Perhaps as strong as we think social media is for interaction and getting to the quick answer, it hasn’t quite surpassed the value of personal contacts and interaction.  I have one story that at least indicates that.  And I will be honest, I thought social media would have won this one in a land slide.  Anyway, here’s the story:

Last Thursday night, my wife and I were watching the BCS Championship game and a pretty good commercial for the Big 12 came on.  The next day, my wife wanted to know the song that was played during the ad but couldn’t seem to find it.  The next thing I know she’s on the phone calling the station and then following up directly via email with a contact at the Big 12 conference.  I immediately jump in and say there is a much better way to come to that answer, we need to just drop the question on Twitter and Friendfeed, surely someone knows and can tell us immediately.  So that is what I did here at Twitter and the follow-through on Friendfeed, and Facebook status too.

To my surprise, not only did I not get the answer but not one response in either medium.  This was really shocking.  And sure enough, my wife received a very warm response from the Big 12 this afternoon.  I should also say kudos to them for such sound customer intimacy to reach out and reply to the request and in a timely manner.

This test is, of course, a small sample size and obviously not one where any conclusions can be drawn.  Perhaps it was this particular question and 9 out of 10 times, I would receive a response in a flash.  Perhaps it was the way in which I asked.  Perhaps no one knew the answer (or watched the bowl game because there is no playoff system).

Or perhaps even in a world where social tools and social media is getting so much hype, we really cannot lose focus on the value of personal dialog and one-to-one communication.  I do not believe any of us have lost sight of the value of personal interaction, not by any means.  But there are times where social media (in our echo chamber) seems like the panacea for information gathering and dissemination.

This was a good reminder for me that each have their place and can be used effectively together.