This is my first interview and I’m glad that I’ve done it with Prof. Steven L. Johnson, I’ve been trying to find social media experts and it was really hard but I’m glad that I’ve found Prof. Steven because he is a very informative person, enjoy reading the interview ;) .

Ahmed :Please introduce yourself.

Steven : My name is Steven L. Johnson and I am an Assistant Professor in the Management Information Systems Department of the Fox School of Business and Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. My primary job duties include scholarly research targeted at academic business journals and teaching undergraduate and graduate courses on Information Systems.

Steven : Last week I attended the 2008 International Conference on Information Systems in Paris. This is the premier academic conference for Information Systems researchers. It covers a broad spectrum of research interests including topics as varied as IS Economics, Design Science, and Knowledge Management.

Academic research of information technology moves far slower than practitioner usage. We lag well behind in studying emerging technologies. Still, as social media is growing in importance as a phenomenon, researcher interest is also. Last week, I spoke to authors of several interesting research-in-progress efforts related to social media, including: the use of Wikis to augment real-time presentations, the impact of clan membership on repeat usage of MMORPGs, and why people continue to use social networking services.

Steven : I take a rather broad view of what Social Media is. Looking back at non-digital technology, I might argue the party line telephone in my grandmother’s rural community was a social media. For a class on social media marketing I taught last semester, I prepared this statement:

Social media supports self-disclosure, content generation and relationship formation in a web of inter-related networks and communities. Effective marketing through social media requires the development and promotion of a consistent virtual identity.

It’s not a definition, per se, but I did find it to be a useful mental model for what Social Media is all about.

Steven : Yes, I’ve been a member of online communities for over 20 years (going back to days of BBSs) and began formally studying them while earning a Ph.D. from the U. of Maryland. My doctoral dissertation studied online communities to better understand leadership in leaderless groups.
In some ways, online communities are the same as they’ve always been. There are lurkers, newbies, leaders, trolls, and so forth. There are flame wars, goodbye cruel world diaries, and all sorts of personal drama. These dynamics have always been there and always will be. In other ways, changes in technology have supported dramatic changes in online communities—they have grown in size, scope, and sustainability.

One major change in what it means to be online—what I call the Facebook effect—has to do with personal online identity. Part of the original web ethos was the idea of pseudonymity. Facebook represents a trend away from that—it tightly couples your virtual identity to a real-world identity. I see far less embrace for pseudonymity on the web. Even followers of corporate brands want to know who the person is they are interacting with. The higher touch web means more credibility is gained with an identity appearing to be a real person with a real face.

Steven :Wow, what an interesting question. Really, I’m not sure if social media tools make anyone more productive! I find social media to be entertaining and occasionally informative, but I can’t say it makes me more productive. So, my advice is, like anything else in life, do not confuse activity with accomplishment.

Social media is useful for staying more closely connected with others in between direct interactions. Facebook, twitter, your blog, these are all ways to communicate more effectively with a larger number of people and maintain social connections. But, they are not an end unto themselves.

In terms of the time spend reading blogs, tweets and so forth, I suppose the best you can hope for is finding consistently useful information sources—places that provide insights or actionable ideas. Your time and your attention are your most precious resources. Follow, friend, and bookmark those who provide a high signal to noise ratio. If a source isn’t providing value, drop it.

Steven :I’ve been actively blogging for several years and just recently jumped in to other social media tools in a bigger way. I’ve been using Twitter, along with Twitterfeed to send blog posts there automatically. Also, I recently took the iPhone plunge. (I haven’t been this excited about a piece of technology since I got a Palm Pilot the first week it came out.) I’ve had fun with the AirMe application for iPhone. Its automatic tagging and integration social media websites is cool.

Steven :Three pieces of advice.

First off, don’t wait until you know what you’re doing to do it. Social media is something you will learn by doing. Create a twitter account, join Facebook, create a blog, join Flickr, and start searching for content about your brand or organization. You may be surprised to learn your customers, employees, or competitors are already talking about your organization. If nothing else, join in that conversation.

Second, before you can be successful in building your brand through social media tools, you need to know what your brand is. This may seem obvious, but it is very important. Successful social media efforts reinforce branding in all other channels. Before you can build your brand through social media, make sure you know what your brand is.

Third, as Woody Allen once said, “showing up is 80% of success.” So much of building an online brand is about maintaining a consistent presence where people already are. That means frequent updates to content, daily responses to requests, and the timeliness of response people expect online. For larger organizations, this likely means one person whose has a primary responsibility of maintaining the online brand. If the online social media channel is an after-thought, it will show.

Steven :I would also stress the importance of measurement for successful social media marketing. I’m a big fan of free web analytics tools like SiteMeter and Google Analytics. Get a professional account on Flickr and see what content is the most popular. You can learn a lot about your traffic from these tools. A huge benefit of the web compared to communication channels is the opportunity for feedback. Take advantage of that.

Ahmed : Thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to interview you.

Steven : Thank you very much for all these interesting questions! Good luck with your blogging and all of your social media efforts. I wish you and your readers very Happy Holidays.

What do you guys think of the interview? share your thoughts ;) .

You can also follow Prof. Steven through Twitter @stevenLjohnson

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