Week 13: Social Media (Clear)

Social networking is extremely important to today's society and how we communicate on a more intimate level.  Without social networking, it is obvious that it is harder to communicate on a global scale.  I have to say, it's fascinating that people 30 years ago didn't even have cellphones and were able to be as successful as they were.  I think that social media is perfect when used correctly and it's important to recognize that just because you have a good social networking page/site, it doesn't make the company successful overnight.  A lot of passion and creativity has to go into funding, creating and maintaining these sites and keep it as personalized as possible is ideal.  No one likes to speak to a computer.  When we receive telemarketer calls, how annoying is that?  People will become engaged when they want to become  engaged.  Giving them the power and time to invest in your product is ideal.  Most people that want to talk good about your product will do so.

As a Public Relations major, I have had a lot of experience with social media.  I use it on a daily basis to communicate effectively with clients and noticed that it's almost the easiest ways to do business.  When building a social media page, it's important to not be pushy, but get your name out there.  Even if the comments are somewhat negative, you can still turn this into a positive.  For example, when BP had their recent crisis with the oil spill, everyone wanted to hate them.  Now I am not saying what they did and how they handled the situation was ideal, but if you have noticed lately, they have done a lot with their twitter, Facebook and overall communication efforts through new media.  They have ways that you can donate to help fund small town people effected by the disaster and keep you updated 24 hours on how they have made a difference.  Eventually, BP will generate enough corporate social responsibility to improve their image and in the long run, gain back the business from those who were effected by their disastrous situation.

I enjoyed professor Means breaking down all the different types of social media and providing a background of their importance and strengths.  It's amazing that the richest companies and professionals in the world use social media so extensively and that should be a sign of how the world will be in the future.

Here is a really cool video on ways that you can improve your social media and get people to take your company or brand more seriously.  It's full of motivating texts and really makes you take social media seriously.  Let me know what you think.