is a web strategist with lots of experiences as a marketing director and consultant. Hes currently manager at Hrtools.com and Administaff Inc. George Benckenstein blogs at

What I hope you understand after reading this is the true importance of social media and why most companies dont have a clue as to what it means for their business, customers, employees and their competitors.

If you want to buy a new car you are not going to buy what car-makers tell you in their ads, right? You probably ask advice and suggestions to your friends and listen to their car recommendations. How much they like it, whether it is cSocial Mediaomfortable, issues about the brakes they have heard about, and so on.

Finding yourself uneasy when thinking of exposing your product up for criticism in front of so many people?

So what does this mean for the traditional institutional model? It means that business leaders have to get comfortable with reviewing something very core - their original purpose - their existence.

Think again.

Lets think about social media thru another lens. Lets look at it around coordinating effort or, from the basis any institution is created which is, getting things done. This is whats important about social media.

Why issocial media so important? And most importantly, why should you and your company care about?

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The essence of social media is in the group, the network of people which lies behind it. Well, these people are the best and most effective marketing agents you will ever find.

Companies are missing whats really important about social media and the platforms that support it - and here it is.

Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance. You might make the connection to the Kbler-Ross models 5 discrete stages of how people come to terms with dying. This is how many institutions and organizations will come to terms with these new, communication, collaboration and coordination platforms.

Institutions and organizations are wondering what to do about social media. Policies are being written, consultants are being brought in to figure out how it can be used as a marketing channel.

In the end, I really think there are only 2 choices:

We all have the power to create personal networks to coordinate effort and accomplish anything.

So here we are. This is happening.

Embrace and leverage communication, collaboration and coordination platforms. Institutions and individuals alike all have access to a world of new opportunities. This is difficult because it requires us to forget what we think we know and look at our circumstance dispassionatly and objectively. It will also require us all to get involved and learn. You cant ke this.

You have made a great new product? Give it out. Let people test it,new york asian escort model give you feedback, criticism. Thats what social media are for.

So you think youve heard every perspective there is about and why companies should take notice? Think again.

Now take a moment to consider just what comes between a traditional institution or organiSocial Media What Is It And Why Its So Important For Any Organization?zation and its customers.

The ultimate importance of the web is coming to fruition. Its the ultimate communication platform. It gives institutions the power to outdistance their competition by breaking down communication barriers between their employees, their customers and their suppliers.

The answer would be NO. Chances are your company is NOT delivering a superior customer experience. So is this whats important about social media? The answer is Partially.

In this article, web strategist George Benckenstein explains in very , non-technical words, what marketing experts and businessmen have iled to understand about the real value of social media for companies and institutions.

The Social Media Optimization Manifesto: Key Social Marketing Principles To Increase The Visibility Of Your Web Site

Social media is NOT a mean to deliver a superior experience to customers. Thats the wrong way to look at it. Social media is simply a mean to get things done.

More recently, since the cost for people to communicate with each other has llen thru the floor, many are rethinking the system in which people communicate, collaborate and coordinate. A great example of this is found on social networking platforms - platforms where coordination and communication are designed into the system. Systems that allow group output without regard to traditional institutional models.

Here a concise, clear and focused view on why social media are so important for today institutions.

Social media has given everyone the possibility to easily talk to each other, to exchange opinions, while getting rid of all the corporate hype and lse promises typical of brand advertising.

, Social Media, and first published on April 28th 2009 as Social Media vs Institutions

Thomas Friedman said what can be done, will be done. There is nothing standing in our way. Lets get busy getting things done.

Cooperation cost is the economic burden of coordinating effort. Traditionally, the solution for coordinating effort was to create an institution.

In theFlat World evangelized by George Benckenstein, people are not anymore subjected to what companies tell them to like or buy.

by George Benckenstein

Social media, or lets say the platforms created to support it, have created a slight paradigm shift (well maybe a bit more than slight). In order to understand the enormity of this shift, you have to start looking at this phenomena a little differently - from a holistic point of view.

This new dynamic has created an environment where communication, collaboration and coordination exist without barriers. It gives power to individuals to compete with institutions at a level unprecedented. Institutional containment as we know it does not exist. Market barriers no longer exist as we know it.