When you’re looking at whether or not “social media” is a blessing or a curse, remember this. It’s just the amplifier. The mechanism for the word, idea, attitude or behavior to spread faster and farther, and with less discretion.
I’ve been thinking a lot about this for months, but my friend Linsday Allen’s post about a check skipper at a Tweetup hit on it once again. While the situation was unfortunate, social media itself isn’t the “fail” here, the people are.
It’s the nature of selfish freeloaders willing to screw people over for the cost of a few beers, and their being on Twitter doesn’t change that. It’s just who they are. Twitter may have given more people the opportunity to witness their suckitude live and in action, but I don’t think social media is what instilled these values (or lack thereof) in them.
Take this into a business context:
If people aren’t relationship driven and don’t see why that’s better business than the alternative, social media itself isn’t the shortcoming, their attitude is. The idea of better relationships building better business is as old as the hills. Social media just helps us more immediately see and hear about the folks that don’t operate that way.
If someone is a jerk, they’re going to be a jerk, with or without Facebook, even if their status updates or inane comments on your fan page offer some evidence of their nature.
If your business can’t measure the impact of social media, or understand it’s uses, that’s a discipline, education, or process problem, not the nature of the media or the tools. The “human” element that we lament as inexact has always been a factor in business, and we couldn’t measure that part well in years past, either. But it’s always been there.
If your business or customer service sucks and people blast you on the web for it, that’s a business problem, not a social media problem. Social media is merely allowing folks to expose the weakness (and yes, sometimes, not constructively).
If you can’t trust people to converse as a company representative online without shooting your company in the foot, you have a hiring or training problem, not a social media problem. We went through the same evolution and paranoia when we gave employees access to phones and email.
Snake oil salesmen? They’ve been alive and well in every industry for ages. The technologically inclined now have a bunch of tools to exploit and magnify their shilling. But if it weren’t social media, they’d be hawking something else. Like the Slap Chop or some MLM scheme. Or Ginsu knives door-to-door. And we still have our judgment and due diligence with which to sniff them out.
More often than not, what we’re railing against are human problems, made more visible and immediate by the velocity of online communication and the penchant of the opportunists to seek shortcuts. Social media – or the web as a whole – can give people a bit of airbrushed online anonymity, sure, or make them brazen. But you can’t hide your bad business or lousy human nature behind an avatar forever. The medium is NOT the message here, folks.
We can spend our time grousing about “social media” and what it’s bringing out of people or making possible on the dark side, or we can use the very same communicative power of these tools to try and affect change as best we can, and focus on the root causes of the problems instead of the surface treatment. We can educate, absorb, share, talk about what constitutes positive progress and how to create it. We can experiment, iterate, and learn.
And as for the crappy humans on the other end of scams, bad business, obstinance, narrow-mindedness, and jerky behavior? They’ll always be there, lurking in the shadows, no matter what comes along. But you’re not going to fix them, with or without social media.
We have the same power in our hands that the opportunists do, and we can choose to blame the tools for the shortcomings of the people behind them, or we can keep working on how they might work for good, focus on the underlying intent, and keep leading by example along the way.
What say you?
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Amber,
I would definitely have to agree with you, when it comes to scams, bad business behaviour, etc — “Hate the player, not the game”.
There will always be people who exploit the positive end of innovation – business leaders, and those who exploit the negative side – ‘criminals’ (may not actually broken any laws, but definitely a question of ethics).
I think every type of dishonest behaviour has a life-span similar to an innovation/adoption curve. I really did not want to compare it to that because then it unintentionally gives the notion of taking advantage of other some credit.
The importance is to not have a laissez-faire attitude when it comes this sort of behaviour.
It’s just like money. A currency. Some will use it for good, others will use it for evil. We don’t blame the existence of money and it’s nature, we blame the users. Same here.
Should we call it out when we see it? Sure. Will we convince some people to change their ways? Maybe. But saying that social media is the problem is missing the underlying issues.
Amber,
I would definitely have to agree with you, when it comes to scams, bad business behaviour, etc — “Hate the player, not the game”.
There will always be people who exploit the positive end of innovation – business leaders, and those who exploit the negative side – ‘criminals’ (may not actually broken any laws, but definitely a question of ethics).
I think every type of dishonest behaviour has a life-span similar to an innovation/adoption curve. I really did not want to compare it to that because then it unintentionally gives the notion of taking advantage of other some credit.
The importance is to not have a laissez-faire attitude when it comes this sort of behaviour.
It’s just like money. A currency. Some will use it for good, others will use it for evil. We don’t blame the existence of money and it’s nature, we blame the users. Same here.
