A collection of my favourite videos that eloquently explain social media. Perfect for a client or executive briefing.

1. Social Media Gavin Heaton @servantofchaos www.servantofchaos.com http://www.flickr.com/photos/billselak/4168322462/ Telling the Story Six videos that changed the way that we know what we know

2. Introduction I am often asked to explain social media, simply. Usually I draw a rough version of the image on the left. But it is static. It doesn’t tell the story – I do. And despite the wide scale adoption and use of social networks such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, many people struggle to understand the reality behind the numbers. They dismiss and down play the importance of what is happening – often in front of their eyes. Fundamentally, we are being swept along in wave after wave of change. Sometimes this continues what was previously started. Sometimes it leap frogs. It confuses and it fizzles. For the best part of 200 years we have framed our understanding of this type of change in terms of technology. We became used to being baffled by the language of innovation. But these are not technological changes, though technology is an intimate and fundamental aspect of these changes. We are seeing changes in culture, in society and in behaviour. And we are seeing them unfold before our eyes – for now anyone with a webcam, a connection and a cause (or purpose) can produce a video that can spread around the world. This is a collection of videos that tell this story. The early story of social media. User generated context

3. Where the Hell is Matt Matt Harding’s epic third journey around the world meeting and dancing with people – sponsored by Stride Gum set the bar for brand engagement in the social media space. Over 26 million views of a 4 minute video. More details: “Where the Hell is the Sponsor” - http://www.servantofchaos.com/2008/07/where-the-hell.html

4. Did You Know School teacher Karl Fisch’s put together a video for his secondary school students to explain the transformation that was taking place on a global scale. He wanted to show them that this change was not just technological, but demographic, global and irreversible. It has been through a number of iterations – but this is one of the better ones. http://www.servantofchaos.com/2009/02/shift-happens-revisted-again-and-again.html

5. The Machine is Us/ing Us University Professor, Michael Wesch put this video together in his basement the weekend before the superbowl. It explains the cultural and technological context in which social media or Web 2.0 has come to thrive. See the full background in his Library of Congress speech outlined here: http://www.servantofchaos.com/2008/07/youtube-and-the.html

6. Gary Vaynerchuck Gary is a social media success story. He turned his wine retail business into a blockbuster $50 million a year concern by embracing social media and setting up his own online media channel – tv.winelibrary.com. His earthy, no-nonsense style and explanation of wines has changed his entire industry. http://www.servantofchaos.com/2009/01/gary-vaynerchuck-on-social-media-roi.html

7. Twit or Twitter CommonCraft create story based explanations of the latest technology. This one explains Twitter – “in plain English”. But there are videos covering, ‘social media”, blogs, wikis and LinkedIn (amongst others): see http://www.commoncraft.com http://www.servantofchaos.com/2008/03/twit-or-twitter.html

8. Socialnomics Erik Qualman’s book on how social media is transforming our lives and the way we do business comes packed with great case studies and ideas. http://socialnomics.net/the-book/

9. It’s the Age of Conversation A quick primer – with multiple points of view can be found in The Age of Conversation books. The first edition brought over 100 authors from 15 countries together to examine the changes taking place in marketing practice. The second edition doubled in size and broadened the topic. It asked the difficult questions around ideation, implementation and the challenges these present for businesses around the world. And a new edition – the Age of Conversation III – due out soon, challenges us all to transform not just the way that we work, but the way we live, play and participate in this global transformation. Learn more at www.ageofconversation.com