10 social media questions worth asking and answering
February 26th, 2009 |
I’ll be speaking March 6 at Blogout ‘09 in Singapore. Here are 10 questions about social media that my presentation will attempt to deal with. How would you respond to these? Please leave your responses below.
- The “conversation” is not taking place on corporate web sites. Where is it happening?
- How much more “micro” will content get? Can we get by with fewer than 140 characters? Can you communicate anything of substance in a 12-second video (by using 12seconds.tv)? What other examples of the microsizing of content are there?
- Are large companies learning to master social media to regain control of their brands, or is the time for that long past?
- Are there too many social sites and services for a user to maintain, or has some consolidation made this easier?
- Are sites like GetSatisfaction offering a genuine alternative to traditional customer support, or are they just a way for companies to release themselves from the responsibility of after-the-sale support?
- Facebook did it again with its TOS flip-flop (think back to the Beacon debacle), raising concerns among users and advocacy groups that social networks may not be adequately protecting consumers. Do socnet operators have users’ best interests at heart, or are they influenced by the almighty dollar to “do the wrong thing”?
- Very few attempts at enacting social media specific legislation have been successful. Why is this? Will we start to see social media laws, requiring more transparency on the part of advertisers for example?
- Do businesses expect to evaluate social media success with traditional measures like revenue, margins and leads, or are “softer” measures like engagement and brand awareness adequate return on social media investment?
- Is executive blogging passé? Are corporate communicators writing blogs on behalf of CEOs and other senior executives?
- Do consumers trust social media? With the frequent social media hoaxes, like the case of the fake ExxonMobil account on Twitter, do we need better ways to authenticate corporate social media?
These are some of the big questions I’ve been thinking about. Please leave a response of any length below. If you’re passionate about any of these questions, have at it. Or add your own questions. Consider it an invitation to write a guest post for my blog. You guys are the smart ones. I want to know what YOU think.
Thanks!
Tags: | Sphere This |
1. The “conversation” is not taking place on corporate web sites. Where is it happening?
Agreed. Like in real life, you have to go to where your customers are, not try to force them to congregate where you want them to. Smart brands do this all the time. Social media didn’t invent this.
2. How much more “micro” will content get? Can we get by with fewer than 140 characters? Can you communicate anything of substance in a 12-second video (by using 12seconds.tv)? What other examples of the microsizing of content are there?
Show me a business plan for 12seconds.tv
Twitter will stick around since it’s such a pain in the ass to type on a mobile phone. Unless someone develops an app that just communicates via emoticons, I think we’ve hit the limit.
3. Are large companies learning to master social media to regain control of their brands, or is the time for that long past?
You can participate in the conversation and you can do commercials, print ads and such which create and reinforce your brand, but “control” is an outdated term.
4. Are there too many social sites and services for a user to maintain, or has some consolidation made this easier?
Of course there are too many. It’s the nature of business. Eventually people migrate to popular sites and eventually those popular sites are disintermediated. MySpace used to be the hotness. Now it’s dying. Same will happen to facebook, etc.
5. Are sites like GetSatisfaction offering a genuine alternative to traditional customer support, or are they just a way for companies to release themselves from the responsibility of after-the-sale support?
People use that?
6. Facebook did it again with its TOS flip-flop (think back to the Beacon debacle), raising concerns among users and advocacy groups that social networks may not be adequately protecting consumers. Do socnet operators have users’ best interests at heart, or are they influenced by the almighty dollar to “do the wrong thing”?
Facebook screwed up and changed course. They responded to their audience. That’s a good thing.
7. Very few attempts at enacting social media specific legislation have been successful. Why is this? Will we start to see social media laws, requiring more transparency on the part of advertisers for example?
Why on earth do social media experts feel that they’re so important that they require legislation? That’s naive and laughable.
8. Do businesses expect to evaluate social media success with traditional measures like revenue, margins and leads, or are “softer” measures like engagement and brand awareness adequate return on social media investment?
Engagement and brand awareness are measurable. It’s just that social media experts haven’t put in the time to understand how to do it. Some of them should look at sponsorship.com.
9. Is executive blogging passé? Are corporate communicators writing blogs on behalf of CEOs and other senior executives?
How many corporate blogs do you read regularly?
10. Do consumers trust social media? With the frequent social media hoaxes, like the case of the fake ExxonMobil account on Twitter, do we need better ways to authenticate corporate social media?
Surely some social media expert could fund a study on this. Other research experts do this all the time.
