Much has been written about the positive and negative effects of Social Media on our society and hence on business. There are recurring themes such as the exposure of teens to sexual predators, the cost of employees using social media at work and the exposure of companies to negative and sometimes destructive conversations.
Some, such as Andrew Keen’s outrageous and in general false assumptions behind his book “Cult of the Amateur” underlying the concept that we are teetering on the edge of catastrophe, shamelessly makes money from the same practice that he condemns – amateurism.
On the other hand, social media “experts” will tell you that traditional media is dead and that you have to invest in Social Media as anything else would be corporate suicide.
Others claim that one bad tweet on Twitter or a negative comment on Facebook can lose business from up to 30 customers according to a survey by Convergys Corp. Actually, bad service and ill prepared and unmotivated staff will probably cost you your business yet you still employ them.
It’s true that Social Media has become a new outlet for customer complaints, not so much from those that have no problem in complaining face-to-face but for those that have in the past shied away from confrontation and simply abandoned the brand.
Again, is this is not instead an opportunity, as a high percentage of customers simply abandon brands without the latter ever knowing when, how and why? This seems an ideal time and environment in which to confront that which needs to be changed in the organization. It has to be better than blaming the weather, economy, disloyal competition or plain bad luck. Not to mention those that still believe customers are plain stupid and at best, a pain.
According to others such as Dr. Sigman, social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, etc could increase the risk of serious health illness (cancer and heart disease) as they apparently decrease the levels of face-to-face communication necessary for humans. He calls this “increased isolation” with negative effects including altering the way genes work, upsetting immune responses, hormone levels and the function of arteries.
The most outrageous claim: That It could ultimately impair mental performance. Well that’s what they said about television. Lack of exercise seems to be the problem and you can blame it on McDonalds, cable television or the internet. Or you can face the fact that you need moderation in life and that includes exercise coupled with a balanced diet.
Lee Siegal discussed the potential for a cultural backlash in the future against the internet, whereby people will soon undergo information overload from the sheer amount of information available at their finger tips. Substance will be so overwhelming that the information will start to mean nothing and everything will continue to blur together.
Google, however, seems to be doing a pretty good job at identifying and presenting relevant content first whilst relegating the remainder content to pages we will never ever venture to explore.
Ironically, Lee further stated that we are losing the capacity to be alone with ourselves, to figure out what is going on with us. Yet Dr. Sigman on the other hand claims isolation will kill us. Who’s right? Well neither actually.
IT professionals claim that Social Media presents a threat to the intranet and drains resources yet broadband continues to increase internet speeds through the use of fiber optics whilst competition drives down the cost. I wonder if they will feel the same way when their soon to be Generation-Y superiors decide to deploy their pay checks through mobile applications?
Social Engineering brings forth the notion that it is in fact human fault which is to blame for most of the breaches of security. In essence, as long as humans are involved, no amount of technological advances will fully protect an organization.
I am still amazed to think that there are some bank customers that have the ignorance and patience to read out to “bank employees”, over the telephone, all the codes supplied by their bank in a card similar to the game Battleship. At no time do these people stop and think – um is this rational?
They may be the same people that fall prey to the Nigerian businessman that has been left 130 Million USD in an uncontested will and needs your account information in order to deposit the funds and reward you with 10 Million for your “inconvenience”
Human resources use some studies to warn management that companies are losing billions through their employees’ use of sites such as YouTube and Facebook. Well I can only imagine the time you can waste on the telephone with your girlfriend, lover or overseas friend from University. So maybe we should take telephones away too? Surely this is a managerial concern whereby unproductive employees are left to their own devices void of any control or accountability.
Sooner or later the inevitable question of ROI will arise as frustration leads to desperation from high up in the ranks. I wouldn’t mind explaining this one but only after an explanation as to the ROI of the gardens surrounding the offices or the lunches, company cars and golf course fees. ROI is important but only in context and never as a conversation stopper.
Finally, and on a personal note, if as parents, we would never allow our children to watch inappropriate programs why should they be left to navigate the internet in the privacy of their room, without due diligence and control? If we warn them to exhaustion of the dangers of speaking to strangers, why wouldn’t we expand our concerns to cover those online? Granted that this is not the time to become complacent – in fact, a degree of paranoia has never caused us harm – on the contrary.
Our lives online have become an extension of our offline persona with all the risks and rewards that are thrust our way. Like everything in life, common sense, wit, moderation and understanding will go a long way.
Social Media is no different.