Should we call it out when we see it? Sure. Will we convince some people to change their ways? Maybe. But saying that social media is the problem is missing the underlying issues.
Great post Amber, I think all these social tools have given everyone a say, some talk about good stuff, some talk about bad stuff, and few of them just don’t care of what all is happening online.
All the terms like social media, social design, social business are a part of an evolved and much more visible environment.Companies can just learn what is happening not change it by using the tools, they have to work at the basics regularly and keep checking back on these tools.
I think an evolved social CRM as Jeremiah Owyang says, is something which brands should think of creating, the focus should be at maintaining the right reputation on the social web by making products which add value,getting the employees from every department more proactive on the social front, because a marketer can’t support a technical problem online….you need a production or a support guy acting to the situation.
“the focus should be at maintaining the right reputation on the social web”…
See, here’s the thing. The focus shouldn’t be maintaining the reputation on the social web. The focus should be on building a business that DESERVES a strong reputation, whether online or offline. We’ve all gotten thrown into a panic because people can see our mistakes now, but the key is addressing the business process that creates the problem, not trying to squelch or “manage” the online world.
Making valuable products, activating employees, and responding to issues is every bit as much a brick-and-mortar issue as it is anything to do with the social web.
The answer to how to get more twitter followers is “Do better stuff.” or more snarkily: STFU and GBTW (As I posted in my somewhat irritated blog from February of last year
Great post Amber, I think all these social tools have given everyone a say, some talk about good stuff, some talk about bad stuff, and few of them just don’t care of what all is happening online.
All the terms like social media, social design, social business are a part of an evolved and much more visible environment.Companies can just learn what is happening not change it by using the tools, they have to work at the basics regularly and keep checking back on these tools.
I think an evolved social CRM as Jeremiah Owyang says, is something which brands should think of creating, the focus should be at maintaining the right reputation on the social web by making products which add value,getting the employees from every department more proactive on the social front, because a marketer can’t support a technical problem online….you need a production or a support guy acting to the situation.
“the focus should be at maintaining the right reputation on the social web”…
See, here’s the thing. The focus shouldn’t be maintaining the reputation on the social web. The focus should be on building a business that DESERVES a strong reputation, whether online or offline. We’ve all gotten thrown into a panic because people can see our mistakes now, but the key is addressing the business process that creates the problem, not trying to squelch or “manage” the online world.
Making valuable products, activating employees, and responding to issues is every bit as much a brick-and-mortar issue as it is anything to do with the social web.
The answer to how to get more twitter followers is “Do better stuff.” or more snarkily: STFU and GBTW (As I posted in my somewhat irritated blog from February of last year
This is an excellent post. And about time too.
Social media is a tool. It can be put to versatile and diverse uses. I have used it for customer service and WOM management with decent results. Given more time, iterations and experience, I am sure we would have gotten even better results.
There are also people who use another phrase “Social Media is not for us”, a euphemism in saying We do not understand Social Media.
.-= Vikrama Dhiman´s last blog ..Yahoo : The Personal Memoirs =-.
Well, I DO believe there are companies for whom social media isn’t a good move. Not just because they don’t understand it, but because they don’t have the resources, or the time, or the foundation upon which to build an online precence (if it’s even needed in the first place).
It’s not a universal truth for every business.
This is an excellent post. And about time too.
Social media is a tool. It can be put to versatile and diverse uses. I have used it for customer service and WOM management with decent results. Given more time, iterations and experience, I am sure we would have gotten even better results.
There are also people who use another phrase “Social Media is not for us”, a euphemism in saying We do not understand Social Media.
.-= Vikrama Dhiman´s last blog ..Yahoo : The Personal Memoirs =-.
Well, I DO believe there are companies for whom social media isn’t a good move. Not just because they don’t understand it, but because they don’t have the resources, or the time, or the foundation upon which to build an online precence (if it’s even needed in the first place).
It’s not a universal truth for every business.
What I love about social media is that when someone takes a photo or video of something and then immediately uploads it to facebook, or gives us something breaking on twitter it isn’t censored. I think our news media has become so censored that we don’t EVER get the real facts. Haiti was an AWESOME example of twitter, facebook, YouTube at being the “First Responders” so to speak.. We knew more about what was going on by people who were actually on the ground than the media could report.
I do think it is the person who corrupts the social media scene. I am so sick of getting spammed by people trying to get me to earn money tweeting…UGH
That’s part of what’s made the public at large so feverish about social, and what’s made businesses so freaked out. Fewer filters, fewer editors. That has its good sides and its ugly ones. The same thing that’s amazing about watching a crisis emerge in Haiti is the same thing that’s reprehensible about the wildfire spread of misinformation. Cuts both ways.
