I spend an inordinate amount of time on social media, Google + and Google Hangout in particular. Most of the time on sites relevant to healthcare and medicine. I also attend events worldwide on SM in general, research large business consulting firms such as Forrester. Now and then I bump into a Presidential candidate. Watch this one, and you might see me.
Facebook and Twitter serve some specific needs that I use for messaging and communicating one on one. Many of my followers are not at all familiar with Google +
I am here visiting the LeWeb Conference in Paris France. This is the Euro-Web event.and my G+Stream as well as Tweetdeck.are busy. I also am using a social media browser, RockMelt which aggregates twitter, facebook, and several of my favorite RSS feeds.
Rockmelt also facilitates customization of website you visit frequently. The page is simplistic with most of the desired links on the left banner. I can switch from web sites to a social media site very quickly.
Is all this social media relevant? I think it is, as a tool and for some as a revenue stream, and information stream.
The roster of presenters reads like the Who’s who of software application developers and famous internet entrepreneurs.
Today at the LeWeb Conference, Marisa Meyer (Google +) pointed out that Social Media is “green”. Conferences and social media interact to decrease travel to meetings, Forrester Gartner, business consultants predict that social media is running out of time (limits of time available), and running out of people…Social Media is in a bubble. SM will have to be more efficient…the next wave will be faster, easier to use and have a higher value per unit of time.
In the Enterprise (Hospitals, Integrated Health Systems, Universities) tremendous growth is taking place, newer platforms, and for professional services. SM will become the central hub with radiating spokes to the cloud, to mobile apps and classical desktop services. These changes are taking place rapidly in business, healthcare is a laggard (as usual).
Anyone who attends a social media event comes away excited, either because of the energy of the presenters, or because of the ideas for applications in health care, which at present remain unfulfilled.
In a parallel universe the occupy movement reflects the earliest indicator of looming change for business, government and healthcare. The old paradigms will disappear with the ineffectual systems we now use.
Is healthcare boring? No, but healthcare systems are staid and about to face the apocalypse of Armageddon.
All experts advise not rushing in to social media where only fools dare to tread. Adequate preparation, education and training are essential to prevent damage to your brand or reputation. The analogy is ‘screaming in the middle of the room to get attention”.
It is very much like choosing an electronic medical record…choosing the wrong one or how to use it can be a disaster and have a negative effect.
And that’s all I have to say about that ! I can be reached at twitter @glevin1