"I am the new way to go. I am the way of the future"

These are the beginning lyrics to a song by My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult called After the Flesh. The song is not what is important, I just wanted to reference it, what is important is the lyrics in regards to social media. Social media in business is the new way to go, has been for the past 3 years, but its also the wave of the future. I say this because in my mail box today was the new issue of Business Week and right on the cover is the title "BEYOND BLOGS: What Your Business Needs to Know."

The article by Stephen Baker and Heather Green, is another look at a very popular article written three years ago on the same topic. Of course at that time a lot of it was theory and conjecture (mind you it was intelligent theory and conjecture) on the future of social media and its impact on business. The article states that to this day the article is still highly sought after and gets top ranking in Google, even three years later.

So Business Week decided to update the article and it was a great update. I came away with a few points that really stick out in my mind. At the very beginning it's stated that news used to be just something you read, and more often than not it was something that the general population had no control over, it was simply given to them. Today news is the new conversation. Everyone is involved with the sharing of ideas, moving information back and forth while the world becomes more transparent due to people taking to the internet and participating.

Blogs in general can work for and against any given topic of discussion, and there are still a great many fears amongst businesses that to allow blogging would mean to take the risk of exposure to negative press. On the contrary, while negativity does exist, the focus needs to be shifted off the selfishness of public image for the business and focus more on the relationship with its customers. The companies that have embraced blogging and other social media avenues have been more successful then before. The article gives a great example in Dell Computers. Sales skyrocketed when Dell opened up it's relationships with its current and prospective customers by keeping them in tune with the day to day. That kind of openness can only foster a positive response.

Social media becomes a way the average person can go directly to an executive and share ideas with them. It cuts out the mystery of the "man behind the curtain" and puts a humanistic face on business.

Social media within businesses is the way to go, and most definitely the way of the future!

Photo Credit, t3mujin