What I love about social media is that when someone takes a photo or video of something and then immediately uploads it to facebook, or gives us something breaking on twitter it isn’t censored. I think our news media has become so censored that we don’t EVER get the real facts. Haiti was an AWESOME example of twitter, facebook, YouTube at being the “First Responders” so to speak.. We knew more about what was going on by people who were actually on the ground than the media could report.
I do think it is the person who corrupts the social media scene. I am so sick of getting spammed by people trying to get me to earn money tweeting…UGH
That’s part of what’s made the public at large so feverish about social, and what’s made businesses so freaked out. Fewer filters, fewer editors. That has its good sides and its ugly ones. The same thing that’s amazing about watching a crisis emerge in Haiti is the same thing that’s reprehensible about the wildfire spread of misinformation. Cuts both ways.
Amber,
What I love about social media is that it does expose those problems, in a very public way – which gives any company worth its salt a chance to fix those problems in an equally public way. You are right – instead of complaining about the transparency and the headaches it can cause, we should embrace the chance to see problems sooner and truly fix them, instead of pushing them to the back burner.
.-= Amanda VanLente-Hatter´s last blog ..Well the weather outside is frightful but the deal is so delightful =-.
I think part of what happens is that we way to say “social media makes people say bad things” or “social media makes it impossible to measure” but more and more, I see it as a pile of excuses. It’s looking at it from all the angles that CAN’T work instead of trying to uncover possibilities. And that’s a rather stifling business model, don’t you think?
Amber,
What I love about social media is that it does expose those problems, in a very public way – which gives any company worth its salt a chance to fix those problems in an equally public way. You are right – instead of complaining about the transparency and the headaches it can cause, we should embrace the chance to see problems sooner and truly fix them, instead of pushing them to the back burner.
.-= Amanda VanLente-Hatter´s last blog ..Well the weather outside is frightful but the deal is so delightful =-.
I think part of what happens is that we way to say “social media makes people say bad things” or “social media makes it impossible to measure” but more and more, I see it as a pile of excuses. It’s looking at it from all the angles that CAN’T work instead of trying to uncover possibilities. And that’s a rather stifling business model, don’t you think?
Thanks, Amber. I think this is a snowballing discussion. There will always be those bad folks out there that will keep people talking. Although some hard core digital strategists like Olivier Blanchard would argue that ‘snake oil salesmen’ are giving the value-driven social media practitioners a huge opportunity to stand out.
I wouldn’t say I completely agree with him, as there are WAY too many people out there preaching these absurd, short-cut strategies to building a community base on Twitter or LinkedIn. Then we have the flip side of that– people building algorithms and linear formulas to somehow answer return on investment applied to online behavior. Humans don’t scale, right?
Social media is all about the person behind the brand, so if that person sucks at communicating with their customers and/or fans, the brand sucks by association. Social media can bring out the suckitude in all of us if we’re not careful.
Again, we’re back to the point. There will ALWAYS be the entire spectrum of bad to good in business.
One approach is to spend your energy calling out, tearing down, and otherwise lynching the idiots in the name of trying to protect businesses from hiring a jackass. But there’s so much information out there right now about emerging, sound social media practices that a little due diligence is in order, and more than capable of helping you find someone who can help you for real. (And I’m starting to see that the people yelling so loudly about snake oil are the ones likely just pissed that they can’t get any clients of their own). For every business that hires a silly Facebook guru, there are five more that are very carefully vetting the professionals they spend money to hire.
Cream always rises. Online or off.
Thanks, Amber. I think this is a snowballing discussion. There will always be those bad folks out there that will keep people talking. Although some hard core digital strategists like Olivier Blanchard would argue that ‘snake oil salesmen’ are giving the value-driven social media practitioners a huge opportunity to stand out.
I wouldn’t say I completely agree with him, as there are WAY too many people out there preaching these absurd, short-cut strategies to building a community base on Twitter or LinkedIn. Then we have the flip side of that– people building algorithms and linear formulas to somehow answer return on investment applied to online behavior. Humans don’t scale, right?
Social media is all about the person behind the brand, so if that person sucks at communicating with their customers and/or fans, the brand sucks by association. Social media can bring out the suckitude in all of us if we’re not careful.
Again, we’re back to the point. There will ALWAYS be the entire spectrum of bad to good in business.
One approach is to spend your energy calling out, tearing down, and otherwise lynching the idiots in the name of trying to protect businesses from hiring a jackass. But there’s so much information out there right now about emerging, sound social media practices that a little due diligence is in order, and more than capable of helping you find someone who can help you for real. (And I’m starting to see that the people yelling so loudly about snake oil are the ones likely just pissed that they can’t get any clients of their own). For every business that hires a silly Facebook guru, there are five more that are very carefully vetting the professionals they spend money to hire.
