I was around 12 the first time a watched a James Bond film and thought, “That’s it.  That’s what I want to do when I grow up.”  Well, here I am, 28, still not grown up but finally getting my chance to show my 007 skills.  When I received my first assignment, I was excited but also a bit stunned.  I was tasked with infiltrating some of the most tight knit groups in the United States…those of expectant mothers.  First, I had some homework to do.  Being a guy – single – with no kids, my familiarity with the terms surrounding pregnancy was nonexistent.  But even Bond had his sources he turned to  during highly focused missions.  Within minutes, I had put together a pregnant-mommy-speak decryption key and was ready to slide into their world.

This being my first professional mission, I went in slowly, kept my distance and made sure not to give myself away.  I knew these women would see right through me if I tried to become one of them, so I had to lay low and observe from a safe distance.  I stealthily dropped in to their domain.

To say this was unfamiliar territory, would be a major understatement.  The bright pink walls burnt my eyes, the constant gossip rang in my ears and that smell, I always thought it was a myth, but there it is, pickle juice.  I had hit the jackpot – what I need to know could be found here.

It took a little searching, I hit a few dead ends, but finally found the group I was looking for, “Smoking Mommies.”  I was stunned.  Here was a group of women, many obviously with child, puffing down on every size, brand and type of cigarette available (and a few puffing on a leafy substance not available at the mini-mart.)  The agency was sure to find all of this interesting.  I pulled out my little camera and snapped away, my audio recorder running, gathering everything they were saying.  It was at that moment I remembered I was no James Bond.  This was real life.

As I stared dumbfounded at my computer screen, my fingers running across the track pad, clicking through blog post after blog post, then numerous discussion pages and even the personal profile pages of many of the expectant mothers, I gained a further understanding of why I was sent to target these women through these social media networks.  These women were everywhere,  openly discussing a topic that, before my lurking mission, I had thought was a restricted to a small, isolated group.  How naive of me.

Findings in hand, we here at Banyan presented this information to the National Cancer Institute.  My first mission was a success.  The target had been acquired, now it was time for phase two, developing a plan of attack.

This “Social Media Lurking,” as we have come to call it, is an integral part in shaping the delivery of a social media message, what channels the message is sent over and who will find the message within these various channels.  Since that first mission, I have honed my skills, much like my mentor, 007.  We’ve put together quite an array of gadgets, allowing us to infiltrate our targeted groups even further and squeeze every last bit of information out of them that we need.

As the information becomes declassified, I’ll let everyone know about Phase 2.  But for now, just know that we’re out there…lurking about.

Also, Sean Connery is my favorite Bond.