Confessions of an Ex-Dinosaur posted by Steve Eisenstadt at Monday, September 29, 2008

On a sunny morning in March 2008, hundreds crowded into the Santa Clara Convention Center to hear the morning's speeches at EclipseCon. I sat beside Eclipse marketing chief Ian Skerrett and watched him type brief dispatches in a text box at the top of a strange website.

Twitter?

Back then, I thought "tweet" was just a line in the Jackson 5's "Rockin' Robin."

On a more recent morning, another client, CEO Jonathan Lindo of Replay Solutions, is asking about the role of Twitter and other social media in PR. "Do you have an hour to talk about this?" I asked.

How did a guy who spent 15 years at dead-tree newspapers, then most of the next 11 as a PR guy who believed the three most important things in this business are clips, clips, and clips, start to grasp the power of social media?

When I first heard some early-adopting clients and colleagues talk about Twitter or their latest Facebook friend, my reaction was: These are toys; real men and women get clips. But as I started actively using the sites myself, their power and potential for business became evident. At the same time, the traditional media are dramatically shrinking. So, clearly, "communications" is widening and moving in new, unexpected directions.

On a personal level, I've sensed this is a moment that people of a certain age in every generation face, during a major industrial or cultural shift. You can rue or resist change, or you can get excited about being part of it.

I have used Twitter and Facebook to say something interesting (one hopes) about a client; strengthen relationships with reporters and analysts; stay better connected to agency colleagues. I work with one client, Appcelerator, who essentially told us: "We know you can help get us media coverage. We also need your help building a community of developers through social media."

I've learned that perspective is important. People tend to fall in love with the latest "bright shiny object" -- and social media are very bright and shiny. But social media remain just one element of a smart communications strategy. I don't imagine a day when strong quality and quantity of clips will stop being important. I agree with those who feel social-media-for-social- media-sake is silly. As with any communications strategy, measurement tied to business objectives is needed to assess success or failure.

What do you think? Please tweet: seisenstadt.