I'm still inundated with inquiries from financial institutions regarding social media. Everyone seems to be so concerned with getting on Facebook or Twitter. It's as if that would solve all the woes of the banking industry. A very popular website, Mashable, put out an article yesterday titled, 5 Best Practices for Financial Institutions on Facebook. Needless to say I read it with great interest and much disappointment and disdain. My favourite is best practice #4, "Be Cool." I can already see the catch phrase emblazoned in the social strategy of every financial institution in America. Good luck with that! The article misses the most fundamental point that every financial institution must take into account - banks need to focus on business goals and incorporate social media into the process. It's not about Facebook or Twitter, or whatever the flavour of the week is. Am I opposed to social media? On the contrary. I think it's critical and something that banks need to take very seriously. Social media, is but one of the elements to be used in satisfying business objectives. I'm happy to chat more about this topic, it's an important one. It was the subject of a presentation I gave at the NACHA payments conference earlier this year. Feel free to reach out or comment here. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the Mashable article, it was the subject of a healthy conversation on Twitter yesterday.