The Value and Worth of Social Media

There are two words that permeate the world of social media marketing ~ value and worth. 


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The other day, I was a part of a tweet chat session.  Reading posts, 'listening' to experts in the field of social media, marketing, and sales.  The discussion of SEO, 'measuring value', 'determining worth', it was rampant. As a self professed logophile, I noticed that the words value and worth were being interchanged, almost, well.... overly used at times. My typical self, I began to analyze the use of each of those words.  They are NOT quite the same.

Worth, according to Oxford: An amount of a commodity equivalent to a specified sum of money; Sufficiently good, important, or interesting to justify a specified action; deserving to be treated or regarded in the way specified.

Stick with me.....

Value, according to Oxford: The regard that something is held to deserve; the importance, worth, or usefulness of something; The worth of something compared to the price paid or asked for it; A person’s principles or standards of behavior; one’s judgment of what is important in life.

So, they are interchangeable, to a certain extent, each word using the other to describe the other, define the other.  Worth, however, relies more heavily on the monetary sense, value has a that connotation, but to me, it appears to have a deeper sense of intrinsic..... well.... value.

I began to look at previous posts that I had made, posts that others had made, and began to dissect how we were all utilizing these words. Thinking, maybe too long, too hard, too deeply, about what we were all talking about.  One thing was clear, we all valued worth, and thought that value had worth.  What wasn't being answered clearly were two questions: What worth was value? and what value was worth?

As I continue on my quest to dissect social media, understand its value, comprehend its worth, it leaves me questioning how we truly measure our interactions, our relationships, in person and virtually. How it affects and effects (oh, that will be a post for another time) our selves and our lives. How do we measure each?  What does it really mean to each one of us, and where will it lead us in the future of business, of self.

I can guarantee you one thing, SEO isn't gonna solve this one, not completely.