SOCIAL MEDIA SPOTLIGHT: Briana Campbell, co-founder of Work it Brooklyn

Briana Campbell (@msmatchgirl) is a high-energy social media butterfly involved in multiple initiatives in New York, member of SMW's advisory board and co-founder of Work it Brooklyn. She entered the digital arena by accident in 2008 and never left... In this interview, Briana tells us about the importance of people and relationship in social media and why brands should consider Pinterest.

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• Can you tell us briefly about your background, your blogs, Work it Brooklyn and the rest?

I guess I came into social media through a fairly non-traditional route, though I had spent years prior working with clients and customers in businesses built on relationships. This transition made sense to me. I was laid off from my job as the operations manager of a startup cosmetics company in 2008, at the beginning of the first wave of the recession, and started blogging my experiences. Through that blog came meetups for unemployed people in Brooklyn, which led to me connecting with the women, Aja Marsh and Joann Kim, who are my co-founders in Work it Brooklyn.

We started WIB in late 2009 as a networking coalition for people living and working in Brooklyn. The basic idea was that there were so many people who were freelancing or self-employed that it would be a great way to connect these creatives together, to form a support network, to hire each other, and to meet new and like-minded people.

Through my blogging and active Tweeting, I was offered a job at the digital agency Zemoga, where, until recently, I worked as their Head of Social Media - maintaining 2 daily blogs, three Twitter accounts and countless other assignments.

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• You seem to be a well-connected butterfly in the social media arena in Brooklyn... why is it so importance to nurture a social network both on and offline in your opinion?

People are social animals. I think that it's important to bring online relationships offline because it lets others see the humanity. When someone is just an avatar and a handle, it's harder to truly connect and identify with them - to see the differences and the similarities. But I also think it's important to bring offline relationships online - especially in a group like Work It Brooklyn, where people connect at events but might be too shy to send an email or give a call. Connecting via a Facebook group or on Twitter is a great way for a shier person to continue the conversation.

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• Facebook recently announced the addition of 60 new apps to its timeline -- including Foodspotting, Airbnb, BranchOut and Foursquare. How will this integration process affect brands and their community managers?

Time will tell. Facebook is, and has always been, a platform in flux. Brands need to stay on top of the changes, be ahead of them, really, and see where they can best fit their plans. But the fact of the matter is that most brand pages see very little true community engagement - beyond the like - so I don't think the life of the community manager will change that much. They still need to be watching the conversations surrounding their brands - the platform is just that, a platform. People are still waiting for Timeline to appear, so I think it will be a while before we see its real impact.

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• Do you think that brands should jump and invest in "niche" communities such as Pinterest (and benefit from a first-mover advantage)?

I think it depends on the community. I'm a firm believer that not every social network is for every brand (or person). But if you have a story that can be told visually, why would you not be on Pinterest? Why would you not have someone in your office on Instagram? A a recipe site, a furniture company, a lifestyle brand, a fashion house... all of these are visual. They should be utilizing the networks that can help them best express their identity. I think it's important for brands to see where the people go- there are too many new apps and sites launched to utilize every one. But if there is a trend, it's there for a reason.

To use the example of Pinterest, you have not only the ability to pin cool things - your own product/content along with that which inspires you - and to have that content shared over and over again. It's a great place to run contests and to spot trends. The world is moving and it's moving fast, it seems silly that brands wouldn't want to go where the people are going - as long as they can make it relevant.

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• Where are we heading to in 2012? any big underlying trend that you identified?

I think that 2012 will bring a greater understanding of the possibilities of social networks to more mainstream, as well as regulated (pharma, banking), companies. Not just Facebook and Twitter, but the possibilities behind niche networks as well. I also think that we will see companies looking to social networks for long term retention of customers, as opposed to one-off campaigns.

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• Please let us know your best "secret weapon" for social media, project management or productivity.

Passion. You have to love what you're doing. For me, working in the social space is amazing because I love connecting people. I love helping people, I love surprising people with something I've remembered about them, and then connecting them to something they'll find helpful or interesting or exciting. This same passion makes me a more productive person. Doing work you love rarely feels like work at all. That's the best way to make sure things get done.
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• Bonus: Share something you like (Quote, image, fact etc)

My favorite quote comes from Christian Louboutin: "If you make a precious environment, then what's inside is precious, too." He said this when discussing his shops, but I think it applies to so many aspects of our lives. Attention to the smallest detail is what sets people and business apart from the mainstream, above the status quo.