Do you eat your own cooking?
The old adage that you should ‘never trust a chef that doesn’t eat his own cooking’, or in fact a ‘skinny chef’, is due an update in my opinion. With the rise of celebrity chefs, a nation obsessed with obesity and the dubious contents of the McDonalds secret sauce – it just doesn’t make sense in the 21st Century.
So what would be today’s equivalent? Based on the recent news surrounding Google+ the phrase ‘never join a social network where even the management aren’t even members’ could catch on.
Last week, 3 months after its launch, Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt has finally gotten the message and joined Google+. I understand he’s an extremely busy man, he’s running one of the biggest companies in the world and retweeting Ivanka Trump’s promotion of “Snow Flower & The Secret Fan”, but surely someone might have mentioned it?
However, the fact is that most of Google’s management team aren’t much better. Only 3 of the 12 people listed on Management Team page have ever posted on Google+ since launch, with a total of just 29 posts ever and only 6 in September.
With a recent press release from the company stating the social network has over 40 million users, perhaps the company doesn’t believe a few rogue management users will make much difference, and yet a rogue software engineer could.
Steve Yegge, a Google Software Engineer, recently hit the headlines after describing the site as “a knee-jerk reaction” and “a pathetic afterthought.” Only certain members were meant to be able to view the post, using Google+’s Circles feature, but it instead ended up going out for the whole world to read, showing even employees are struggling to figure out how to use the service.
With recent research showing that activity levels are on a continued downward trend, the newest social network contender needs all the help it can get as it continues to force its way on the agenda.
The Importance of Evolution in Social Media
Last week the news agenda was dominated by the announcements from Facebook’s F8 conference – changes for the social network were coming. True to the rumours, Facebook played along with the script and showcased a number of big changes to the site (here), all designed to give more functionality to the user.
These changes are aesthetic – more options with pictures and video, or functional like the integration of Spotify – the background to these changes is a little more crucial to the longevity of Facebook. The tech world doesn’t stand still and if you’re a brand or service that rests on your laurels then you’ll be left on the tech scrapheap a la MySpace (remember that?).
These changes are much more important to Facebook than just making it look pretty. It needed to deliver additional functionality in a space where content and engagement is critical. The launch of Google+ earlier this year shows that users are willing to try something different. While Google+ is an unknown quantity for the moment, as consumers and brands try to work out how to use its tools for the best benefit, the huge numbers of users flocking to the site (over 43 million users at the last count) must have been a worry to Facebook. Now that it’s a free to join, rather than invite-only, must concern Mr Zuckerberg furthermore.
Facebook’s answer is to evolve. It needs to provide users with what they currently want right now – a highly usable and function social media platform, but also deliver the features they will utilise and use increasing more in the future (integration of music, new apps etc). Twitter is also set to play a big part in the way the social media landscape will settle, but for the moment is watching on as the other two big guns slog it out. It’s going to be an interesting battle, where the ultimate winner is going to be the consumer as the platforms fight it out for their digital loyalty.
Is Twitter just Reuters of the Digital Age?
An interesting article appeared in Gigaom a couple of weeks ago on how Twitter is developing compared to other social network sites. They argue it’s hard to have a conversation on Twitter – therefore it’s not a social media network but more of a news communications tool – I tend to agree. Whether it’s news being shared between particular communities all with something in common or a big news story breaker – it provides latest information in a sound bite way. If you try to hold a conversation on Twitter, you quickly give up as the number of characters simply doesn’t allow for it. So it’s not really a conversation tool, Twitter’s more about sharing points and latest info. It allows users to send information quickly to a large group of followers whether those followers are looking for personal updates or details about a news event like the earthquake in Japan.
Quite rightly Gigaom asks is Twitter in reality the Thomson Reuters of the digital age providing an information service that advertisers and knowledge workers are willing to pay substantial sums for. I think it’s more interesting than that, but we shall see.
Facing the challenges of social media: managing the crisis
Everyone talks about the great opportunities that social media offers to engage with customers in new ways. But, there’s another side to the story that’s less appealing.
Recent research shows the social media crises are on the rise and it seems businesses are unprepared. The good news is that 76% of the crises examined in the report could have been prevented had the brand been prepared to respond. According to the same research the top three reasons for the crises were lack of internal social media education, absence of professional staff to monitor and handle social media issues and lack of an emergency plan.
These results clearly demonstrate that despite the buzz around social media brands are not confident about using the medium when it comes to crisis situations. So how can businesses get the most out of social media and ensure they can effectively handle a potential crisis?
Taking social media seriously is maybe the most important advice to be given when it comes to managing social media crisis. Underestimating the power of the medium can have damaging consequences for the business. Monitoring social media regularly and developing an effective strategy that enables companies to deliver a consistent message across all communication channels is a necessary step in reducing the potential damage of such an event.
Having dedicated staff to handle social media issues is also a good way to ensure that your business will be better prepared to react effectively in an emergency situation. Another important step to consider is using the social media channel to choose the direction of your social media strategy in a crisis situation. Monitoring the reaction of your target audience for example could provide organisations with useful tips on how public opinion is changing and help them select the most appropriate course of action.
The Apple Chronicles
And so, he bids farewell. Apple’s great visionary and one of the geniuses of this century who heralded a whole new era of all things ‘i’, Steve Jobs, has stepped down from assuming an active role in the company’s activities. It wasn’t a terribly shocking piece of news; Jobs’ resignation as CEO was foreseen ever since news about his ailing health spread in January. But it is indeed saddening.
It is interesting to see how his decision will impact Apple’s brand image, which, incidentally, briefly surpassed Exxon Mobil as the world’ most valuable company in August. His departure made front page news on all major publications and newswires across the world (rightly so, may I add). Initial reactions ranged from panic regarding Apple’s future, prompting a drop in its share prices to a quiet resignation and renewed interest in Tim Cook, who replaces him. Everyone had something to say, whether they were a tech journalist, a consumer, or a mere bystander watching a global and historical moment unfold in the field of technology.
The debates that raged across social media networks (especially Twitter, where this was the number one trending topic for the last 24 hours) have leaned towards being conspiracy theories to sentimental fallacies. PCWorld has produced an amazing infographic providing greater insight into the conversation trends. Oddly enough, the concluding one as of the moment seems to be a steady stream of ‘i’ jokes – from ‘iQuit’ to the ‘iFamily’s’ loss.
Apple fans rallied stoically, hailing Jobs and fore-seeing Apple continuing its dominance. Journalists remain cautious and mostly wait to see what will happen with the company, with some drawing comparisons to Microsoft after its founder Bill Gates left. What, however, touched me the most and pays true testimony to the man who has indeed accomplished a mighty job was his sworn rival’s praise -Google’s Eric Schmidt offered a brilliantly appreciative statement in response to Jobs’ resignation, creating a very positive atmosphere regarding the whole situation. Indeed, this places a very positive seal on this story and the Apple brand, regardless of what may or may not happen in the company’s future.
