What if you can't measure it OR manage it?

I've written a couple of posts recently about ways to measure  social or participatory media online and concluded that we can't measure it. Or more specifically, we can't measure it unless we change the way we do business/communicate with the public. (although David Phillips believes we can't measure it at all - see his comment in my first post)

So it was nice to see Neville Hobson blogging about measurement guru, Katie Paine's views in the latest edition of the IABC's magazine, Communication World.

Katie writes:

"The standard maxim in the communication world is: “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.” The problem is not so much how to measure blogs, but rather that “managing” them is impossible: You simply can’t manage what 10 million independent-minded, opinionated people are saying."

Which is pretty much what I've been saying.

My concern is that all attempts to find ways of measuring social tools are being developed using existing measurement techniques and ideas which simply won't cut it in a bottom-up socially active world.

What we need are new ways of approaching measurement which involve setting measurement parameters after carrying out communications/community activity, or perhaps as Katie suggests in her CW article:

"Forget reach and frequency. Success in today’s marketplace is measured not by how broad your reach is but how deep your network is."

The only problem is... there is a whole industry built around traditional ways of measuring media and it's likely the less enlightened firms may resist attempts to go down that route.

As I wrote on EIS's Interactive blog in July:

"the current obsession with media measurement is very much driven by companies deeply in-depted - both financially and ideologically - to traditional business models."

As usual, getting past financial barriers may kick-start people into changing the way they think - and ultimately - behave towards measuring social activities online.

Technorati Tags: social media measurement, measurement, Katie Paine

Comments

[Sam Oakley]

Hi Simon, been reading your posts with interest. I wonder if we're confusing measuring something with quantifying it?

A measurement can be any comparative judgement and in this sense the impact of communicating within a networked environment can easily be measured, it just can't be quantified.

[Heather Yaxley]

Simon - picking up on the point about an existing industry existing to measure media, have these ever been that effective at assessing the real value of PR?

Given that most evaluation companies still promote advertising value equivalent measures (as do many PR practitioners and clients), then have we any hope that they will do any more than simply coming up with another "feel good" approach?

There will undoubtedly be many proprietory models and tools, but I won't hold my breath that they will provide anything to help guide PR practice.

[Simon Collister]

@Heather - you're right. I suppose the problem lies fundamentally with people being able to make money out of reinforcing existing flawed ideas. God help us trying to develop online metrics before we can sort offline ones!

@Sam - hmm. yes. You're right. So do we need to create a new concept of how we devise metrics??