Ran across this helpful video (embedded below) wherein several clueful people talk about the importance of listening as a first step into social media. In the earliest days of online community, the best participants would hang out quietly and listen before they would engage in conversation. By listening they would get an understanding of the conversation and its cultural context, and they would have a clear sense how to communicate most effectively in that context.

In the contemporary world of social media, we advise clients to start with what we call a listening platform to track and understand online conversations, determine who has influence within those conversations that are most relevant, and create a strategic analysis to drive a smart social media strategy.

Here’s the video, just listen:

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This entry was posted on Sunday, May 31st, 2009 at 5:34 pm and is filed under Communication, Markets are Conversations, Process, Social Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.