GlobalBX

We see the value in Earth Day.  We recognize the importance of World Peace Day. In deference to our wife we think even Mother’s Day is OK. But Twitter Day?  Somehow Oprah coming online and saying “Hello Twitter World.” (or whatever) is not quite up there with the wizard of Menlo Park (Edison) calling one of his assistants for help! For the most part, we don’t really care that Oprah, Shaq,  Parris, Kutcher and a lot of other folks are thinking about or talking about.   Yet a million +/- folks have signed up and track their every 140 character utterance. Our son  — who has an account but is too busy instant messaging with his smartphone and Skyping on his notebook – made the observation that if you Twittered in the real world instead of on the Internet you’d be arrested for stalking! Heck we have people following our updates and all we have is a Twitter account…and we thought we didn’t have a life! But there is a growing Twitter population.  In just a couple of years it has grown to well more than 10 million according to ComScore. As Domino Pizza, Amazon and other firms are quickly realize the mob mentality can be a force to be reckoned with. In the old days you used email, the phone and if you wanted to use the wayback machine you sent a letter.

Hum of Noise

Today people young and old can’t stand the vacuum of silence and we rush to take advantage of every personal and social networking tool that is available.  Twitter and other microblogging tools caught the attention of people everywhere when terrorists attacked the hotel in India and when the US Air plane went down in the Hudson River.  Instantly people around the globe could see the news first hand.  News media incorporated the citizen journalists’ inputs with their coverage seamlessly.

The interesting fact is that Twitter was adopted by older users (35+) and that the younger crowd is less likely to Tweet. The 35-44 year olds also spend a lot more time Tweeting than the younger crowd. From the personal contact perspective Twitter, Yammer and the other microblogging services deliver a valuable tool for people to get in touch, stay in touch in our hectic, sometimes chaotic world.  Fortunately we didn’t have to learn a new language when we started using Twitter because most of the IM “words” are used to keep folks’ messages under the 140 character cap. 

The brave new microblogging world already has its own dos and don’ts guidelines if you want to stay out of the line of fire from other short statement people who are online.  For people who want to get business done rather than simply chat at the world, services like Yammer are much better.  You simply carry on your specific project or activity and yet exchange information, ideas and concepts in a virtual/conversational manner.  Yammer is proving to be much more efficient and effective than email because people can have “conversations with fellow employees, consultants, suppliers.  It allows a profile and group list that you can check, post to and check from your computer or phone.  The near-realtime environment lets you add photos, documents, videos to keep business moving.

Company Microblogs

Firms like Cisco, HP, Xerox and companies large and small have found that the instant messaging is a valuable work tool. It’s a lot better and safer than working together online with the rest of the world looking over your shoulder and kibitzing. Hundreds — if not thousands — of companies around the globe have taken the Twitter plunge to talk with customers, sell products, improve customer support. Dell earned a few million last year selling used equipment from their Tweet corner.  The same is true of HP. FedEx, JetBlue and hundreds of other firms including Whole Foods Markets have climbed aboard the microblog wagon because it is another – ultra cheap – way for them to improve and enhance customer relations activities. 

There are some very sound business reasons for individuals and organizations having Twitter accounts and following recent events the best reason seems to be…defense. The online outcry that Dominos experienced with the video that a couple of really dumb employees posted on YouTube. Then there was Amazon’s “mislocation” of book titles produced an early warning system for businesses and organization’s in all sectors.  In this instance someone claimed he had hacked Amazon’s system and eliminated the books (so much BS but…). In both instances, individuals stepped forward to claim their 15 minutes of Fame!  Difference between them and the movie by the same name was the cost of entry was almost nothing and for a short time they were thrust into the global spotlight.  It didn’t really matter that in both instances – and in countless more that will occur in the months/years ahead – that the stories were false.

The Internet and Web 2.0 social networking tools has helped produce a mob mentality that feeds the monster bent on damaging individuals, companies, brands.  People have no problem Tweeting again and again what they wouldn’t say in face to face encounters with others (or gawd forbid they might!).  In today’s net driven world companies don’t have to make a wrong move or make a wrong decision to get people fanning the flames.  So while most firms are exploring and using all of the social networking tools to touch, assist and learn from their customers, there is also that gnawing concern that someone, somewhere will make an innocent or malicious statement and …BAM! Or as Mark Twain said, “A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes.”

Damage Control

The organizations that are social media involved at least have a community foundation they can use to correct things as quickly as possible.  They may not know exactly when, where or why the “challenge” will occur but they also know developing a plan of action while folks are lobbing their Tweets is a helluva strategy. We’re not really into having a mob of Twitter followers all to ourselves.  But fortunately there are a growing number of Tweet tools (we know we made that up!) that will allow us to keep track of what people are saying about our friends, family, products and us. Then again, sometimes you just don’t want to know what people are saying about you… As Fame’s Montgomery McNeil said, “Never being happy isn’t the same as being unhappy.” Aaahh…we’ll have to Tweet you on that.  Right now we’ve got to get back to our Twitter tools to stalk the stalkers. As we said most ain’t that interesting. But on the Internet their thoughts, statements, claims, counterclaims will live forever…somewhere. Who said Fame was fleeting?