After a call this morning with professionals from around the world, I realized how perceptions on social media usage not only vary within organizations but also between countries.

Where we in North America might view LinkedIn and Facebook among the most popular of the outlets, there seems to be great success in using Ning overseas.

Regardless of the outlet your organization favors, it is important to keep a few things in mind:

• What is the desired outcome of creating a social media presence?
• Do you have a strategy in place (keeping in mind that social media is a rapidly changing medium)?

For the FMJ, we would like to expand our reach beyond our readership…thus helping magnify the FM profession and possibly tap into audiences that were once unreachable through traditional mediums.

If your company’s mission is to stay within the walls of your membership and/or stakeholders, you may want to consider an internal way of interacting (such as sharepoint) or researching about privacy settings and/or closed groups within existing social networking sites.

Research on this topic can be found in this article: http://bit.ly/hYqOkX.

If you do embark on a new media adventure, make sure you are able to commit. It’s not just about posting when you are able to, you have to make the time in order to gain trust, professional/expert recognition and a following.

Our Senior Associate Editor Laurie Steiner is the perfect example of this. Part of her many duties includes updating both IFMA’s and FMJ‘s social media sites. You will see her tweeting at least twice a day, writing status updates on Facebook once/twice a week and making daily checks on LinkedIn (among other sites). Refer back to her FMJ blog post, “The Balancing Act.” for more insight.

Last but not least, remember that depending on the organization, some sites may be better than others. Although Twitter has grown exponentially, take the time to learn about the different opportunities that each site offers and which best suits your mission, goals and workload.

If you decide to jump in, be patient–results will not happen overnight. Remaining motivated is key. Find unique ways to keep the interaction alive (whether through contests or Q&As) and offer consistent content that appeals to your intended audience.

The results will be well worth the wait.

-AS