Deirdre Walsh: success with social media

Interview conducted and edited by Suzanne Deffree -- EDN, September 23, 2010

Why should engineers care about social media? What does it offer them? Why is social media not a waste of time?

A: I get that question asked a lot and usually it’s, “Why should I care about Twitter?” or “Is Facebook really for business?” When you take a step back and don’t focus as much on the technology, you focus more on why social media is helpful. I’ve outlined five reasons why engineers should care about social media and community. The first one is to get help. Social-media sites are really great for engineers to connect with like-minded engineers. On our NI discussion forum community, engineers answer 50% of all support questions asked by other engineers. It’s not NI coming in to solve their problems; it’s a peer-to-peer support network.

The second reason engineers should care about social [media] is that it gives them an opportunity to get ahead in their career. Often, news breaks first on sites such as Facebook and Twitter or in blogs. It’s a good way to stay ahead of the curve.

The third reason engineers should care about it is that it’s a good way to get heard. [For example, NI has] different outlets in which community members can talk directly with R&D. LabView 2010 has 14 new features … that were directly community-driven innovations. Using social media, you can actually change the future direction of the product.

The fourth reason is to stay and get connected with peers. Groups are a really good way to get connected with other engineers. Sites such as LinkedIn also provide a good way to get connected, group with other engineers, do professional networking—maybe find your next job or employee.

Last, I like to joke around that social media can also help you get famous. At NI, we have a blog, Sweet Apps, on which we highlight cool customer applications—from a Twitter-powered popcorn machine to hot “green”-engineering topics.

So, get help, get ahead, get heard, get connected, and get famous.

Keeping up with all of the social-media outlets can be time-consuming, if not exhausting. How can engineers manage this work?

A: Pick the thing you are trying to do or the topic that you care about and listen and engage in that topic. Scale these things so that they are not overwhelming. Find the people that have the similar interests to yours and join those conversations. Remember the term “Pangaea” [the theory that all of today’s continents were once together and collectively known as a supercontinent]? We’re trying to build a social-media supercontinent on which it becomes less about the platforms—less about should I be on Facebook, what should I be doing on Twitter, how do I use LinkedIn, should I be doing stuff on NI’s communities—and more about building a supercontinent. People, especially at a corporation, try to build a community on their site. I’m trying to build a social-media platform that’s more about this social-media Pangaea—less about the platform and more about engaging in the conversations that you care about and that are most relevant to you. People get really caught up in the technologies. It’s less about the technologies and more about the conversation. Really evaluate the platforms for the types of conversations that you are interested in joining and then join that conversation.

As a group, engineers tend to be considered introverts who would rather do than talk about doing. How does NI encourage its engineers to engage in the conversation?

A: We allow them to do things online. It’s not about what I had for breakfast this morning or following a LabView bug. They can do things online together. We have a really strong code exchange, for example, on which engineers can download code and share their own code. Another thing is giving and providing support. We have a strong support network in which people talk through difficult engineering problems they are facing. There’s also the idea exchange in which you’re having a conversation directly with LabView R&D. There’s no marketing filter.

People have a stereotype that engineers aren’t social, but I find that, when you give them opportunities to share content and have the conversations that they care about, they are some of the best community participants out there. Engineers are the ones who created all of these technologies that they now cringe at. They need to better embrace them and realize there are a lot of opportunities for them to be successful in their career in using them.

Many social-media networks are out of companies’ or individuals’ controls. Twitter went down during NIWeek 2009. How do you manage a community’s conversation when that conversation is on someone else’s network?

A: We prioritize the community on our site, first of all, and we try not to re-create our community on third-party platforms. I continue to watch each one of these platforms and don’t put anything on there that would risk our IP [intellectual property]. I am careful about what type of content we put on there. But it’s about our users’ being there and actively engaging in conversation, and we want to be there, as well.

What are your top three tips for properly using social media for engineers?

A: Number 1: Don’t get overwhelmed by the technology; focus on building connections with other people and having valuable conversations. Number 2: Realize that, if you start a blog or a community, you have to go out and engage in dialogue and make it easy for the people that would care about that [blog] to know about it. Number 3: Realize that a lot of people are using these tools for personal reasons, but there’s a lot of business value, as well. Be thinking about how to use these tools that you might find fun in your personal life in your professional life, as well.