Cream always rises. Online or off.
You’ve said that social media is not the disease, a nice complement to so many posts which say that it’s not a panacea, either. Your point that we’re often railing against “human problems” (though we often blame intermediaries such as policies, tools, etc.), reminds me of Seth Godin’s post on bear shaving: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/08/bear-shaving.html. While his post about problem-solving isn’t about human problems per se, it’s a good reminder that when we try to fix things, we’re often not paying attention to what REALLY needs to be fixed. As your post suggests, social media makes the problems more immediate/urgent/amplified. If we’re smart, we’ll seize these moments as opportunities. That’s the optimist in me! The pragmatist knows that dealing with those underlying issues is hard work, especially when you’re managing from the middle and need to get others to agree on what the problem is.
Yep, it’s hard work. It’s sometimes ugly and demoralizing to realize where you’ve come up short, too. But again, you’ve got a choice. Keep doing what isn’t working, or change it.
Change is hard. It’s gradual. It’s two steps forward, three steps back, and tons of patience, diligence, and perseverance.
But when change doesn’t happen and problems don’t get solved, it’s not the tools that are at fault. It’s the humans wielding them, or not having the right ones, or not wanting them to start with. But the decisions we make are in our brains, not in the mechanics.
You’ve said that social media is not the disease, a nice complement to so many posts which say that it’s not a panacea, either. Your point that we’re often railing against “human problems” (though we often blame intermediaries such as policies, tools, etc.), reminds me of Seth Godin’s post on bear shaving: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/08/bear-shaving.html. While his post about problem-solving isn’t about human problems per se, it’s a good reminder that when we try to fix things, we’re often not paying attention to what REALLY needs to be fixed. As your post suggests, social media makes the problems more immediate/urgent/amplified. If we’re smart, we’ll seize these moments as opportunities. That’s the optimist in me! The pragmatist knows that dealing with those underlying issues is hard work, especially when you’re managing from the middle and need to get others to agree on what the problem is.
Yep, it’s hard work. It’s sometimes ugly and demoralizing to realize where you’ve come up short, too. But again, you’ve got a choice. Keep doing what isn’t working, or change it.
Change is hard. It’s gradual. It’s two steps forward, three steps back, and tons of patience, diligence, and perseverance.
But when change doesn’t happen and problems don’t get solved, it’s not the tools that are at fault. It’s the humans wielding them, or not having the right ones, or not wanting them to start with. But the decisions we make are in our brains, not in the mechanics.
Hi Amber!
I loved your post! I work with enterprises, trying to introduce them to the use of social media as a tool. It’s difficult to convince them that social media is out there and they can either use it or not, but they can’t make it dissapear.
I wrote some articles for our blog studying possible uses and benefits of social media, check them at http://condiminds.tumblr.com/
Bye Amber!
Good for you for educating. And keep them focused on the goals, not the ‘things’. They’ll always change, anyway, and something new will come along.
Hi Amber!
I loved your post! I work with enterprises, trying to introduce them to the use of social media as a tool. It’s difficult to convince them that social media is out there and they can either use it or not, but they can’t make it dissapear.
I wrote some articles for our blog studying possible uses and benefits of social media, check them at http://condiminds.tumblr.com/
Bye Amber!
Good for you for educating. And keep them focused on the goals, not the ‘things’. They’ll always change, anyway, and something new will come along.
An off the wall comment — The word “media” is a plural form of the word medium, so a correct headline to this post would be Social Media Are Not the Disease.
I fall into this trap myself and usually either ignore my grammar lessons or avoid the issue altogether by calling it the social web (singular).
Just wondering if you have also made a decision to breach grammar protocol or what your approach to this is, Amber.
.-= Mark W Schaefer´s last blog ..How to become a CMO in 10 tweets or less =-.
Mark – since the days of the 1920’s when “media” came on the scene, the word has been increasingly used as a singular, collective noun that’s often followed by a singular verb. For example, “mass media” is often used in reference to a singular entity, and social media has been adapted in common parlance similarly.
Traditionally and technically, yes, media is the plural of medium and should and can receive a plural verb. But I’m quite deliberately using it as singular, much to the chagrin (I’m sure) of the purists. I believe that language evolves, and in this case, I”m rolling with a more common, familiar adaptation of how the phrase “social media” is treated.
You’re free to disagree or call it a breach of protocol, if you like, and call the grammar police on me.
Thanks. The grammar police have been after me too and your take on it is helpful.
