Survey Finds a Social Media Disconnect

Here's an interesting article by Brian Morrissey of Adweek about a recent TNS Media Intelligence/Cymfony survey suggesting that clients don't feel agencies quite get social media.

A particularly interesting snippet:

"Clients complained that their agencies -- creative, media, public relations, design and others -- typically treat social channels like blogs as traditional media."

 My quick two cents, literally:

1. True communication and true relationships are as much about listening as speaking. The voice social media gives consumers is exactly what separates it from "tradtional media."
2. At the end of the day, the power of social media lies in the same constant champion of marketing: word of mouth. Social media allows word of mouth to spread farther and quicker than ever before. Of course, negative word of mouth enjoys the same benefits.

By 10:00 tonight the survey and corresponding articles had made their rounds through the blogosphere. I couldn't help but wonder who was listening, and who was missing the conversation.