How can social media force an organizational change in business?

"I still think that there are millions of people specifically in middle and upper management that don't understand or even know of social networking let alone what to do with it."

Of course. I'm right on track with this statement. The winds of change in business are among us. The terrible economy only will magnify this as the internet will allow for business practices (especially in marketing) to become more streamlined.

Many managers may not be in the loop with the latest tools and techniques at communicating or marketing. That's fine. It's a fast paced business and it can be hard to keep up. However, the good ones are.

Many of today's business hierarchies are built on a model that doesn't allow for new ideas at the bottom to work its way to the top. It's usually the other way around.

Executives and managers at the top are responsible for making the decisions about the direction of the organization and THEN it works its way down to be filled. It worked well in the past, because years of professional experience gave you guidance in better decision making. It makes sense. It's logical. It DID work. Yet, organizations haven't changed.

However, in the future, organizations will demand that people at the bottom be innovative in their approach in coming up with new ideas. Why? Because everyone at the top may not totally have a grasp on these new concepts. It's the responsibility of younger employees to share their insights into changing technology. These younger employees may be the best bet in adopting new strategy in accordance with technology.

I'm very fortunate to work with an organization that allows for everyone to bring an idea to the table and feel like they are being supported from the top. Unfortunately,this isn't always the case.

The ones who understand social media and the internet will be forced to be heretical in everything they do. It will be uncomfortable at first, but you'll survive. According to the law of accelerating returns, the development of technology is exponential so the demand for adoption by business will only increase.

It's time for these people to become leaders. Are you up to the task?

Everyday, we hear about the closing of newspapers or even the bankruptcy of major news organizations. Why are newspapers going broke?

Newspapers shouldn't be facing the imminent danger of losing money from advertising or reducing staff.

Why aren't newspapers finding new and innovative ways to make money AND reduce costs? There is plenty of news to report, I don't understand why newspapers can't be innovative.

Here's some suggestions for bankrupt or struggling newspapers:

Monitor blogs for sources of information.
Nothing can beat the idea of an aggregate source of information by combining the 'brain power' the web can provide. Any one person can easy use Google's blog search to get information about any particular keyword. A journalist writing an article has the power to do this efficiently and get reliable resources or they could always put inquiries onto Peter Shankman's HARO emails.

Build Fan Groups Through Social Media
Newspapers can easily distribute relevant video stories to interested parties through YouTube and make money off of pre and post roll advertising from Google. YouTube needs to boost it's ad sales anyway. They both can benefit.

CNN uses Twitter to deliver breaking news. Is Your Newspaper?

Optimize Headlines For SEO
Educate your journalists or employ a team of in-house SEO experts to help get your articles written to be found. Google loves consistently updated content. Why can't your newspaper be in love with Google's Search Engine Results Page (SERP).

The bottomline is, the news isn't going away. The papers haven't been able to adapt and monetize the new way information is being distributed (particularly online).

When will newspapers trust information coming from the web?