be classified as social networks.
Offline, social media includes materials intended to ignite conversation, action and/or to be shared, such as flyers and promotional audio or video disks.
A good definition is emerging on Wikipedia, although it largely takes the stance that social media is only online interaction: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_media
2. What is your paradigm about social media phenomena globally?
I believe that social media has the potential to be an immensely democratizing force, if allowed by world leaders. By providing powerful platforms and tools for communication and publishing on a large scale, usually for free, anyone with an Internet connection, even from a mobile phone, can now share a wide range of content: their unique ideas and perspectives, struggles, photos and videos. People across the globe can now develop relationships with individuals and communities with whom they might not previously had any contact or awareness, which will hopefully lead to a deeper understanding and respect for the myriad lifestyles, faiths and cultures outside of one's own.
In addition, social media is an incredibly powerful tool for disaster relief, activism and political motivation, and news gathering. This was first seen during the tsunami, when thousands of photos and videos were uploaded as the tragedy was occurring, which greatly helped rescue efforts, motivated donations, and provided the news media with the assets they needed to accurately report on what was happening. Since then, there have been many success stories, including the Obama campaign's use of social media to motivate voters and discussion about affecting change on a community level, and the astounding international reaction to the earthquake in Haiti.
On a business level, social media allows us to much more seamlessly integrate global departments of multinational corporations, as well as giving individuals access to the leaders and information they need if they desire to enter a foreign job market.
3. Could you give any description about the social media phenomena in US? Do you see any differences compared the others country?
In the US, like most trends, there are the early adopters who swarm to the shiniest new object, and there are the resisters, who wait until "everyone is there" to join.
Social networking, specifically has had a bit of a turbulent evolution, as networks like Friendster have risen and fallen. Facebook is certainly the powerhouse right now, with almost 500 million registered users, but they are undergoing fierce criticism about their privacy policies and the sharing of people's personal information with brands.
In the news media and entertainment companies, there has been a resistance, as they want to retain ownership over all of their content, their intellectual property. However, as these platforms have become an essential daily party of people's information gathering, entertainment and communication habits, they have had no choice but to integrate themselves on some level. At the minimum, they are all creating Facebook pages and Twitter profiles; the true innovators are finding ways to ignite audiences and spread their brands widely through social media.
In advertising and the corporate world, social media is becoming more and more of an essential part of their plans. As audiences become more fragmented and competition becomes more and more intense, they are compelled to humanize themselves more, take a softer, more story-based approach and develop deeper, ongoing relationships with their consumers and partners. Transparency has become an absolute mandate at this point. This is largely what we at Brand New World (
www.brandnewworldus.com) help companies and brands to achieve.
I am not incredibly well versed in social media on an international sphere, but I know that it is becoming an essential part of many cultures' behaviors, in the ways I described above. In addition, as I mentioned in my response to the last question, it has the potential to be a democratizing force, giving a louder voice to the general populace, and is helping to break down international cultural barriers.
4. Based on your experience, is the social media is possible to be applied in Human resources department?
Absolutely. It's a great way to get a fuller sense of a candidate's personality, background and relationship base.
5. If yes, what is the form of the application suggested?
LinkedIn is a powerful resource for a company to find and recruit new talent. It is now possible to research how one presents him/herself to the professional world, the nature of how s/he interacts with colleagues, his/her affiliations and interests, and what past colleagues have to say about him/her. I have over 60 recommendations on my profile and consider this one of my most valuable professional resources whenever I am looking for professional partnership or employment.
Other social networking communities are valuable as well, as they help to round out an understanding of a candidate. For example, Twitter is a good way to determine how one thinks on a daily basis, the level of expertise and the tone of how s/he communicates to the world in a public way. Blogs now provide a platform for people to become experts in their area, which can be very useful for a hiring professional.
6. What is your opinion about the awareness of HR practitioner in social media?
Some are using it correctly, others aren't. HR professionals should absolutely utilize the social media resources available to them to find and research candidates. However, they have to be careful not to overstep the boundaries of these platforms. For example, transparency and honesty is very important...they shouldn't friend a candidate on Facebook to search their photos for pictures of them drunk or otherwise use deceitful tactics to gather information. They should use these platforms to develop relationships with potential employees and partners in a professional, social manner.
