Social Media Marketing, An Hour a Day: The Social Web

Social Networks: The Power of the Collective

According to Evans, understanding how network organization affects the flow of information is central to your successfully making the case for social media within your organization.  That being said, Evans lists three laws which govern the use and value of social networks as well as the Social Web.  They are as follows:

1. Sarnoff’s Law- Named after the founder of the National Broadcasting Company (NBC), David Sarnoff, this law holds that the value of the network increases in direct proportion to the number of listeners.  So, for example, in a typical broadcast, a single voice is sent out to millions of listeners.  Therefore, a network with 100 people is 10 times as valuable.
2. Metcalfe’s Law- Named for Robert Metcalfe, one of the co-inventors of Ethernet and founder of the networking firm 3Com, this law states that the network value grows as the square of the number of users.  For example, people can talk in both directions and with more than one conversation occurring simultaneously.
3. Reed’s Law- Named for David P. Reed, this law is also known as the “Law of the Pack” and holds that the value of the network grows more powerfully than either Sarnoff or Metcalfe would suggest with the formation of groups and the interconnections between them. This law is most applicable to how we view social networks today.

Social Media Begins Here

Social media is about ordinary people trying to reach out to one another via groups and communities that are formed on the Web.   This is why social networking is so effective.  People are constantly sharing information with one another- more often than traditional forms of media (i.e. television and radio, etc.).  Marketers are also beginning to recognize the value of social networking because as Evans stated:

These highly interconnected social networks are equally perceived as effective in vetting that information, and it is the combined impact that makes social networks along with user-generated content and social meedia so powerful from a consumer’s perspective.  They are using these networks to evaluate everything you say.

Evans Wraps it Up With the Following

• Social media derives its value simultaneously from the collective and the individual, not the mass.  This is a reversal of traditional marketing and creative models where a single message is crafted and pushed out to a mass audience.
• Network Value-that is, how efficiently it supports sharing and collaboration-is determined by the way in which members are connected.  Networks that follow Reed’s Law- where members are free to form groups and connections between themselves and these groups- are the types of networks of most interest to social media marketers.
• The touchpoint map and social feedback cycle are central to the successful application of social media.
• RSS allows content to be scheduled for delivery.  This is much better than having to go and check on it.  RSS powers much of the Social Web.
• Social networks are part of, but not the same as, social media and the Social Web.