Firstly, forgive me for writing in English. I may be a Portuguese descendant but English is still my strong language -)

Great series of questions you’re running on this very important topic. In my opinion, while each nation has its own internet penetration and usage patterns, I feel that it’s important to realise that social media needs to be approached as a genuine communication channel no different to any other tool. As an online and social media consultant and strategist, one approach that has helped me in the debate of “why are companies too afraid to invest in social media marketing?” is approaching social media in a measurable manner, much like SEO and SEM has been done. We need to focuses on metrics and ROI. As marketing budgets start to shrink because of a tightening global economy, this is not a luxury anymore but a complete necessity.

Remember, people want to talked to by fellow human beings, not companies, and as such companies are learning that their communications, pr, and marketing strategies must follow suit. Social media is a very valid tool for just this. However, it boils down to a strategy that is paralleled by good business sense.

Look forward to hopefully meeting you when I plan to be in POrtugal later this year!

Ciao,
Gino

Na malha mais larga, TUDO o que é produzido, produzível em web aberta e hiperligável é meio social.

Na malha mais estreita, são social media os webservices onde as pessoas produzem e partilham dados, bem como os metaserviços que reorganizem esses dados.

Diria eu, claro.

Obrigado pela tua observação. Sim, as definições em que cada um dos entrevistados se baseou é diferente de entrevista para entrevista. Mas na verdade, acho que esse era um dos objectivos desta experiência. Eu não avancei com nenhuma definição, limitei a colocar-lhes as questões, esperando que eles respondessem com base nas suas próprias definições.

A minha definição de Social Media faz parte do primeiro artigo da série: “Os social media em Portugal”