Social, Social, Social! What does “Social” Mean?

Jan Brady: Well, all day long at school I hear how great Marcia is at this or how wonderful Marcia did that! Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!

To paraphrase Jan Brady of The Brady Bunch . . .

Well, all day long on twitter I hear how great Social is at this or how wonderful Social did that! Social, Social, Social!

As more and more people and companies come to us asking about social media consulting, I started thinking about what “social” really is.

My first encounter as a social consultant, of sorts, was at University of Illinois as the social chair for my sorority, which meant I was in charge of planning exchanges with fraternities. The purpose? Networking, doing good, promoting our house, having fun, building community and developing relationships.

Consider these definitions of social:

• relating to human society and its members; “social institutions”; “societal evolution”; “societal forces”; “social legislation”
• living together or enjoying life in communities or organized groups; “a human being is a social animal”; “mature social behavior”
• relating to or belonging to or characteristic of high society; “made fun of her being so social and high-toned”; “a social gossip column”; “the society page”
• composed of sociable people or formed for the purpose of sociability; “a purely social club”; “the church has a large social hall”; “a social director”
• tending to move or live together in groups or colonies of the same kind; “ants are social insects”
• sociable: a party of people assembled to promote sociability and communal activity
• marked by friendly companionship with others; “a social cup of coffee”

What does being social mean to you? How does being “social” relate to marketing and business?