.-= Mark W Schaefer´s last blog ..How to become a CMO in 10 tweets or less =-.
An off the wall comment — The word “media” is a plural form of the word medium, so a correct headline to this post would be Social Media Are Not the Disease.
I fall into this trap myself and usually either ignore my grammar lessons or avoid the issue altogether by calling it the social web (singular).
Just wondering if you have also made a decision to breach grammar protocol or what your approach to this is, Amber.
.-= Mark W Schaefer´s last blog ..How to become a CMO in 10 tweets or less =-.
Mark – since the days of the 1920’s when “media” came on the scene, the word has been increasingly used as a singular, collective noun that’s often followed by a singular verb. For example, “mass media” is often used in reference to a singular entity, and social media has been adapted in common parlance similarly.
Traditionally and technically, yes, media is the plural of medium and should and can receive a plural verb. But I’m quite deliberately using it as singular, much to the chagrin (I’m sure) of the purists. I believe that language evolves, and in this case, I”m rolling with a more common, familiar adaptation of how the phrase “social media” is treated.
You’re free to disagree or call it a breach of protocol, if you like, and call the grammar police on me.
Thanks. The grammar police have been after me too and your take on it is helpful.
.-= Mark W Schaefer´s last blog ..How to become a CMO in 10 tweets or less =-.
100% agreement here. I know you’re writing specifically about the business implications, but I have a personal argument I want to share. I’ve gotten into debates with people who believe that “the internet is screwing up our kids”. My response is consistent: My husband and I can call his family in South Africa on a webcam, for free, and we (and, more importantly, our son) can see and hear our loved ones in real time. My son knows these people who love him in large part because of this technology…and they know him. Don’t tell me this technology is bad.
.-= Beth Coetzee´s last blog ..Dirty Hippie: Ditch the Shampoo =-.
There are a lot of parallels there. We say “the youth of today are so lazy” when there are plenty of parents that have failed to instill a work ethic in their kids. We blame the internet for its evils, when it’s the people behind it that have the issues, and dare I say some of the parents for not being aware and involved in what their kids are doing, and educating them about what the potential ugly side is.
I’m a mom, and I know that the internet has its perils for my daughter, but it has a vast and sweeping wealth of possibility, too. My job is to help her see and understand the difference.
100% agreement here. I know you’re writing specifically about the business implications, but I have a personal argument I want to share. I’ve gotten into debates with people who believe that “the internet is screwing up our kids”. My response is consistent: My husband and I can call his family in South Africa on a webcam, for free, and we (and, more importantly, our son) can see and hear our loved ones in real time. My son knows these people who love him in large part because of this technology…and they know him. Don’t tell me this technology is bad.
.-= Beth Coetzee´s last blog ..Dirty Hippie: Ditch the Shampoo =-.
There are a lot of parallels there. We say “the youth of today are so lazy” when there are plenty of parents that have failed to instill a work ethic in their kids. We blame the internet for its evils, when it’s the people behind it that have the issues, and dare I say some of the parents for not being aware and involved in what their kids are doing, and educating them about what the potential ugly side is.
I’m a mom, and I know that the internet has its perils for my daughter, but it has a vast and sweeping wealth of possibility, too. My job is to help her see and understand the difference.
Rather than restate what your excellent post and others have already said, I’d like to add that social media gives responsible players an even greater advantage if they are paying attention.
By this, I mean, by trying to really think about what they want to present “in the space” before jumping in to social media, they have a better than average chance of benefiting from their engagement.
Slapdash, get-rich-quick hucksters usually don’t think any farther than their [customer’s] wallets. Therefore, they crash and burn. But those who take the time to identify who they are, align their brand with their online presence and to engage properly? They win. And win big.
Great post and reminder. Best, M.
.-= mckra1g´s last blog ..mckra1g: Serious Hitchcockian moment: @ stoplight & surrounded by abt 200 pigeons. Little nervous. =-.
That’s for sure. If you’ve got a positive, constructive business mindset, that carries over no matter what channel you choose to use. If you’re responsible, it shows. If you’re not, that shows too (and you can’t put lipstick on that pig with a Facebook page).
The more jerkos that do dumb things out there, the more examples we have to point to and say “don’t do it like that”. 😉
Rather than restate what your excellent post and others have already said, I’d like to add that social media gives responsible players an even greater advantage if they are paying attention.
By this, I mean, by trying to really think about what they want to present “in the space” before jumping in to social media, they have a better than average chance of benefiting from their engagement.
Slapdash, get-rich-quick hucksters usually don’t think any farther than their [customer’s] wallets. Therefore, they crash and burn. But those who take the time to identify who they are, align their brand with their online presence and to engage properly? They win. And win big.
