2974942783_ecc8a050b7

South by Southwest Interactive started yesterday, bringing 12,000 people to discuss latest technologies. Tom Schigel, CEO of ShareThis, led a great panel discussion on the future of influence this Saturday, March 13. Let’s see what the TwitterSphere had to say!

Influence and Expertise

The ability to easily share online has suddenly given many individuals a way to broadcast their knowledge or opinions. For organizations tapping into these voices, influence is critical. Paul Berry, Dave Knox, Mike John-Baptiste, David Binkowski and Tom Schigel talked about the meaning of influence by discussing (and sometimes disagreeing with) the following statements:

  • We know where to find influencers
  • Brands should influence consumers
  • The role of the “expert” is dead
  • The value of influence is clear
  • I can buy influence
  • All social actions matter
  • In 12 months consumers will get 80% of their information from social media

Here is what the Twittersphere had to say

@mizdiva: The best way to regain trust is to quickly admit your mistake, apologize, and do all you can to fix it #futureofinfluence #sxsw

@mediaenthusiast: Influence is about relevance and trust. #futureofinfluence #sxsw .. paying for influencers sacrifices that trust.

@JasonCormier: Social media is the grease within the marketing funnel, not any single stop or linear component of it #futureofinfluence #sxswi

@miishi: Brands can’t just listen- they need to dialogue, activate, incorporate feedback and evolve to build authenticity/trust #futureofinfluence

@iMediaMichelle: #futureofinfluence means learning to connect the dots for your community – accurately, quickly and meaningfully #SXSWi

@bradspikes : Great comment from the panel at #futureofinfluence – You can buy influence, but that does not necessarily make it credible. #nokiasxsw

My Takeaway
This was a great discussion around the topic:

  • The value of negative influence is clear, the value of positive influence is not as much. How do we measure this?
  • Influence means credibility and trust
  • If listening is one of the goals of social media, we better be doing it with a willingness to change
  • Social networks aren’t the destination, they’re a means of awareness

#futureofinfluence was the hottest tag at #sxsw that hour

Photo Credit: kevinzhengli

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to the feed to have future articles delivered to your feed reader.

Print Friendly Print Friendly

Tags: