It's Open - Social Media Strategy Consultancy

Facebook is proud to ‘help you connect and share with the people in your life’. Alas, these people can also include your worst enemies. 

With more than a tenth of the world’s population linked on Facebook, alarm is growing about the uses to which people’s information can be put. It’s not just advertisers seeking to target products and employers checking out the true lives of new recruits. Facebook data is also turning up in court cases, very much to users’ detriment.

For litigants the site is a goldmine of possibilities, for the things that some users post about themselves are frankly reckless. In one case, a 28-year-old Canadian who claimed he had lost his social life as a result of a car accident was found to have posted photographs of himself hosting parties. In another, a woman boasted online of her penchant for sado-masochistic sex and illicit drugs, a boon for  her ex husband who used it to help win custody of their child.

Users are in a weak position to protest, because they aren’t the customers – they’re the product. “Boardroom discussions at Facebook are not about how to help little Johnny make more and better friendships online; they are about how Facebook can monetise Johnny’s ‘social graph’,” points out author Douglas Rushkoff.  Facebook’s real customers are the companies who pay them for this data and use it to help them sell us their products, he says.

But the perception is growing that Facebook is being less than honest about its use of personal data. In Europe the company has faced an online campaign, started by an Irish citizen who was incensed when he discovered that it still held reams of controversial personal data which he was certain he had deleted.

Users may yet be saved by officialdom. In the US Facebook has just settled federal charges that it violated users’ privacy by getting people to share more information than they agreed to when they signed up. It must now let independent auditors review its privacy practices for the next two years, and consult users before changing its data policy again. The European Union meanwhile has plans to clamp down on the use by social networking sites of information on users’ sexuality, religious beliefs and location.

It remains to be seen what the effects will be, if any. Yet the pressure on Facebook to squeeze profit from users’ data can only grow. The company is expected to pull in an estimated $4 billion in worldwide ad revenue this year, and this could go up to $6 billion in 2012.  For the moment its goal has been to keep growing, but if it soon goes public, as expected, it will have to satisfy shareholders’ expectations of profits.  The battlelines are being drawn for what is likely to be a protracted and messy conflict.

(From Social Business, Q4, 2011)

Many companies have been introducing social media technologies into the workplace. However most have still to discover how to use them to create true competitive advantage and impact the bottom line. So what are the challenges that need to be addressed?

There’s no shortage of social media tools available to businesses, from blogs, content aggregators, wikis and personal homepages, to virtual spaces and social networks. But although these could potentially  transform the way they work, the reality is trailing behind the hope. Adoption has been markedly slower than in the public domain, with most companies dipping their toes in here and there.

One thing’s for certain: trying to replicate consumer networking sites and social tools behind the firewall won’t work. What’s needed is an holistic approach, identifying the business, cultural, and technical factors to consider. So what are the challenges, and how can they be overcome?

Busy staff need encouragement and a rationale for changing the way they work. They are resistant to learning new behaviours if they can’t see a clear benefit. So an essential first step is to find out what stops people getting their jobs done and what are the key business drivers for change. Once the problems are well understood, the search for the solution can begin.

One problem is that most people already feel overloaded with information and can spend hours sifting through irrelevant content. This makes them less productive: if they are prone to make bad or ill-timed decisions they may be unable to maintain desired standards of quality. A danger of social computing is that it can worsen this situation. Anyone who uses Twitter knows that it is impossible to keep up with all information streams.

With the continued spread of social media tools in the workplace, it’s critical that staff are trained to use them well. Otherwise they will simply shift the overload from one channel – typically email – to others.  They need to be shown how they can manage their activity streams. They need to make smart choices about who or what to follow and how to stay abreast of items that flow through their dashboard. This new skill should be complemented by intelligent filters built into the social computing platform, based on subjects and keywords that can assess an item’s potential relevance – precisely the types of filters Google uses when it dishes up personalised search results.

Quick wins may involve the use of blogs and wikis. Group blogs can be much more effective than email for informally sharing knowledge, a substitute for the generic ‘does anyone know?’ email. Wikis can be used to create informal FAQ resources on different areas and topics. They can also provide more structured know-how resources, for example a section-by-section guide to a code or process. Even using a wiki page for something simple like the agenda for an online meeting can cut down on email traffic and save time.

Clearly, another major concern is around privacy and security of information.  Social technology tools can track what staff are doing online and with whom, generating new information based on patterns of behaviour. This raises concerns for some about their privacy and they may want to opt out. Meanwhile enterprises still have their secrets, and want to be sure that sensitive information is seen only by those who need it.

In some cases, social tools end up creating new information silos that don’t link in a meaningful way to core CRM or ERP systems. What’s needed here are social systems that are an integral part of all the applications people use daily to get their work done.  Amongst other things, the systems should have access to existing internal directories, so that staff don’t have to keep their profile page up-to-date or leave their personal dashboard to search the database for relevant information.

