Good post! I like your “ROE” view. Obviously there are a lot of different ways to incorporate ‘social’ that would make it worth someone’s time.

I am always intrigued with ROI views in social media. I think one of the reasons that it’s such a hot topic right now is because most people/organizations/companies whatever… are still trying to figure it out. They are not sure how to best adopt social into their model. I’m sure the feeling is that “if there is no ROI, then why waste my time?” Also, there is a lot of noise within the industry on social, so it just adds to the confusion of how to use it.

Now, I am sort of seeing a shift in how people are viewing social for business purposes. When viewing social media as a “Business Service Solution” (an enhancement to their business with social solutions) it’s a lot easier to understand its value or how to get ROI.

At NA we make it easier for our clients to grasp, design and launch applications that do things like: generate new ideas and solutions culled from a vast audience, active ongoing focus grouping of a larger universe of respondents, internal and intuitive knowledge centers where remote groups of teams can collaborate quickly and easily. We call these “Business Services” and from this viewpoint it’s a much easier way to get adoption and foresee achievable “ROI.”

David, I totally agree with you, it’s not going to go away. And let’s also keep in mind it’s still very early in the ballgame. Other note: Congrats on your move to Dachis Corp!

Sorry about my comment looking more like a post Marc

Ari, The ROI question keeps popping up because that’s how business works. As much as I wish the question was framed differently, it will never go away and we’ve got to figure out some type of response that will get large organizations making the right kinds of investments.

People need to stop thinking about social media as some new and revolutionary technology. All it is, really, is another tool for humans to be human. And with that comes all of our human vices – that is, thinking about people in terms of ROI or demographics or statistics. Offline, the best relationships between companies/organizations and their stakeholders/audiences depend on trust, transparency, and honesty developed over a longer term. That has never changed.

What has changed is the way we build our reputations. The internet and 24-hour news cycle have made it increasingly more difficult to hide anything, forcibly bringing to the spotlight the best and worst of humankind. If the playing field is level, organizations that are mutually engaged with their key stakeholders will thrive; organizations that aren’t, won’t. It’s always been about “value,” it’s just never been so obvious, I think.

I’ve always maintained, that ROE made better sense- return on engagement in social media, made better sense- but then again, there are some that want to actually make money..