The case for social media

Examples of companies that use social media to listen and build relationships with employees and customers

Turkish proverb: If speaking is silver, then listening is gold

“It is an exciting time to be a communicator” was tweeted and retweeted during Ragan’s Social Media Conference in Las Vegas.

For most people in attendance, that statement meant that it is an exciting time because of all the communication tools out there for us to use. Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Friendfeed, blogs and wikis. You could see the wheels turning during many sessions as attendees thought “wow — I can do this at home and then the leadership will like me because we are doing social media.”

But for me, this statement meant more — for me it is an exciting time because these tools allow us — the communicators — to practice what is arguably our most important skill. The one that we really need to excel at in order to be a leader. To be of value. To be at the table. To be a strategist.

The skill: Listening.