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Social Media

Oct 04
Love0

Social Media: it’s not the Devil

By Social Media

Yesterday, I spoke to a group of business people about integrating social media tactics into business communications. One of the attendees expressed frustration because there are still members of her organization’s leadership that believe that “social media is the devil” and even, “this internet thing is a fad.”

It made me think of Dana Carvey as The Church Lady.

It also made me remember that when the telephone was invented people feared it. That electricity had to be an invention of the devil since it was associated with fire. Technophobia followed technology and our fear of loss of privacy has been closely associated with the concerns people have raised about social networking sites like Facebook.

If that’s really how some people feel, then by all means they should not use the technology; they should steer clear of the Internet and conduct all business in person.

Sometimes people don’t like what I have to say in social media presentations; on the issue of privacy and hacking: no, we’re not immune and no, there’s no 100% guarantee of security online. It’s the truth, though, and while the Internet is not evil and social media sites are nothing more than communications methods, it’s true that there are “bad people” in the world. Be smart, be safe, guard your private information by not sharing it online and using strong passwords and changing them often. It’s not all under our control, but for what is, manage it well.

 

Feb 07
Love0

Superbowl, Black Eyed Peas, Groupon, Kenneth Cole, Aguilera and Social Media

By Social Media

If you’re not truly plugged in to social media, you’re missing more than half the fun. There’s nothing better than the full-on rants that happen via Twitter, Facebook and blogs while a nationally televised event gone wrong or PR snafu unfolds.

Last week’s Kenneth Cole tweet made mainstream news, so even if you’re not a Twitter user, you probably know about it, but found out much later than a good 12-20 percent of the population.

It has gotten so integrated for me that it is my strong preference to have Tweetdeck open and flying during something like the Superbowl (Inauguration, State of the Union and any disaster reporting have also been memorable moments in the twitterverse). All Sunday, Twitter helped fuel excitement for the game (and who am I kidding: the commercials).

A reported 4.5 million tweets were generated by the Superbowl.

The fast and furious response to that nightmare of a halftime show and Christina Aguilera’s goof in the national anthem were hot topics, rather than tweets about the game itself.

Marketing, advertising and PR folks were on fire about the tasteless Groupon ad. I missed the commercial when it aired but quickly saw that something was up via my Twitter feed.  Many of those I follow unsubscribed from the service in the middle of the game, which may teach Groupon, a company whose backbone is social networks, the ultimate lesson.

If you’re still unsure about the power of social media and think it has nothing to do with you and the world around you, I encourage you to experience the next national event with one eye on the Web; there are layers you are missing and some great additional content that will make you better informed faster and often, with much more entertainment than a Superbowl halftime show has to offer.