By Denis Hiller, New Media Publicist

Nicholle, a fellow publicist, contacted me on LinkedIn with the following question:

"I love that you have a well-rounded background in social networking and I would like to improve my skills in this area. Do you have any advice on how to work with the endless number of social networking platforms?

Thank you,
Nicholle"




Great question!  The image above illustrates your point exactly, " the endless number of social networking platforms."

There are 2 legitimate schools of thought on this issue. The first, I'm calling the Dave Cortex school of thought. Dave is a friend of mine and the owner of Sweet Cherry Music, an electronic dance music record label. It is his job to get the word out about new music produced on his record label. The second, I'm calling the Denis Hiller school of thought, after my own approach to social networking. Dave & I actually had this very conversation when he was out here in the Silicon Valley several weeks ago.

The Dave Cortex school of thought:
Social networks are a means to market music. Fans use all sorts of social networks from massive ones such as MySpace and Facebook, to niche networks like YouTube and imeem. My goal is to be everywhere there is a substantial number of fans.

Summary: Dave's approach is to be on as many relevant social networks as possible.

The Denis Hiller school of thought:
Social networks are a means to build community. I can not help build a community of PR Professionals if I'm spending too much time updating and keeping track of numerous social networks. Instead I choose to split my time between 2 social networks: MySpace and LinkedIn.

Summary: Denis's approach is to focus on a manageable number of social networks.

I would like to open this question to others. Which school of thought do you resonate with and why? What is your unique approach to the social networks?