The Community Engagement Framework – Part 1: Social Media

As I alluded to last week, I’d be taking a step back (to eventually take two steps forward) with posts that focused more on the fundamentals. In the first of a three-part post, I’ll outline the Community Engagement Framework, starting with social media. This framework will contain the definitions of what I mean when I talk and write about community engagement, social business, social media and social governance.

Social media can be defined as an ecosystem that consists of three elements:

• People People are the driving force behind social media instead of professional publishers or editorial staff for example.
• Behavior People have to do something, whether it is creating content, interacting with one another or distributing content. Behavior is what boosts social media.
• Technology Technology enables social media to happen on a quick and easy basis by providing the platforms and tools for People and Behavior.

The image below illustrates the definition:

Social media is an autonomous entity. It will take place regardless of whether a random individual or organization decides to become involved.

Once an organization decides to become involved in social media, it becomes a more strategic process. Organizations need to understand and think of what their involvement will be within social media.

I’ll talk more about this tomorrow in Part 2: Social Business. For now the comments are yours or talk back at me via Twitter.

Photo credit: Martin Barraud