Social media, no matter the network, has one or more basic elements:
Ability to share information easily & in (nearly) real time
Ability to interact with other participants
Ability to create sub-communities, sometimes called groups, lists, friends, etc
Ability to link beyond the network
When we address the Global Social strategy, the focus must be on the guiding principals of the company, structured within the social media policy. These policies must adhere to the stricter of either the corporate parent company, or the norms of the host country in which social media is being employed. Only in this way may a multi-national maintain its brand identity while adapting to local cultures.
By providing this high level guidance, world wide participants in corporate social network dialogue will understand the boundaries which guide their interactions. Attempts to draft network specific rules at a global level leaves a company vulnerable to the great variations in regional and national social network usage as well as to the very dynamic changes in the space.
Looking at a segment of the Global social space provides some insights into the challenge of a Global policy that attempts to articulate nuances in social interactions.
Orkut is the social network of choice in many countries. In Brazil it is a dominate player – nearly synonymous with Internet. In Chile, Facebook is the leading social network site**.
While in India, though Orkut is still very important, it is threatened by Facebook***. And within the US, Orkut is virtually untouched.
*Diversity in use reigns in Asia and the South Pacific. Within China, bulletin board systems are the social sharing networks of choice, Koreans turn to Navar as the primary player. Down Under, Australia has the highest average time spent on Social Media, but are more heavily focused on lifestyle networks such as parenting or sports and message boards. the social media use is as diverse as the cultures.
*http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/global/social-media-dominates-asia-pacific-internet-usage/
**http://www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2010/8/Google_Sites_Facebook.com_and_Microsoft_Sites_Rank_as_Most-Visited_Online_Destinations_in_Chile
***http://www.socialnetworkingwatch.com/2010/08/facebook-overtakes-orkut-in-india-comscore.html
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/facebook-overtakes-orkut-in-india-comscore/129553-11.html