Thank you to Brad Ward at SquaredPeg for his post entitled, Resistance. In his post, Brad quotes Seth Godin:
“It’s easy to be against something that you are afraid of.
And it’s easy to be afraid of something that you don’t understand.”
As social media evangelists, many of us run into road blocks when it comes to usage of social media with coworkers or clients. Honestly, I can tell you that the majority of the push back has been from the church sector where we have been marketing social networks for membership building and community development.
Fear has kept many people away from this wonderful tool because of a misunderstanding, or better yet, a lack of understanding. Every person on the planet has had to deal with fear in at least one point of their lives. Maybe minus my FriendFeed acquaintance Duncan Riley, who seems to have no fear. Period.
Kyle. We get the point. People have fear of something they don’t understand. This fear keeps them from opening up and becoming involved in something that could help them in the long run. So what? Why do we care? Should we care?
Absolutely we should care! It is our job as social media users convince the fearful among us to embrace this medium. Shouldn’t we tout and spread the word on something we love so much?
How do we help the non-believers face their fear of Social Media? I have 3 points to help you along your way. Please Pass GO and give me your $200.
1. Put It Into Their Context
An employee of our company, Brady Wood, was recently on a conference call with 60-70 pastors from the Church Multiplication Association. He was trying to explain to them the concept of a NING Network to help with the facilitation of training for new and current pastors. Needless to say, there was some push back. No one was at fault for this. It was new territory and it was our job to explain it to them.
Brady decided to explain the community network in terms of the conference call the pastors were currently on. He proceeded to liken an online community dialogue with that of the conference call. The sharing of ideas between people to create one solid idea that care be shared by a community of “believers.” Needless to say… they got it.
2. Throw Them Into The Water
There is no better way to experience something than to throw yourself into it head first and learn on the way down. It may not be the easiest way to face fears and shift paradigms but it will work all the same. There are times when I am consulting with a client and I will tell them, “Maybe you should take a couple of weeks and just try your hand at LinkedIN and Plaxo? I want you to write 5 blog posts and link them. When you are done with that… email me.”
Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn’t. You have to judge the personality of the person you are helping and plan accordingly.
3. Hold Their Hand (In Public)
Sometimes the only thing a person needs is to be taught how to use a platform. I’m not talking a word document that has the necessary step by step actions to add a picture to Facebook. I’m talking about sitting down with someone and physically walking them through the steps of a social network.
I have found that once you teach someone one network it doesn’t take long for them to grasp the other networks. It only takes one network to get rid of the fear and headtrash. After that one thing, you have created another evangelist.
Great points Kyle. Which of the three points has a higher chance of succeeding? I would say to start with number 3 (holding their hand) and work your way towards a homework assignment (throw them in the water). The shock value of some “techie web dude” telling them to go for it will be reduced and it will be perceived as more of a “lead into the pool” instead of tossing them to the sharks.
I have found that putting it into their context helps people understand a little better, but doesn’t guarantee they take the most important step to start clicking, typing, and connecting.
I find that choosing a social media channel or specific site for them to try out for the first time makes all the difference. If they understand how they can use a specific service within context to their needs its all gravy. Choosing Twitter because its the hottest thing out, but not being able to explain the value beyond that could leave you back at square one or worse.
Thanks for the article Kyle
You need to find a site that creates value and gives them an opportunity to really learn the ins and outs of social media. Great comments Adam!
A good person to talk to about NING is Chris! Did you know the Geeks site is run on that platform? Pretty neat stuff.
Nice write up Kyle.
Love how all your posts are short, clear, and to the point.
m.
I did know. We have been working with ning for the past year.
Chris did a great job with the platform and utilizing it.
Thanks for the compliment, Mona.