Great post and reminder. Best, M.
.-= mckra1g´s last blog ..mckra1g: Serious Hitchcockian moment: @ stoplight & surrounded by abt 200 pigeons. Little nervous. =-.
That’s for sure. If you’ve got a positive, constructive business mindset, that carries over no matter what channel you choose to use. If you’re responsible, it shows. If you’re not, that shows too (and you can’t put lipstick on that pig with a Facebook page).
The more jerkos that do dumb things out there, the more examples we have to point to and say “don’t do it like that”. 😉
Very nice. People need to stop blaming social media, and stop proclaiming SM will save the world.
It is a tool, a great free tool, but just “another” tool to build and promote your business.
No matter what industry or niche or whatever, there will always good and bad. Scammers and dirt bags are everywhere not just in social media.
Up to you to educate yourself to spot a scam artist, and protect yourself.
.-= John Paul Aguiar´s last blog ..Just Released: New Twitter Dummy Guide =-.
Very nice. People need to stop blaming social media, and stop proclaiming SM will save the world.
It is a tool, a great free tool, but just “another” tool to build and promote your business.
No matter what industry or niche or whatever, there will always good and bad. Scammers and dirt bags are everywhere not just in social media.
Up to you to educate yourself to spot a scam artist, and protect yourself.
.-= John Paul Aguiar´s last blog ..Just Released: New Twitter Dummy Guide =-.
People always act like people, regardless of the medium. There will be those we admire, and those we find reprehensible. But they’ll always act like who and what they are, even if it often takes repeated exposure to someone to figure that out.
Ultimately, it comes down to whether or not others’ rules of behavior–which come from their values and motivations–coincide with ours. We can urge people to “be authentic,” but they already are. We may just not like who they are.
In other words, social media doesn’t change human behavior, it exposes it.
.-= Tamsen McMahon´s last blog ..Bloggers: The new Revolutionaries =-.
People always act like people, regardless of the medium. There will be those we admire, and those we find reprehensible. But they’ll always act like who and what they are, even if it often takes repeated exposure to someone to figure that out.
Ultimately, it comes down to whether or not others’ rules of behavior–which come from their values and motivations–coincide with ours. We can urge people to “be authentic,” but they already are. We may just not like who they are.
In other words, social media doesn’t change human behavior, it exposes it.
.-= Tamsen McMahon´s last blog ..Bloggers: The new Revolutionaries =-.
Amber:
Thank you for writing this!!
wg… wgwatsonphoto on Twitter
Right on Amber.
A few years ago, a water purifying company insisted to purchase 24 spots on a radio station because another water purifying company bought 360 spots on the same station. We advised against the buy. The company bought them anyway, and didn’t receive a single call because the ill-advised buy only reinforced the need for a water purifier and people only remembered the other company.
The owner of the company threw his hands up in the air and declared radio doesn’t work.
The medium is never the problem. People almost always are.
All my best,
Rich
Right on Amber.
A few years ago, a water purifying company insisted to purchase 24 spots on a radio station because another water purifying company bought 360 spots on the same station. We advised against the buy. The company bought them anyway, and didn’t receive a single call because the ill-advised buy only reinforced the need for a water purifier and people only remembered the other company.
The owner of the company threw his hands up in the air and declared radio doesn’t work.
The medium is never the problem. People almost always are.
All my best,
Rich
Hi Amber,
I don’t make my living from or in social media, but I have been learning to use these tools to grow my business. You are spot on about every corner of life being filled both with people that act ethically and those that take advantage at every opportunity.
It is easy to say that we all need to do our homework and consider the source, but I can understand your frustration about those in your industry who are making it difficult for the smart and ethical of you. I think the best defense against the charlatans is doing what you do. The more people act professional, the harder it is to fake.
.-= Ian Gordon´s last blog ..SD 16 | From Idea To Company In 7 Days =-.
Hi Amber,
I don’t make my living from or in social media, but I have been learning to use these tools to grow my business. You are spot on about every corner of life being filled both with people that act ethically and those that take advantage at every opportunity.
It is easy to say that we all need to do our homework and consider the source, but I can understand your frustration about those in your industry who are making it difficult for the smart and ethical of you. I think the best defense against the charlatans is doing what you do. The more people act professional, the harder it is to fake.
.-= Ian Gordon´s last blog ..SD 16 | From Idea To Company In 7 Days =-.
Amber, you certainly have a knack for putting things in perspective :))
I read Lindsay’s post as well, and these kinds of incidents are inevitable! And will happen again. Your post will help raise awareness, that should already be there!!
