more than large.....generalised statement but one that I think 'in general' is true.
Jonathan Zittrain in The Future of the Internet comments
"The PC revolution...invited innovation by others. So too with the Internet. Both were generative"
(He goes on to add that the future is not generative but arguably one of sterile appliances tethered to a network of control)
What is social media? Well, it is a generative platform that allows people to innovate.
What is a small business? Well, for me it is a generative platform that allows an entrepreneur to innovate in a niche part of the market. The small business doesn't have rules, systems, procedures per se ....it has dreams
Compare that with a large corporation which I would argue in general terms is the opposite. The large ones that thrive manage to keep that innovative spirit....the large ones that struggle are driven more by meetings than dreams.....
For me that is why social media and small business go together, starting a business needs you to understand what you are wanting to provide, what your vision is...what your goals are....It is the corporization of a persons dream....the person or persons are the values, the brand.
For me that is why social media can be much more difficult for large ones...they are not generative in nature...they are a controlled network.
That doesn't mean that all small businesses will thrive on social media, but it does mean that if they are themselves, if they use social media to express these dreams, their personality then they can stand out from the crowd...that is much harder for a larger company who has to get sign off for everything!
Ideas for small business come from within...and social media allows you to tell the world about them.
Ideas from large corporations come from a strategic plan that tends to be a compromise across many teams of people.
If you run a small business then realise that social media is the platform for your innovation....the Internet is a generative platform but you are the generator of the ideas.
