On the first Wednesday in January, we kicked off the year with a joint Q&A chat with the  #smchat community. Top independent communication and social media professionals shared thought leadership, tips, and advice in response to questions on the topic of social media (learn how to join us here). The questions discussed included:

1. Social is all grown up. How should we view #socialmedia in 2017? #smchat #solopr
2. What have we missed in measuring the effectiveness of social? #smchat #solopr
3. Companies use social but are still a long way for many to become a social #business – why the gap? #smchat #solopr
4. Some #socialmedia channels are evolving to media companies, how does that impact our strategies? #smchat #solopr
5. Have we become too reliant on #socialmedia as a #strategy? #smchat #solopr
6. What practical steps can we take to create/improve #engagement? #smchat #solopr
7. Are there channels we should consider abandoning in 2017? #smchat #solopr

A few of the top tweets are highlighted below (followed by a link to the full transcript):

Be sure to check out the transcript in PDF for the full discussion. Please note that the transcript is in reverse chronological order. If you weren’t able to join us this week, weigh in on the chat questions in the comments and mark your calendars for the next chat on Wednesday, January 25, 2017 at 1pm Eastern.