Companies looking to offer a one-stop service to their employees will let them pull in their personal streams such as Facebook, Twitter and Flickr into their personal dashboard. Given the blurring of work and personal boundaries for many professionals, and their desire to build relationships with those whom they do business, this should at the very least be a point for consideration.

Finally, the tools must be embedded into the flow of everyday work. It’s important to remember that social computing is about people, not technology. Don’t think that social technologies will be as popular on the inside of your company as they are in the public domain. The tools must underpin a genuine need in the workplace and be embedded into people’s everyday work processes.

If the use of social media tools means asking staff to step out of their daily flow of work, and codify and share something about what they do, then they will be hard to engage. But if it can help them do their job better then they can really work.

(From Social Business, Q4, 2011)

Twitter’s Jack Dorsey explains how he organises his busy schedule into themes… Short and useful.

Many criticisms of cloud computing are ill-informed and overhyped, giving executives cover for not investigating the potential of the technology. This is a mistake.

Andrew McAfee argues in the current edition of the Harvard Business Review that the cloud is a topic CEOs must engage with, because many of the executives they typically delegate technology decisions to are precisely the wrong people to offer unbiased guidance.

Most IT departments today are stretched thin with maintenance activities, leaving precious little bandwidth for development and new initiatives. The cloud offers a way for companies to pursue opportunities nimbly and, in many cases, cost-effectively, McAfee argues.

Typical concerns about cost, security, and reliability are red herrings because those concerns are comparable for on-premise approaches.

The November edition of the Harvard Business Review argues that most companies do not succeed in online social platforms because they merely import their digital strategies to these venues.

Mikotaj Jan Piskorksi says that the primary advantage of a social strategy over a purely digital one is in tapping into how people really want to connect with other people, not with a company. A business with a successful social strategy helps people form and strengthen relationships in ways that also benefit the company.

Digital strategies broadcast commercial messages and seek customer feedback in order to facilitate marketing and sell goods and services.

Social strategies help people improve existing relationships or build new ones if they do free work on the company’s behalf.

Many companies are still prisoners of digital strategies which means they are failing to harness the real value of social media for their organisations.

They are failing to treat users of social networks as unique individuals and are broadcasting mass commercial messages which do not lay the foundations for generating friendly and long term commercially valuable relationships.

Zappos, owned by Amazon, which is regarded as one of the world’s leading companies when it comes to using social media for customer service, does not have masses of followers on Facebook. Talking privately to members of the Social Media Leadership Forum last week, they explained that they wanted to treat all of their customers as friends. They are looking for genuine long term customers for life – high-quality, committed followers; and not for large numbers of ‘likes’ for the sake of a superficial, short term headline-grabbing result.

Don Tapscott is going to be sharing his ideas in private with many of the world’s leading companies who are members of the collaborative Social Media Leadership Forum community:

The event is being generously hosted by Deloitte, who are also members of the Social Media Leadership Forum.

In this new age of networked intelligence, businesses and communities are bypassing crumbling institutions, Tapscott argues. We are altering the way our financial institutions and governments operate; how we educate our children; and how the healthcare, newspaper and energy industries serve their customers.

In every corner of the globe, businesses, organizations and individuals alike are using mass collaboration, Tapscott says, to revolutionize not only the way we work, but how we live, learn, create, and care for one another.

Tapscott is the co-author of the international bestseller, Wikinomics, which was an Economist Book of the Year and a Financial Times Book of the Year.

With Anthony Williams, he has written a new book called MacroWikinomics: Rebooting Business and the World.

Here are a couple of reviews from top business leaders:

‘Don Tapscott and Anthony Williams’ insights about the power of collaborative innovation and open systems, and their call to reboot our institutions – business, education, media, government – haven’t come a minute too soon. MacroWikinomics inspires by chronicling these path-breaking developments and pointing the way forward for all of us’

Eric Schmidt, CEO, Google

‘A masterpiece. An iconic and defining book for our time.’

Mark Parker, CEO, Nike Inc

If you want to enlighten yourself about how the internet is revolutionizing the way people and businesses operate, then this session with Don Tapscott is here to help you.

If you are a leading company and are not yet members of the collaborative Social Media Leadership Forum, then please get in touch: justin.hunt@itsopen.co.uk.

The Social Media Leadership Forum is a collaborative community of many of the world’s leading companies who meet regularly online and offline to share ideas and solve problems to enable their organisations to gain higher value from social media and new technologies.

I really enjoyed talking with Graham Kahr, the social engagement scientist
for Zappos, as part of the latest Social Media Leadership Forum session with members.

