Social Media vs. Social Networking

What I found interesting, was that the session on Social Media was really focused on social networking platforms and the way in which they can used.  And, unless I missed it by bouncing back and forth, there was no differentiation made between the two at the session or a discussion on how to make money from social networking.  In my opinion, the reason this wasn’t discussed and rarely is at sessions like this, is because no one is actually using social networking platforms to make money.

Thursday, as Allan Dalton addressed the crowd of REALTORS® gathered at the Rye Grill and Bar, Social Media was again at the forefront of the discussion.  However, it began in a much different way.  Instead of discussing the particulars Twitter, Facebook, and Foursquare had to offer and the ways they could be used, Allan set the stage by reviewing of findings from the 2010 Dalton/Hundley Real Estate Social Media Census.  What I found most interesting was the stark contrast he drew between Social Networking and Social Media.

Social Media, unlike social networking, is a way for real estate agents to attack viral issues and disseminate content on those issues to the communities in which they work and live.  By doing so, similar to the way in which politicians attack viral issues to generate a voter base, real estate agents could then use Social Media to “draw fans, friends, and followers from social networks to members of their own Real Estate Social Network,” Allan Said.  According to Allan, the premise behind this is that anyone, even a six year-old can have “friends, fans and followers,” but they don’t make you any money when it comes to selling real estate.  By transforming those same people into Members of a network, like members of a political party or patients of a medical practice, real estate agents will stand a better chance to gain that future business and create clients as opposed to customers (who complete one transaction).

Certainly, social networking has its place, it’s a great pool in which to generate “members” and disseminate information from your Social Media outlets.  Furthermore, since so much of the social media landscape is taking place on mobile devices it is imperative that your brand and your social media content is formatted properly to translate to all mobile devices.  Social networking and social media owe much of their success to the advancement of mobile technology and should you want fully participate in this area as part of your business, you too need to evaluate how your brand is perceived and accessed through mobile devices.

All these topics will be covered in greater detail in Allan’s upcoming book, Leveraging Your Social Media Links, which will include a chapter on Mobile Technology.  For more information on the book as well as RISMedia’s upcoming Leadership Conference and Social Media Summit, Text the word Leaders to 88500.

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