So, I got asked this question on a call today with a fellow social media experts, and I just had to blog about the ensuing conversation.
In reality if you look at the Latin origins of the word social it would most likely have a definition akin to the free give and take of conversation and collaboration amongst multiple parties. Slap on the word media and that ensures it is some form of digital media these days.
So with this as a backdrop the answer would logically be …. NO!
A podcast is a new media. A podcast is a new channel. But it is still at the end of the day a one way dialog …. you listen to one or two people having a conversation. If you were listening to two people having a conversation at a party are you being social? I think not …. its only when you get involved in the conversation does it become social.
So just how social are podcasts?
Take it from me, I have personally recorded and handed edited over 100 podcasts for this blog and other purposes and I can safely say they don’t get the level of interactivity (read comments) like my regular old blog posts do. Yes there is that element of “portability” meaning you can take a podcast anywhere and listen to it any time …. but do people really do that?? The answer there is also NO. I find my listeners tend to consume the media right when they find it. Which is why I go through the trouble of tagging my podcasts with Veotag so folks can listen to only the relevant question or 2, get in …. get out and on to the next thing. People are busy and you can read faster than you can listen!
So does that spell the end of podcasts?
No way, I got a little nervous when I saw PodTech get sold for $500,000 but think podcasts can be very useful in delivering messages …. just realize going in you aren’t really doing social media by doing a bunch of podcasts. Does this mean I will stop my podcast series? …. no, I enjoy it too much to stop!
So what’s your view …. is podcasting social media to you?
Tags: Buzz Marketing, Podcasting, Social Media, Web 2.0
Great question Paul – the element of “new” control over an “old” media channel certainly exists, but beyond that we start to get into a discussion of how synchronous vs. asynchronous does a medium need to be to be “social.”
To your point…is AM talk radio social? It’s certainly an immediate exchange of ideas between host and callers…just that the means of production are controlled by a large corporation (e.g. CBS) rather than an individual. Is that what makes podcasting “social?”
Good food for thought, thanks.
Since podcasts by definition can be listened to on web pages or in iTunes or on a portable media device or … multiple modalities of reception offer different forms of interaction options to start, so the audience is already fragmented with different ways of interacting. I listen to podcasts on my iPod, so I’m not likely to dash off a comment on the web site unless I’m really, really moved, though on a blog post, the comment option is right there, right now. Just as I’m doing now. Had you said the same thing on a podcast, I would have talked with someone about it upon arrival to my next destination, but I would not go online just to leave a comment in most cases. I think this is a crucial difference: how easy is it to leave a comment in the moment of the experience?
If listeners can’t comment in the moment, you are likely to not get comments.
Now what about an iPod that allowed you to record comments and they would sync back to the web site next time you docked your iPod with iTunes?
I think it’s hard to generalize, some podcasts get lots of call-in comments, others very few. I think it boils down to how the whole show is conceived, and that determines the level of social interaction.
Podcasts are not social media per se. Social media is a subset of new media, and podcasts are new media – media produced in new channels that previously did not exist.
Slap on the word media and that ensures it is some form of digital media these days.
Nope.
Podcasting isn’t Social Media.
BUT
The distance between the listener and host (at least in the “indie” podcaster scene) is closer than in most media forms.
In this new “microcelebrity” (credit Theresa Senft)space listeners can actually have a conversation, email exchange, etc. with their favorite podcaster.
Good luck getting an email back from Chris Matthews, Bono, or Ira Glass.
http://www.wired.com/techbiz/people/magazine/15-12/st_thompson
@PeterKim – love your analogy of podcasting vs AM talk radio (and thanks for commenting BTW!)
I think podcasting is more “social” than AM talk radio because it isn’t controlled by a big conglomerate radio station and listeners get to express what they feel about the show un-edited by commenting
@David Tames – great point – time shifting and listening to the podcast while you are on the go – hampers some of the social aspects
I had another comment on twitter that was similar and we were netting out that there needs to be a platform (like you suggest your ipod or iphone) that can allow you to leave a voice comment!
@ Christopher Penn
Hey Chris thanks for weighing in
I like how you segmented New Media into types – one of which is Social Media and another being New Media (where podcasts reside)
any ideas from you on how to make them more social??
Paul,
Social Media is about conversation.
No, podcasting is not social media if it doesn’t generate a conversation. A show or presentation (like morning becomes eclectic on KCRWs podcast) is not social its just content that happens to be online.
