Grab the wave

Wikipedia: "Knowledge is a collection of facts, information, and/or skills acquired through experience or education or (more generally) the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject."

After sitting through my second "How to use social media for business" presentation in a week (both well done, but that's not my point), it hit me: We are trying to grab a wave.

Anyone who has spent time in open water realizes the complexities of waves. They are ephemeral. Their form is constantly changing. They are not solid. They move. They crest, but not always when expected, and can reform and recrest. They are irregular and yet offer some promise of predictability.

Thinking of the social media revolution (yes, I believe it is a revolution akin to the industrial revolution, but that's another blog post topic), we are compelled whether or not we want to to take it into account when thinking strategically.

The problem is that we can't "learn about social media and be done with it." Our knowledge today about LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and all the sites and tools that connect with and enhance these and other social media outlets will be quickly eclipsed and the landscape will be different tomorrow.

What comprises social media and how to use and leverage it is changing too quickly, wavelike, growing, reshaping, moving. We cannot "know" it at any point.

The answer? We need to "experience" it real-time as it morphs.

Simply, to understand the social media wave and how to best leverage it strategically at any given point, we need to ride the wave. As a surfer knows, when you grab a wave just right, it can be a fast and exhilarating ride.

We need to get out there in the surf and get the feel of the waves breaking and forming. Try riding a wave - that's right, I mean we need to post, tweet, update, join, like and discuss. After a time, I am certain we will be so engaged that social media will no longer be a collection of facts that we need to know. It will become a liquid landscape which is familiar and engaging, continually offering new opportunities.

I am out enjoying the surf and the water is fine. Come on in! You can find me at @leepublish, www.linkedin.com/pub/lee-crumbaugh/0/266/506 and www.facebook.com/#!/lee.crumbaugh.