It is about being able to trust the right person, and the onus is entirely on us. For all you know, the folks who didn’t pay were pure opportunists, and just happened to be at the location??
Lesson for me: transparent processes are needed (like registration, fees, etc.), once you have correctly assessed authenticity of individuals. Those who dont do a good job of identifying authenticity/quality will have to pay for it (unfortunately). Would love for you to read my post on “Darwinism & Social media”, if you have time 🙂 http://ow.ly/12FXS
With the future being one of super connectivity, enabled by mobile/web based, real time, location intelligent devices (or cameras that take AR to a whole new level, if Pranav Mistry has his way, and I think he will)- the probability of these events happening, will only increase.
Thanks for an engaging post.
Cheers,
Prince
.-= Prince´s last blog ..Poll: Are you afraid of Digital Infection? =-.
Amber, you certainly have a knack for putting things in perspective :))
I read Lindsay’s post as well, and these kinds of incidents are inevitable! And will happen again. Your post will help raise awareness, that should already be there!!
It is about being able to trust the right person, and the onus is entirely on us. For all you know, the folks who didn’t pay were pure opportunists, and just happened to be at the location??
Lesson for me: transparent processes are needed (like registration, fees, etc.), once you have correctly assessed authenticity of individuals. Those who dont do a good job of identifying authenticity/quality will have to pay for it (unfortunately). Would love for you to read my post on “Darwinism & Social media”, if you have time 🙂 http://ow.ly/12FXS
With the future being one of super connectivity, enabled by mobile/web based, real time, location intelligent devices (or cameras that take AR to a whole new level, if Pranav Mistry has his way, and I think he will)- the probability of these events happening, will only increase.
Thanks for an engaging post.
Cheers,
Prince
.-= Prince´s last blog ..Poll: Are you afraid of Digital Infection? =-.
Great post, Amber – and some great comments on here taking the post into both business and professional contexts. Business will find they have the same problems with social media as they do with sales, public relations or any other forward-facing communications. If the process, product or brand is flawed, that will only become more apparent on social media.
I’m definitely going to send this post on – it’s a great conversation starter for finding the root of fundamental business problems.
Great post, Amber – and some great comments on here taking the post into both business and professional contexts. Business will find they have the same problems with social media as they do with sales, public relations or any other forward-facing communications. If the process, product or brand is flawed, that will only become more apparent on social media.
I’m definitely going to send this post on – it’s a great conversation starter for finding the root of fundamental business problems.
I think one of the reasons people, and companies, decry social media is because now many more people are aware of what’s being said about them online, and the speed at which this is occurring in public is difficult to keep up with, especially for smaller organizations.
Being forced to devote more resources to monitoring the online space, when previously it wasn’t as crucial or time-intensive, requires existing employees to learn new skills, and for mid-sized and large organizations with an online presence to hire people. Doing both affects the bottom line, so many companies’ employees and C-level execs hate it, especially when so many businesses are struggling in today’s economic climate. Change for most is tough, and it’s generally easier to complain than it is to solve core problems in an organization when times are tough.
I think one of the reasons people, and companies, decry social media is because now many more people are aware of what’s being said about them online, and the speed at which this is occurring in public is difficult to keep up with, especially for smaller organizations.
Being forced to devote more resources to monitoring the online space, when previously it wasn’t as crucial or time-intensive, requires existing employees to learn new skills, and for mid-sized and large organizations with an online presence to hire people. Doing both affects the bottom line, so many companies’ employees and C-level execs hate it, especially when so many businesses are struggling in today’s economic climate. Change for most is tough, and it’s generally easier to complain than it is to solve core problems in an organization when times are tough.
Well said! This article is on point to the ‘T’.
I used to work for a MLM company that claimed they weren’t. There was (and still is) so much negative content about them in the SERPs. They focused on getting themselves noticed more in a positive light in the SERPs as opposed to using the negative content to IMPROVE their business. I would plead with them that they needed to pay attention to what people were saying about them. Ignoring users would only make it worse. They thought that they could just “push the negative content down with positive content”. Fail.
When I found out they were a MLM I wanted to run for the hills; however, I’m up for a challenge. After months of trying to get them to understand the concept of using the social scene (twitter, facebook, blogs) as user feedback and letting me at least test it I got tired of the door being slammed in my face. I moved on to bigger and better things.
I’m not the type quit something without putting up a fight, and I know I could have helped make some major improvements with the company. It still strikes a nerve to this day that they were so close-minded. Their loss and not mind I suppose.
Well said! This article is on point to the ‘T’.
