I was asking yesterday about social media. For some people, all of the changes in social media are exciting, creating new opportunities for sharing and learning.

For others, it’s a frustrating experience. The cutting edge website that they spent a fortune on five years ago now looks out of date. They’ve created a Facebook page that no one visits and have a Twitter feed that no one wants to read. What makes it even more frustrating is that it’s hard to find two “experts” who give the same advice.

Doesn’t help that the social media landscape is ever changing. I went to a Christian Internet conference a few years ago. Lots of different ideas and projects were discussed, but there was one service that dominated the conversation: MySpace. It was feared and revered.Debates raged about whether the goal should be to create a Christian alternative to MySpace or use MySpace itself for outreach. The answer is obvious now: MySpace didn’t deserve all the attention it was getting.

Or take the example of the “social media expert” who sat in my office a couple of months ago, trying to explain to me the secrets to optimizing your Google results. I tried to smile and look attentive as he explained that all that mattered now for Google was ____. If he hadn’t been lecturing me as the expert he believed himself to be, I would have pointed out that Google is constantly modifying their algorithms and any attempt to identify one element as THE element is futile. Like the rest of the social media landscape, Google is a constantly moving target.

It’s my theory that, while there are some basic principles to using social media, much of what makes for good social media usage is the same as what makes for good communication: awareness of audience, interest in audience, authenticity, etc. The technical details will shift over time; the core of what makes for good interaction will remain the same.

What do you think? Is using social media effectively more dependent on tech savvy or people savvy? Or do you need a combination of both?