7. Do you think, is social media could be one of recruitment tools in the future?
I think any recruiter who waits for the future will not have a company to recruit for for very long.
8. Does your company support the using of social media? Why?
Absolutely. It is a core part of our internal culture, as well as one of the main tactics that we recommend to most of our clients. As stated above, it is an invaluable way to develop deeper relationships, on an ongoing basis, with the audience that cares about what you have to say and what you're doing. It's largely about relevancy - we now operate in a world where people are bombarded with information constantly, so they have the power to choose what to listen to and what to filter out. It's the responsibility of content creators to understand their audiences and to be diligent about publishing content that adds value to their lives. There are plenty of mechanisms to target information to different audiences and platforms at this point, so "spamming" the social media world is unacceptable.
9. What kind of industry that is recommended to use the social media? Why?
There are not many industries that I would not recommend the use of social media to, at least on some level. However, it is essential to carefully examine a company's goals and audience in order to determine the right array of tactics and usage of social media. That being said, companies in every industry needs to manage their public identities, recruit new customers and employees, stay up to date on the most advanced news and knowledge, and communicate with each other, which are valuable uses of social media.
10. How about blue collar industry (manufacture)? How important the role of social media in blue collar industry? What is your opinion?
I think that there are valuable uses in this area, albeit probably a bit more limited than in white collar, such as the reasons stated in the last response. I also think that there are some very valuable innovations that can be made to achieve more efficiency, employee quality of life and streamlined corporate partnerships that could be assisted by social media. Social media doesn't just have to be public and consumer-facing, either. We created an internal social network for Coca-Cola that helped their global sales team to share knowledge, tactics and creative assets internally. Manufacturing could use a similar system to connect with partners, connect site managers, vendors and other parties in a single community to improve operations and streamline the business.
11. Based on your experience, what is the positive and negative impact of social media to the company?
I have stated a number of the positive benefits above. Again, create deeper connections with audiences, humanize your brand, assert yourself as an expert in your field on an ongoing basis. Move from being a product or a faceless company, to a brand that stands for something, that cares about its consumers, that adds value on a regular basis to the lives of those it interacts with.
There are certainly risks. Employees can leak secrets. Consumers can publicly disparage a company. The general populace often believes unsubstantiated claims and rumors that spread on social media, and these can gain support extremely rapidly, which can be difficult for a company to overcome or correct.
12. How to solve the negative impact?
The most important thing a company can do is listen. Listen to what its audience wants, to what its competitors are doing. Learn best practices and case studies of successful and unsuccessful campaigns. Then, when something negative arises, react swiftly and confidently. The company has to know what it stands for before a negative event occurs and has to have a system in place to respond. Companies should not be afraid to apologize when they make mistakes - people respect that. And they should rarely just remove everything that is causing the problem and try to stop the conversation - not only will that not work, because people will just post copies elsewhere on the web, but it will give the critics more to yell about.
13. How to maximize the positive impact?
Again, listen. Recognize and celebrate the champions of the company. Listen to the feedback that comes in and improve products and communication as a result. Take risks and innovate. Sometimes being first is enough to gain respect and positive buzz. Just be ready to admit if mistakes are made - it's ok to make mistakes, as long as it's in the spirit of the company and the intention is in the right place. Whatever they do, companies should not create a social media presence if they're not going to remain involved. People will forget and disappear, or worse, will criticize the company for not "getting it".
14. How to educate employees in using the social media wisely?
The company has to decide how they want to involve themselves in social media, develop best practices that are customized to their specific corporate culture and then clearly communicate these policies to their employees. It will be different for every company, but before they move forward, they should get buy-in from all of the important stakeholders - executive team, publicity/corporate communications, marketing, legal, etc.
Original Article:
Few industries are experiencing greater upheaval at the hands of technological progress than the news media. New ideas are popping up every day, so we’ve collected five of the most interesting ones for your consideration.
Reviews, thoughts, images, articles and other content about digital media, real-time content, apps, advertising & technology that resonate with me.
