User Experience professionals have been reluctant to play in the social media space — so we have no one but ourselves to blame when we see it being misused. What’s our problem? I have my theories. Read on

I’m not quite sure how or why it happened, but at some point, the user experience community—the group of people who are truly experts in interaction design—lost their grip on the social media space.

In the void, a number of self-appointed social media experts (some knowledgeable, some completely faking it), have catapulted themselves into prominence. The success of these so-called experts has much to do with the fact that many of them are marketing inclined, and thus talk the talk. Proof positive can be found on Facebook, where the majority of corporate pages are simply channels for one-way messaging.

The thing is, social media does not play by traditional marketing rules. It plays by digital rules, where conversation is key and authenticity reigns. “Doing it right” means knowing how to develop and design interactive programs and environments.

Why Did UX Drop Out?

We, as user experience professionals, understand the rules of interaction,yet are reluctant to play. Why? If you’re a user experience pro,my guess is that you bailed out of the social scene for one or more of the following reasons:

You’re Bored.

You were probably one of the first users on Facebook. Now everyone, including our mother, is there and you’re ready to move on. How could you possibly help a client develop a Facebook strategy when you, yourself, can’t stand updating your status?

Remember that social media is more than Facebook and Twitter. There’s always a popular channel—that’s easy. But developing a strategy is much more complex, and way more interesting than you think.

Strategy starts with users and their needs and propensities. Are they creators or collectors? Do they blog or rate? Once we understand users’ needs, then we can develop a meaningful strategy, whether that be on Facebook or LinkedIn or a stand-alone experience. You should try it sometime.

You’re Extremely Hip.

Social media is very much en vogue, and you’re just too cool to be following trends. You’re a leader, after all (see point number one). If you have to read about someone else’s lunch again, you just might lose yours.

But consider this: throughout history there have always been certain rights attached to certain people. Some folks get to talk, some folks don’t. And that was true until very recently.

Somewhere in the mid 20th century, somewhere between William James and ARPANET, somewhere in the span between Hunter S. Thompson and fanzines, we (in the broadest possible sense) found our voices. In our post-aural, post-structural, post-modern society, communication is a right, not a privilege.

And that’s why you should rejoice to the high holy heavens every time that guy posts what he ate for lunch—because it means you live in a world where anyone can say anything at any time, when anything can be published to anyone in the world instantly.

This is bigger than you. Embrace it.

You Don’t Want to Be Associated With the Crap

You’ve witnessed a number of brands and marketers dabble in the social media space and you’re embarrassed by the display of low quality experiences. You should be. It’s pathetic. But that’s because marketers are trying to apply old marketing tactics to entirely new paradigms.

Marshall McLuhan said that all forms of new media take on the likeness of existing forms before they find themselves. That’s what happened to the Web (brochure-ware anyone?) and that’s what’s been happening to social media. The space is in dire need of experts who really understand it.

If you loathe the crap, stop whining and do something about it. Commit to bringing your “A” game to the table and treat social seriously.

You Cut Your Teeth At the Wrong Time

You entered the industry just after the Internet bubble bust, when budgets were very tight and there was no room for experimentation. During this time, community functionality (what we used to call social media) was often stripped out of projects, as was anything that wasn’t absolutely necessary.

It’s not your fault, but it’s time to learn. See the next point for a good reading list to get started.

You Just Don’t Get It.

No, it’s not that you don’t care, or that you’re too cool. You just seriously don’t get that the Web is social. But here’s an analogy that might help: separating social from digital projects is like separating plumbing from a kitchen redesign. It makes no sense.

For every project you strategize or wireframe, you should be thinking social. It’s not separate.

If you’re not sure where to start, there are numerous academics who have been writing about social media since The Well (Google it). For example, Howard Rheingold, or Barry Wellman at the University of Toronto. Henry Jenkins at USC and Jenny Preece at the University of Baltimore. There’s also former Microsoft researcher Marc Smith, and currently with Microsoft, Danah Boyd. Clay Shirky at NYU and Charlene Li with the Altimeter Group. Entire communities of people exist who study social media and their research and thoughts are easily assessable.

It’s Time To Step It Up

It’s time for the user experience community to step it up and realize that we have a real contribution to make in the social media space. Social media is about identity and reputation management, user needs and behaviors, motivations and interaction—all user experience specialties.

Don’t let the space go to so-called experts, some of whom weren’t even in digital three years ago. And please don’t make me hire a social media specialist for my team when I really just want to hire a user experience pro with a solid understanding of social media.

The time is now. More is asked of you. Let’s take it back.