Social Media

Social media, Web 2.0, new media, emerging technologies—although these buzzwords may change, the open, transparent, and collaborative culture that tools such as blogs and wikis enable will not. Your stakeholders, both internal and external, are already using these tools to communicate, collaborate, and share information in ways traditional communications strategies do not allow. What are the benefits, risks, challenges, and best practices of integrating social media into your organizational strategies? Perhaps even more important, what are the risks of not using social media?

Social media is an umbrella term that describes the integration of technology, social interaction, and content development and management. Social media refers not just to applications like blogs and wikis but to what those applications enable—virtual, social interactions. Whereas traditional media enables “one-to-many” communications, social media enable “many-to-many” communications. Technology like e-mail, websites, and search engines connect people to information; social media use technology to connect people to other people.

Booz Allen understands that an effective social media strategy does not stand on its own—it is integrated into the organization’s existing strategy and tailored to the organization’s unique culture, environment, and purpose. Implementing social media can be as simple as placing Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds on an agency’s website or as complex as implementing an enterprise-wide social media platform. Regardless of the scale, Booz Allen has the expertise to guide organizations through the full lifecycle of social media, from strategy through implementation.

Link here to the complete Social Media Capability Sheet.

This page was last updated 17 September 2009.