When social media is used against you
We now operate in a world where hundreds of millions of people are seamlessly connected through devices and the Internet – sharing billions of pieces of content, information and experiences on a daily basis. It is just amazing.
In many ways, social media has evolved to become a very powerful medium to channel emotion, context and experience.
- Emotion: How I feel…
- Context: What I think or where I am …
- Experience: What I did and how I will act as a result of …
Perhaps the most important component for business leaders to understand in a social world is “experience”. A bad experience shared on the Internet can travel at a velocity that can reach millions of people over night. As people begin to identify with or share their own similar (bad) experiences – the impact on a company’s reputation and sales can be dramatic.
Perhaps more important though, is that every bad experience exposes a root issue (e.g. product or service quality, sales experience issues, etc.) that if ignored or not addressed in a timely manor can further expose a company to massive short and long-term business challenges.
…and in today’s social environment, the spark that often ignites the flame comes via a tweet, a blog post or a status update to a social media peer group.
As a result, many business leaders now realize the transformative power that social media can have on a business. One only needs to look at recent “lessons” from United, Taco Bell, HP, Toyota and Nestle – among dozens of others.
United repeatedly refused to listen and take corrective action after damaging the guitars of Dave Carroll. He eventually wrote a song in response, that has been viewed than 8,4 mill. times on Youtub and had untold damage to United. Now known as the “United Breaks Guitars” phenomenon
Hewlett-Packard, which released a web camera that supposedly track people’s faces – always keeping them centered on screen – got slammed when a buyer posted a video claiming that the product doesn’t recognize African American faces. The video, posted under the title “HP Computers Are Racist,” has been viewed more than 2 million times. Here’s the video:
Business leaders should use social media tools now to understand how their company’s brand, products and/or services are being used and experienced by people. Insights gained from just ‘looking through the portal’ can provide tremendous value to any business executive, by identifying: product and service quality issues; new ideas for product and service innovations (based on how people are using); new routes to market; etc.
Social media is no longer a front-line issue for just marketing and communications within a corporation. Business leaders must appreciate and start to understand and apply the principles of social business and social thinking to their operations – now.
Short URL & Title:
When social media is used against you — http://www.torbenrick.eu/t/r/hlv