Comment by Jim — February 26, 2009 @ 11:06 pm
Thanks for some interesting responses Jim. Regarding #7, it’s not “social media experts” (whatever that is) calling for legislation. The EU has already enacted regulations banning unfair online commercial practices, including astroturfing. Legislation requiring web site (and blog) visitors to register before leaving a comment was introduced in the U.S., but was not enacted. As long as unscrupulous people try to game the system, legislation is the only way to protect consumers.
Comment by joel — February 26, 2009 @ 11:38 pm
___________
1. The conversation is taking place everywhere, finding it is key.
2. I think 140 characters is just right… perfect for all phones.
3. Gain control? There is only the illusion of control for brands now.
4. There are too many, if you want to participate in all of them. I think the realist would simply participate where the active conversation is located.
5. I’m not a fan of support sites, I want to communicate with the company directly.
6. I think Facebook’s terms WERE for the customer, in case they wanted to return they wouldn’t have to start over. As for making money, what business plan shouldn’t include $$$ dollar signs?
7. I say the less legislation the better. Too much legislation limits freedom of all parties involved.
8. I think most businesses are expecting definite ROI calculations, but that will evolve. The need for those numbers will decrease as the value of the participation increases positive brand awareness.
9. I think a coroporate ‘community’ blog is the best way. Encouraging employees to participate, rather than trying to rely on 1 person with 1 perspective.
10. I think someone will become an ‘investigator’ and shine the light on all of the ‘fake’ accounts. It just takes 1 smart person who cares.
These were all smart questions! I look forward to checking all of the responses later!
_________________________________
Comment by Charity Hisle — February 27, 2009 @ 9:03 am
1. Online everywhere else. Corporate-sponsored attempts generally feel fake.
2. There’s no shrinking trend. 140 characters was for phones, and the term microblogging came later.
3. More and more they’re learning, but some never will. They never had control of their brands in the first place.
4. There’s always room for more, because you don’t have to join them all. Activity feeds help, but what we really need is a way to send your profile & contacts over without having to re-enter everything. OpenID shows the way?
5. GetSatisfaction is useful for smaller companies, and for some things, but larger ones especially still need responsive email and phones.
6. It’s my impression that the pressure to do dumb things comes more from the VCs and less from the company founders, but yeah, they’re going to keep doing dumb stuff. Since they depend on members, they’ll still be kept accountable until someone either learns how to do this stuff on the lowdown, or successfully campaigns to make people care less about privacy.
7. I hope they don’t, not until the people making the laws actually use the services themselves.
8. I thought everyone understood this was about raising brand awareness and demonstrating that you get it. How significant is the investment on the part of most companies anyways? A couple hours of someone in corporate communications?
9. Believe it or not, it’s still early days yet. Most CEOs have only a vague awareness of what a blog is, so there’s plenty of people yet to discover this is something that works for them personally.
10. Well, if twitter starts charging corporate accounts real money, that’ll weed out most of the fakers, but I don’t care, personally. On the internet, you can say you’re whoever you want, and I like that. It makes people learn how to filter what they read, which is a skill they’re going to have to learn eventually anyways.
What’s really going to happen? Marketers are going to continually push the envelope of what is acceptable, friend/contact requests will proliferate like spam, and the people who just want to talk to other people without being exposed to marketing will have to create the next thing.
Comment by Mr. Gunn — February 27, 2009 @ 5:32 pm
1. The “conversation” is not taking place on corporate web sites. Where is it happening?
I THINK WE ALL KNOW WHERE CONVERSATIONS ARE BEING HELD…COMMUNITIES OF COMMON INTEREST. I THINK THE PROBLEM WITH CORPORATE BLOGS IS THAT MOST ALL OF THEM ARE USING THEM AS A NEWSLETTER OR HAVE THE ATTITUDE OF I MUST DO THIS BECAUSE, I’M TOLD I MUST, BUT I DON’T REALLY WANT TO, NOR KNOW WHAT PEOPLE WANT FROM ME. ALSO MOST ALL THE CORPORATE BLOGS I’VE BEEN TO, DO NOT TALK BACK, EVEN WHEN THEY ASK FOR FEEDBACK. PERSONALITIES ARE NOT GENERALLY NOT COMING THROUGH THESE BLOGS. THEY ARE STILL HIDING.
2. How much more “micro” will content get? Can we get by with fewer than 140 characters? Can you communicate anything of substance in a 12-second video (by using 12seconds.tv)? What other examples of the microsizing of content are there?
