Steve Rubel on Social Networking and Using Gmail as a Database
by Gwen Moran
One of the great perks about being a writer and blogger is that you get to check in with some thought leaders in the areas you cover. Steve Rubel is the author of the blog Micropersuasion and a vp at Edelman's me2revolution practice. Here, he indulges my nosy side:
GM: There are social networking sites for everything from stay-at-home moms to doctors to Martha Stewart fans. How does a small business decide where the best place to spend time and money on these sites?
SR: Social networking and community is going to become a river that runs through every site. Facebook and Google's OpenSocial initiative will likely pave the way for your profile to become portable. The best thing to do is to probably align with a site that supports one of these programs. Utilize the tools they offer. In terms of sizing up sites, right now the best thing to do is to talk to people/prospects to see which sites they are using regularly.
GM: When you look into the Micropersuasion crystal ball, what is the social media scene going to look like in five years? Will it operate the same way?
SR: Hmm, I can't say I know. However, I can directionally see where things are moving. The big thing to watch is the complete blurring of lines. We like to put things into finite categories, but that's impossible today. There is no line any more between social and mainstream media. It's just as the line is blurring between PR and marketing because of the changes in digital. Every media content site utilizes blogging and social networking. So, net, I believe that social will become a feature of the web, much as email, IM, search and other functions.
GM: Is the evolution of the devices we use going to impact social media?
SR: Absolutely. However, devices will impact how we engage with media overall. It will be a lot easier to upload content from a mobile device because they will all essentially be miniature PCs. If you want to shoot and upload video wireless from a cell phone that's very tough to do today - at least in the US. So, you can imagine how as Moore's Law continues and we get more sophisticated devices in our hands, we're going to see a lot more content get put up online.
Are social networks just an add-on to the marketing plan? Or is there a way to integrate them into more traditional activities in PR, direct marketing, etc.?
Right now social networks are being viewed as an add-on and I don't believe they are being used the right way. People are taking an old model and trying to shoehorn it into an entirely new paradigm. The best way to use these sites is as platforms for collaboration. This means front-loading social networking to solicit input up front as companies build products and marketing programs.
GM: You said, in a recent blog post, "I am using Gmail for a big research project and it worked quite nicely as a database. I think a lot of people are overlooking how useful and versatile web mail is." What do you mean?
SR: Gmail runs my life. I use it as a giant tickler - a record. I have increased the storage to really push it to the max. In Gmail I have a bunch of different labels for the projects I am working on and things I want to track. As I find things on the web or in files, I email them into Gmail to a special address formatted as steverubel+[secretword]@ gmail.com. From there I have filters set up to shuttle them out of the inbox and into my archive filed under a particular label.
So, let's say I am researching to buy a dog. I would email entire articles to steverubel+dog@gmail.com and have those messages filed away under "dog" label. Now, I can pull up the label and execute searches against it - e.g. "toys label:dog" or "bites -toys label:dog." That basically turns Gmail into a database for research. Plus with IMAP, you can start to add functions that Gmail does not include in the web platform.
Thanks to Steve Rubel for sharing his thoughts with us. What do you think of Steve's ideas? Discuss in the Comments section.
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