1.4 The Social Media Ecosystem

The Social MediaECOSYSTEM

The Social Media Ecosystem In this section we’ll look at the mega trend of how collaboration and improved e ciencies through social media are transforming organizations and how business gets done today. How can social media improve our jobs and organizations?

The Social Media EcosystemAccording to a McKinsey Global Institute study from communications andcollaboration from social 2012, improved media could...add $1.3 trillion annually raise knowledge worker cut unnecessary emailsin value to the economy productivity 20-25% and meetings, ine cient communications, redundancies, and ine cient silos and stop wasting company resources

The Social Media Ecosystem Are Digital and Social Media Skills in Demand? Yes! According to Monster and careerbuilder.com, job postings requiring social media skills rose 87% from 2011 to 2012, even topping 13,000 in one month alone. It’s important to emphasize that social media skill sets are becoming part of everyone's job, and not just the responsibility of someone who has social media in their job title. What if Social Media isn’t in the Job Title? Just because social media isn’t part of your job title doesn’t mean that it won’t be part of your duties or responsibilities. According to a 2012 NASDAQ OMX and Regan Communications survey of professional communicators, 65% of respondents use social media on top of their other duties. According to a January 2013 survey from IDC, 50% of all new marketing hires will be technical. The excuse 'I'm not good with computers' might have worked in 1989, but it's no longer acceptable. If you want a job in the future, you're going to need digital and social media skills.

The Social Media EcosystemTake a few momentsto think aboutthese questions. How are social media duties shared in your company? Do these survey results correspond with the survey in your company? Does your company have standardized training for social media use?

The Social Media Ecosystem Skills GapWith a growingnumber of jobs thatrequire social mediaskills, new jobs thathave social media inthe job title, and amore technicallyliterate pool ofworkers, why is thisan issue?

The Social Media EcosystemAccording to a ManpowerGroup 2011 study, 52% of UScompanies reporteddi culty filling jobs. Themain reason cited by thesecompanies was thecandidates' lack ofexperience and skills.Bridging the GapOne of the biggest challenges facing organizations today for utilizing socialcommunication and social collaboration is training. According to a 2011 4A's study,90% of employees say that they have to figure things out on their own and are notreceiving su cient training. We have a perfect storm here of companies not hiringbecause candidates lack su cient experience and skills, and employees reportingthat they're not receiving training from their own companies and organizations.Social media training and certification will be critical to solving the digital socialmedia skills gap.

The Social Media Ecosystem Take a few moments to think about these questions. How can training improve your organization’s ability to collaborate and communicate with social? How would you rank your company’s current ability to do this?

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