His Point of View

Over the course of the last year or three social media web sites and services have taken over like only a few things do every decade or so.  I have noticed two types of people that use social media sites the first are those who feel that social media sites are all fun & games and don’t take them very seriously, the other type are those who understand the value/threat of social media sites and treat them with the respect they deserve.

Those of us who realize the value of social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and the relative newcomer FourSquare; know that these sites are a treasure trove of free information about our own companies, the industries we are a part of, and our customers/potential customers/former customers.  Never before have we had this amount of access to the thoughts and concerns of nearly every consumer of goods of the westernized world.  At the tips of our fingers we have valuable data about the how our companies or our industries as a whole is succeeding or failing, in real time.

Beyond that we have access to market research data, trends, and gaps in the market that can be filled.  All that is required is the knowledge and tools to accumulate and digest this data.  If you or your company do not have the expertise to perform such tasks there are firms out there that can provide such services, or even teach your staff how to use the internet to improve your knowledge of the market your company serves.  Contact me by clicking  here and I can point you in the right direction based upon your needs.  Social media sites should be a part of your plan for most business related activities no matter if you are hiring or job hunting, marketing or searching for a vendor, in this day social media outlets contain a wealth of free information that should not be ignored.

I have heard an alarming number of supposedly professional adults make statements that indicate that they view social media sites as something that is “not real” or just something they use to pass time and chat with friends.   What these people fail to realize is that we can not separate our online “self” from our “real world self.”  Every action we take and every word typed is liable to have an effect on our real lives.  No matter how much we trust our privacy settings and our restricted access profiles, all of those things can be undone by a single hacker or a single careless/disgruntled employee at any one of the service providers involved in getting your comments from your keyboard onto the web.   There is no separation of the online “pseudo-you” and the real world you when it comes to legal issues, employment issues, or that person who became attracted to you on or angered by you and decides to show up at your home or workplace to show you how real the online world really can be.  The things people do online everyday lead to marriages, divorces, employment, job loss, and loss of life there is no way to say that any of those things are not “real.”  Even if you chose to use social media strictly for pleasure, please never forget that your colorful/rude/cruel language and imagery can have an impact on your life now or in the future.  I am not saying that there is something wrong with people who use social media for pleasure, because I certainly do, but I also understand that the things we do for pleasure are the same things that big businesses use to keep track of our wants and needs.  There is no reason that the small guys can’t take advantage of theses same free resources.

If you don’t believe me just ask Kanye West… as I wrote this blog post he sent out a tweet about the readers of the New Yorker magazine who have created a comic strip cartoon using comics printed in the magazine with the text of Kanye’s tweets as the narrative , and its pretty funny. Check it out here. But this shows how what we send out over the web can come back in a completely unexpected form.

(image from http://todayinart.com/2009/04/)

Updates:

08/04/2010 www.ajc.com reports on a legal dispute unfolding on Twitter click here to read more

08/04/2010 www.wsj.com reports on how companies (and hackers) can learn almost everything about you when you visit their web sites click here to read more