If social media is dead, why am I so busy?

Geoff Livingston wrote a blog post yesterday declaring social media is dead. As you can imagine, it’s generated some comment and debate. Geoff is a public relations strategist with CRT/Tanaka, CEO of Livingstone Communications and a “the?” driving force behind Blog Potomac. I saw him present at the Society for New Communications Research conference, but I didn’t meet him. He has a lot of respect in social media circles, so I’m interested in his opinions. But I don’t have time to consider this particular one.

I’m going to our internal Web Summit in Heidelberg next week, where most of the folks at SAS helping to set our online direction will be gathering. There’s obviously a lot of interest in social media in that group, so I’m presenting in the opening session, leading a 90-minute session focused solely on SAS’ social media strategy, and hosting an informal breakout session where participants can ask questions of one another and discuss what’s working for them. I’m leaving on Saturday, and I still have some preparation to do. “I’m the kind of person who’s never satisfied with his slides. Plus, I have a new netbook that needs filling up.”

I also have a long list of goals and objectives for the year, designed to help integrate social media into SAS’ sales, marketing and external communications. It’s a pretty big list, and there’s always something to do and someone to meet. So as much as I appreciate that folks in the social media field are having a theoretical discussion about whether or not social media is dead, I’m too busy doing it to join in. “Although I did read enough to know that the fact that people like me are engaged in social media is one of the reasons Geoff has declared its demise.”

I understand what it’s like to be a consultant, having done it myself. You need to be 100 percent certain in your opinions, and able to convince potential clients “and reassure existing clients” that you are the only person who can save them. I much prefer where I am now, in a position where I can say, "Let’s try some things and see what works, and see what’s working for other people like us." That was the idea behind my first post in this blog, where I declared I am not an expert.

So, if you folks participating in the debate come to any conclusions that will help SAS build better relationships, let me know. In the meantime, I’ll be getting on with it.