I BELIEVE THAT 140 IS JUST RIGHT, OKAY I COULD USE 160
BUT I DON’T THINK A SITE OFFERING LESS WILL SUDDENLY MAKE ALL OF US DISMISS TWITTER. IMHO
4. Are there too many social sites and services for a user to maintain, or has some consolidation made this easier?
CERTAINLY THERE ARE A LOT OF SITES, BUT YOU TEND TO WEED OUT THE ONES THAT JUST ARE DOING IT FOR YOU, THOUGH I WILL ADMIT THAT I WISH HAD MORE TIME TO SPEND ON. CONSOLIDATION SUCH AS FRIEND FEED IS GREAT BUT IT LACKS THE SOCIAL QUALITY.
5. Are sites like GetSatisfaction offering a genuine alternative to traditional customer support, or are they just a way for companies to release themselves from the responsibility of after-the-sale support?
I LOVE GETSATISFACTION AND THINK THEY ARE A GREAT BENEFIT TO CONSUMERS, AS FAR AS COMPANIES I DON’T KNOW ENOUGH ABOUT IT TO ANSWER.
6. Facebook did it again with its TOS flip-flop (think back to the Beacon debacle), raising concerns among users and advocacy groups that social networks may not be adequately protecting consumers. Do socnet operators have users’ best interests at heart, or are they influenced by the almighty dollar to “do the wrong thing”?
I THINK FACEBOOK PROVED TO LISTEN TO THEIR COMMUNITY AND RESPONDED IN FAVOR OF THE PEOPLE. I THINK WE ARE ALL AT RISK TO THE DECISIONS OF THE ALL OPERATORS/OWNERS AND WE ARE IGNORANT TO THINK WE ARE NOT TAKING A RISK, BUT IF WE ARE SO CONCERNED WITH WHAT IS DONE WITH OUR CONTENT THAT IT HAS NO BUSINESS ONLINE.
7. Very few attempts at enacting social media specific legislation have been successful. Why is this? Will we start to see social media laws, requiring more transparency on the part of advertisers for example?
GOOD QUESTION, WILL LOOK FORWARD TO YOUR IMPUT.
8. Do businesses expect to evaluate social media success with traditional measures like revenue, margins and leads, or are “softer” measures like engagement and brand awareness adequate return on social media investment?
SIGH, YES, BUT THE SMART ONES WONT/DONT.
10. Do consumers trust social media? With the frequent social media hoaxes, like the case of the fake ExxonMobil account on Twitter, do we need better ways to authenticate corporate social media?
I AM A CONSUMER, I TRUST SOCIAL MEDIA. I DON’T BELIEVE OR TRUST IMMEDIATELY, ALTHOUGH I GIVE THE BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT. WHAT I AM SAYING IS, THEY REALLY DO NOT HAVE GENUINE INFLUENCE ON THE CONSUMER OVERNIGHT LIKE ADVERTISING OF OLD, THEY HAVE TO EARN IT. AS FAR AS FAKE…I THINK TIME TELLS ALL.
GOOD LUCK AND HAVE FUN IN SINGAPORE, WHAT A GREAT OPPORTUNITY!
Comment by Leah McChesney — February 27, 2009 @ 5:57 pm
1. Online. Users speaking to Users.
2. No change. Popularity of micro content is thanks to info overload and limited attention to give to each item.
3. Jeremiah Owyang has a running tally.
4. There are currently too many IMO, though many will die off during the downturn. It’s a natural cycle.
5. From experience - it creates an additional channel and requires extra processes be put in place. But if users use it, you can’t ignore it.
And back to #2… just ran out of attention. Hope 5 answers will help you
Cheers.
Comment by Tara Kelly — February 28, 2009 @ 5:17 am
2. How much more “micro” will content get? Can we get by with fewer than 140 characters?
I love Twitter and texting is often easier for me than calling someone but if social media becomes much more “micro” I think we’ll be facing a loss of content. Imagine trying to communicate this post in 140 characters or less. It’s all well and good when you’re on the go but, some things require much more explanation or discussion than would be allowed by 140 characters or 12 seconds.
Comment by Kristen Victory — February 28, 2009 @ 11:16 pm
4. As is the case for most things these days from cereal to internet providers, there are just too many choices. The way that you keep from being overwhelmed is to slowly try ones out. Keep your ears open. Look for the active conversations. Find the sites that are the most popular because they are that way for some reason. It is a process to sort through all of the sites out there and it does take time, but it will be worth it because there are some really cool sites and tools out there that are incredibly beneficial.
