Media'ZBiz!

LeWeb this year was greater than ever.

More than 2,500 participants from 46 countries attended the event in Paris. More than 100,000 followed the event live from their desktop or iPhone via Ustream. All the major internet players were present on stage: Google, Microsoft, Twitter, MySpace, Orange, BT, Facebook, Ning, SixApart, Nokia, PayPal, FON, Meetic, Deezer, Zappos, Netvibes and many others.

Le Web has become a great platform and opportunity for entrepreneurs to learn about the latest web trends, to share and test their ideas/concepts and to meet the different actors of the web (i.e. bloggers, users, consultants, business angels, product specialists).

It will take me too long to write about the different subjects discussed during those 2 days, which details (videos, news, official bloggers) you can find here. I have however selected two keynote speakers (Chris Pirillo and Jeremy Owyang) which subjects I think are very relevant with what we (as consumers and businesses) have been experiencing lately in our every days’ life: real time is becoming predominant and online communities are growing faster than ever.

Chris Pirillo gave us his ‘original’ thoughts about the essence of ‘community’. Community …

…lives inside us. Where I go, community goes. We create it based on our preferences, like dislikes and the people we link up with.

…is becoming increasingly distributed, as we distribute our ideas and thoughts across social networks.

…requires tools that can’t be built (so don’t try), ie if its us, we can’t scale ourselves.

…is a commodity, but people aren’t. It’s easy to set up a website or blog, but the people and voices behind it are what makes it unique, special.

…cannot be controlled, but can be “guided”.

…is no longer defined by physical boundaries. You probably have more in common with a geek living on another continent than your next door neighbor.

…grows its own leaders. the best leaders come organically out of a community, and is not an appointed one. It’s crucial that communities grow it’s own leaders for credibility and respect reasons.

…is the antithesis of ego. Community is myself and everyone else, not just me or my Twitter stream.

… is everywhere, inside you. It’s what you share, your passions — and it’s this that will spell success.

But what I see often as well nowadays is this confusion between the concept of social media and the concept of community. They are often used interchangeably and they are not the same thing. Social media helps foster communities (examples of online communities in the TV industry, healthcare, financial services, travel industry).

Businesses entering the social media space must first figure out where their audience is (isn’t it the beginning of any type of strategy?). Working with communities of any kind, whether it’s a forum, a group on Facebook, or a bunch of people on Twitter discussing a particular subject every week, takes care and time. It involves developing true relationships with the audience by helping community members with information they need or solving their problems. A lot more goes into developing the type of respect, authority, and relationships in communities that generate successful strategies and attained goals for companies.

This brings new opportunities for people to get information when they need it and opportunities for the companies that want to provide contextual information. But information are now ‘real time’. Information is moving quicker than ever between members of communities. Data is exploding at a rapid pace with the influx of status features and mobile devices. Jeremiah Owyang says:

Yet, despite the opportunities, most companies are unable to keep up with the “Slow time” web as it is.  In fact, those that can’t keep up risk missing opportunities, or worse –heading off detractors before they become mainstream.
To best leverage real time data, companies must adopt three strategies:

1. Start listening now, and quickly offer social personalization features
2. Develop an unpaid army of advocates who can respond when you’re not there, and
3. Start to invest in systems –like social CRM– that can support their overall strategy.

There is a great opportunity for businesses to use social media to enable conversations and to create communities that extend their capabilities and engage their constituents in richer ways that results in higher retention, lower risk, increased ROI, and faster operational capacity.

Communities have enormous strategic benefits to companies but require considerable investment (in resources, time, and tools) and are difficult to implement because they have a significant impact on business processes.