We sat down with HR Tech Fest speaker Matt Alder during the 2015 conference and picked his brain about all things social media. Here's what HR professionals need to know about social media – where it's going, the challenges it presents, and what HR professionals can do to make an impact in an already crowded space.

How has social evolved over the past 10 years?
I think it's gone from an interesting niche activity to a mainstream one. And it's fair to say it's got absolutely massive! I think the issue is that social is always going to move quicker than HR and business is so keeping up is going to be a constant challenge.

How do people keep up with the pace of social media?
There's a huge amount of info that's out there that people can tap into – bloggers, commentators and podcasters do a great job at distilling the key information around social. I also think people need to come to conferences like HR Tech Fest to hear the latest thinking in this space and become connected to this HR tech network.

I really think the key is finding a way to be interested in social media. Whether it's professional or personal aspect of social, you need to find something that interests you in order to get the motivation to learn more and to keep up with what's going on.

What is one of the coolest things you've seen HR departments do with social media?
I think the coolest things aren't gimmicks or anything like that. For me the coolest thing is when HR departments really connect with their target audience on social media. It's when they really think about who they're trying to communicate with via social- whether that's an internal network of people or an external recruitment audience, and communicate with them in an appropriate way. That's easily the best way to get traction on social media.

What are the biggest opportunities for HR professionals using social media?
With so many organisations going through strategic digital transformations, social media is a real opportunity for HR to contribute strategically to what's going on. I think what HR professionals need to realise is that at its essence HR is about people, and social media is all about how people connect, communicate and share stuff. HR professionals have a great opportunity to own the thought leadership in that space.

Social media can be quite daunting – If HR departments haven't embraced social yet, what's the one thing they can do to get started?
What I think they need to do is lose their fear- whether that's their fear of failure or fear of bad things happening they just need to let go. Once the fear is gone, the first thing to do is listen. Find out what your competition's doing, what your target audience is saying, and how your employees are already using social in a professional capacity – because every organisation will have people promoting their professional brand in some way on social media. I think understanding that, and understanding what resonates with your audience is probably a good first step.

What should we be looking to next in social media?
I think the problem is everyone's already looking for the next big thing, and I think people should just really concentrate on getting the basics right. All of the main social platforms are undergoing massive changes at the moment so there are a lot of opportunities to leverage the big existing social media platforms. Yes, you can sit there and think about exciting trends like virtual reality but actually understanding how social platforms work should be the next big thing rather than continually chasing something new.

Matt Alder is a Digital, Social and Mobile Marketing Strategist at Metashift. He helps organisations map their way through the digital revolution and the changing world of work. Matt was a speaker at HR Tech Fest 2015. Stay tuned for HR Tech Fest 2016 agenda to be announced in the coming months.