I used to work for a MLM company that claimed they weren’t. There was (and still is) so much negative content about them in the SERPs. They focused on getting themselves noticed more in a positive light in the SERPs as opposed to using the negative content to IMPROVE their business. I would plead with them that they needed to pay attention to what people were saying about them. Ignoring users would only make it worse. They thought that they could just “push the negative content down with positive content”. Fail.
When I found out they were a MLM I wanted to run for the hills; however, I’m up for a challenge. After months of trying to get them to understand the concept of using the social scene (twitter, facebook, blogs) as user feedback and letting me at least test it I got tired of the door being slammed in my face. I moved on to bigger and better things.
I’m not the type quit something without putting up a fight, and I know I could have helped make some major improvements with the company. It still strikes a nerve to this day that they were so close-minded. Their loss and not mind I suppose.
Amber
It is true that people are shitty with or without the social media tools at their fingertips. There is no control of that and with social media being newer and real time, those that are jerks are being called out faster.
For a company I think that they have to put it into perspective. There are 3 types of customer groups: Lovers/Gushers, Haters/Ranters and those that fall in between. Happy or Unhappy but talk about it in a way that is credible and believable. The Lovers/Gushers go overboard and eventually get ignored they have interrupted their audience enough. The Haters/Ranters are just making noise to trying to get anyone to listen and are discounted as they come off as idiots. The middle groups I believe a company needs to “listen” to as they are a very powerful voice. This is not to say to ignore the lovers and haters but know that they are not the loudest voice.
Unfortunately we will continue to see shitty people and with any new medium they will move over to that and infiltrate the space. Companies need to have trust in their efforts (or the agency they have hired) and use the space wisely.
Amber
It is true that people are shitty with or without the social media tools at their fingertips. There is no control of that and with social media being newer and real time, those that are jerks are being called out faster.
For a company I think that they have to put it into perspective. There are 3 types of customer groups: Lovers/Gushers, Haters/Ranters and those that fall in between. Happy or Unhappy but talk about it in a way that is credible and believable. The Lovers/Gushers go overboard and eventually get ignored they have interrupted their audience enough. The Haters/Ranters are just making noise to trying to get anyone to listen and are discounted as they come off as idiots. The middle groups I believe a company needs to “listen” to as they are a very powerful voice. This is not to say to ignore the lovers and haters but know that they are not the loudest voice.
Unfortunately we will continue to see shitty people and with any new medium they will move over to that and infiltrate the space. Companies need to have trust in their efforts (or the agency they have hired) and use the space wisely.
I think I said this to some this weekend too. Social Media is amplifying your voice, you have to have message and you have to know which meduim writing or video is allows you to find that voice, to amplify your message.
(Feel the point in the pevious post on Timemanagement is important to consider too)
I think I said this to some this weekend too. Social Media is amplifying your voice, you have to have message and you have to know which meduim writing or video is allows you to find that voice, to amplify your message.
(Feel the point in the pevious post on Timemanagement is important to consider too)
Amber
Couldn’t agree more. I just had this very convo last week with a company that blamed their socme for an issue that was clearly a business issue. They were really pissed at themselves for putting out substandard product but they directed that anger towards their socme program for shining a light on it. Wish I had this post last weekend!
@TomMartin
Amber
Couldn’t agree more. I just had this very convo last week with a company that blamed their socme for an issue that was clearly a business issue. They were really pissed at themselves for putting out substandard product but they directed that anger towards their socme program for shining a light on it. Wish I had this post last weekend!
@TomMartin
I think sales isn’t a dirty word precisely when it’s part of community.
Communities who are already giving and sharing want to support each other
and have no trouble seeing the value in supporting each other. It isn’t charity either. That giving and receiving is grounded in a sort of selfishness, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t born of a sense of healthy community.
Is it possible to be a part of a community, social media or otherwise, and not be selling something? Probably, but it isn’t possible for a community to grow and flourish without the giving and receiving of something of value.
It just so happens most of us, in the jobs that sustain ourselves and our families, use money for the purposes of putting a value on that giving and receiving.
.-= dan c´s last blog ..16 thesis for companies and organizations being online =-.
I think sales isn’t a dirty word precisely when it’s part of community.
Communities who are already giving and sharing want to support each other
and have no trouble seeing the value in supporting each other. It isn’t charity either. That giving and receiving is grounded in a sort of selfishness, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t born of a sense of healthy community.
Is it possible to be a part of a community, social media or otherwise, and not be selling something? Probably, but it isn’t possible for a community to grow and flourish without the giving and receiving of something of value.
It just so happens most of us, in the jobs that sustain ourselves and our families, use money for the purposes of putting a value on that giving and receiving.
.-= dan c´s last blog ..16 thesis for companies and organizations being online =-.
I have a Slap Chop!
I have a Slap Chop!