Yes, podcasting is social media if it does generate conversation. If you read and respond to comments and maybe do a follow-up or another podcast later is driven by a post then the engagement happens.
The converstation doesn’t have to take place through the same medium (though it can: youtube lets you post video responses and you can reply to them in video). All of the social media outlets (blogs, podcasts, facebook, twitter, etc) are really just tools. And one job is rarely done with just one tool.
The opposite of you question might also be true: If a company uses twitter and facebook to feed content to users but never actually interacts with the users is that social media?
I couldn’t agree more, and aren’t I correct that both of these more in harmony together?
For example, podcasting is a great add-on and addition to social marketing media to our “tribe”
Mike Saunders
http://www.marketinghuddle.com
Thoughts?
We launched a podcast program for a small client …. monthly interviews with industry gurus – with the goal to start a conversation about the hot button topics we were discussing.
The conversation part failed because of all the reasons stated in the post and comments, and also because we can’t (despite our pushing) always get the podcast participant to respond to a comment left for them since they don’t necessarily see podcasts as a conversational tool.
That being said, the library is a huge marketing success for this client. They are wildly popular and driving significant traffic to their site. And, while the podcasts don’t receive many comments themselves, they very often get mentioned in industry blog posts with links back to the library. We’ve recently had the client start to do summary blog postings of the most popular podcasts which creates that social media aspect for the podcast, albeit indirectly.
So yes, podcasts themselves may not be social media but they are definitely important to this client’s overall social media strategy.
We could disagree with you more about your statement that people dont take podcasts with them and listen to on the go. Have you ever heard of an ipod? The itunes podcast directory has thousands of podcasts which people download everyday. People do download podcasts and they listen to them online, on the way to work and a variety of other places. Its audio ‘On-demand”.
Very interesting question!
In some respects, pocasts have the potential to be social–if there is interaction on the podcast is one way. Another way is if the podcast is shared, with others, through non-traditional broadcast means (through other social media is one way.) I can share a podcast of something with a friend, and the podcast can be put on a blog to be shared with others.
It’s the sharing aspect that can make the podcast social. That’s what makes it different from traditional media, which still has a lot of blocks to sharing freely (if you can get it at all.)
Dave MacDonald makes an excellent point about non-social ways that some companies and individuals use Twitter and Facebook. For some, these forms of social media all about pushing their corporate or personal brand message. It’s not about responding or interacting. If you look at Twitter & Fb in those terms, they can easily become just free broadcast channels.
i believe it has social aspects. but the conversation is carried on at the users chosen time. whether they send an email, comment, audio mp3 comment, and even a video comment. As long as there is a conversation i say yes!!! it is social media.
I’d agree that podcasts in and of themselves aren’t social media, but they can integrate well with social media.
Boagworld, a podcast about Web design, for example has a companion blog and forum in which they share the information and links discussed in the show and where listeners can make comments and talk amongst themselves.
Leo Laporte’s This Week in Tech is recorded live. Thus listeners may watch the live video and sign in to ustream or stickam to make comments during the show. They also save links mentioned in the show on Delicious and on their show Wiki.
Then of course many podcasts are distributed via blogs, so often listeners can comment there after the fact.
It’s interesting that so many listeners still tend to listen via the Web. I subscribe to several podcasts in iTunes and listen to them on my iPod while I walk around the block, shovel snow, drive, lounge on the couch, etc. The portability in time and space is one of the features I find most useful. I’m no longer tied to my computer to listen to such programming.
As I read the original question and then the comments, I recalled the ancient definition of a zebra: a horse with stripes. Or is a horse a zebra without stripes?
Is podcasting “social media?” Is writing tweets “social media? If a log in a forest falls, is there a sound?
Too many of us have fallen in a giant definitional black hole whenever the sacred phrase “social media” raises its ugly little head.
“Oh, but there must be a conversation.” The conversation must take place in “real time.” No, it’s o.k. if the conversation occurs later when a blogger mentions the podcast…and readers “leave a comment.”
I believe that social media encompasses multiple communication channels creating opportunities for people to interact in myriad ways. And the best podcasts, blogs and social media sites are those that encourage interactions and dialogues across all media channels.
So the work of the social media marketer is to create opportunities for these interactions to take place–and then get out of the way.
Social Media Marketing: An Hour a Day by Dave Evans and Susan Bratton is an excellent book to ponder over.
(Oh, by the way, Robert Scoble believes podcasting is a form of social media.)
Brian Prows, MobileBeyond
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