Thank you for posing all of these questions. They really made me think about the world of social media!
Comment by Marissa — March 1, 2009 @ 4:10 pm
Thanks for posing the questions. Hope to discuss with everyone keen face2face this Friday! My take:
1. The “conversation” is not taking place on corporate web sites. Where is it happening?
On whatever the consumer finds fits his/her needs. E.g. I don’t blog but I microblog and FB because I don’t have time to write and keep up a blog. Horses for courses.
2. How much more “micro” will content get? Can we get by with fewer than 140 characters? Can you communicate anything of substance in a 12-second video (by using 12seconds.tv)? What other examples of the microsizing of content are there?
Let me pose another question: How much smaller can a mobile phone screen get before it is counter-productive? Notice the screens getting bigger nowadays? ;P
3. Are large companies learning to master social media to regain control of their brands, or is the time for that long past?
I think companies need to master social media in order to stay relevant to their customers and trends. Question of survival and getting ahead in the game. Granted some corporates are abusing or going about it the wrong way i.e. they just don’t get it.
4. Are there too many social sites and services for a user to maintain, or has some consolidation made this easier?
Yes and yes. Some of the consolidation tools, while not the sole domain of corporates, do help cut down time to update. E.g. ping.fm. More would be welcome.
5. Are sites like GetSatisfaction offering a genuine alternative to traditional customer support, or are they just a way for companies to release themselves from the responsibility of after-the-sale support?
The outsourcing debate continues…
6. Facebook did it again with its TOS flip-flop (think back to the Beacon debacle), raising concerns among users and advocacy groups that social networks may not be adequately protecting consumers. Do socnet operators have users’ best interests at heart, or are they influenced by the almighty dollar to “do the wrong thing”?
No one owes anyone to do the right thing on the web or anywhere else offline. That’s why true ethics, respectful IP policies and legit biz practices are worth their weight in gold. Every entity makes a concious choice how they want to run their biz and should be prepared to face the repercussions.
7. Very few attempts at enacting social media specific legislation have been successful. Why is this? Will we start to see social media laws, requiring more transparency on the part of advertisers for example?
Let the community police itself as it sees fit - sometimes policy stifles motivation, creates suspicion and is counter productive in the big scheme of things.
8. Do businesses expect to evaluate social media success with traditional measures like revenue, margins and leads, or are “softer” measures like engagement and brand awareness adequate return on social media investment?
Traditional measurements for extraordinary medium? I don’t think so. We need to figure out something that makes sense and captures the emotions of social media responses - as it translates into meaningful biz metrics. I think we are closer that we first started, we leaned on current online web metrics but have to customise it more in a way that makes sense to each business/org that uses it.
9. Is executive blogging passé? Are corporate communicators writing blogs on behalf of CEOs and other senior executives?
If done well, it will still have a strong place. Esp if the CEO or leader is iconic offline in the first place. I think corporate blogging in place of ‘CEO’ blogging is a more moniker. How many credible CEOs are left? The currency of trust has been eroded by many of these CEOs.
10. Do consumers trust social media? With the frequent social media hoaxes, like the case of the fake ExxonMobil account on Twitter, do we need better ways to authenticate corporate social media?
Are corporate websites being authenticated? Should they? As with anything online, a certification body is helpful e.g. Trust.sg but has a site that did not have that mark detered a determined consumer from seeking what they wanted? Caveat emptor - let the buyer beware. Also - see #7.
Derrick Koh
Communications Manager, Lenovo
Comment by Derrick Koh — March 2, 2009 @ 12:08 am
[...] is one of the questions addressed on the blog Socialized last [...]
Pingback by PRose on Social Media — March 2, 2009 @ 9:20 pm
These are great questions to bring up. I am very interested in:
1. The “conversation” is not taking place on corporate web sites. Where is it happening?
A lot of company’s are starting to blog, but why can’t their blog also be on their website? Smart brands are engaging with their customers online and I feel this is extremely important.
It is interesting to think about these questions from a students view. We are not employed yet so we really see all of this from a consumer standpoint.
Comment by Laura — March 10, 2009 @ 7:29 pm
Great ideas! I found your blog really fascinating. As a student, a few of your questions I had not put much thought into until reading your list. It’s given me more perspective on social media and the future. A few of your questions have stayed with me and inspired me to expand on them and the public relations industry today in my blog. You can see it at http://sarahamlerdupras.wordpress.com/2010/05/11/faster-paced-world/
Comment by Sara — May 10, 2010 @ 10:10 pm