Previously members heard from Jeff Jarvis who through his new book, Public
Parts, argues for the emergence of a radically public company.

Well, Zappos is a living example of a radically public company, with staff
encouraged to tweet and talk with customers in a whole range of ways.
There is little divide between public and private. Which fits in with the
Zappos culture of being fun, and a little weird.

Graham said they had no real concerns about letting staff blog and tweet,
because they have a rigorous and unique recruitment process. They
choose people on the basis of whether or not they are going to fit in with
the culture. And they trust them.

Video is clearly important to Zappos as a means of giving information
about products, and they market their culture through video.

With Facebook they take a different approach, in that they are not out for
masses of ‘likes’ through flash sales. Instead they would rather interact
with core customers in a meaningful way. They are not looking for
superficially high numbers generated by sudden campaigns. They want
customers for life.

A lot of ad agencies over here blast out campaigns to drive people to
Facebook, the brand teams give themselves a pat on the back, and then they
don’t know who these fans are, and they are not sure if they can build a
relationship with them or not.

Zappos say they take all of their customers really seriously and want
emotional connections. They aim to treat their customers like friends in
the real world, irrespective of where and how they are communicating with
them. They are striving to be a social company. Phone calls are without
scripts and can sometimes run on for ages.

Graham said that as far as ROI goes, they feel there is too much focus on
return and not enough focus on investment in the customer and making the
customer smile is the key aim. They want to get to know their customers
and become a part of their lives.

They don’t go on and on about their products on Facebook or through social
networks, as they feel that would be boring. Who likes a friend who can
only talk about themselves all the time?!

They do use tracking tools – they have switched from Radian 6 to SAS which
is interesting.

And they have different content strategies for different times of the day.

It is fantastic through the Forum to be able to hear from these really
interesting companies and speakers. Recently we heard from Jeff Jarvis,
now from Zappos, and we have Don Tapscott coming up – as well as some
excellent sessions in the run-up to Christmas. Which will be announced
soon.

I think today I got my first real taste of what a social company is about.
The Zappos culture will not be appropriate for all businesses. Yet all
businesses can learn from Zappos. I think the key point they have grasped
is that they are aligning the culture of the business with the culture of
social networks. While many businesses are still struggling to engage with
customers through social media, Zappos appears to be swimming and enjoying it.

Thanks for a great talk Graham!

The author Douglas Adams spelt out three key responses that we all have to new inventions and new technologies. Ring any bells?

1) Everything that is already in the world when you are born is just normal

2) Anything that gets invented between then and before you turn 30 is incredibly exciting and creative, and with any luck you can make a career out of it

3) Anything that gets invented after you are 30 is against the natural order of things and the beginning of the end of civilization as we know it, until it has been around for about ten years, when it gradually turns out to be all right really.

Acquired by Amazon in 2009 for $1.2bn, Zappos is a hugely successful online retailer, renowned worldwide for being a social media trailblazer – particularly in the field of customer service.

Zappos employees maintain an active and presence on Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and corporate blogs.

Members of the collaborative Social Media Leadership Forum will be hearing directly from Zappos this Wednesday to learn first hand about how they use social media to deliver the ‘WOW factor’ in customer service, and how being social has led to corporate success for Zappos.

Graham Kahr, the social engagement scientist for Zappos, will be sharing his personal insights and learnings with members of the Social Media Leadership Forum and taking questions from members.

At a time when a lot of companies are considering social media governance issues, and are unsure how their staff should interact with social media, it will be interesting to learn how Zappos are going about it, and why.

Of the three main social networks, LinkedIn always seems to be trailing behind Facebook and Twitter somewhat when it comes to new advances in technology. Several years after Facebook introduced brand pages and the opportunity to post status updates from a company, LinkedIn has adopted the same service.

What this means is that a company can post short updates up to 500 characters long which can contain short links and media. This link will show up in the newsfeed of any followers.

In theory, with LinkedIn’s more serious and businesslike persona, this is a good opportunity for businesses to share more serious information. It could also make hiring new talent, sharing new products and sourcing information a lot easier too, without alienating customers.. Additionally, it may be more inviting to businesses that don’t want to deal with a lot of spam, abuse or advertising on their page.

For LinkedIn, I suspect this is a move to encourage users to visit more often, and stay for longer. On average, users visit the site 2.8 times per month and visits 29 pages a month. More interaction from brands could help increase traffic, both in frequency and length.

It still feels very much like a place we ‘should’ be, rather than ‘want’ to be, particularly as it lacks the lighthearted atmosphere Twitter offers, or the extensive network of friends and personal information Facebook boasts.

They are getting there though. Recent updates on the iPhone and iPad apps have made it far easier to use, and bloggers and PRs are catching onto the fact that LinkedIn can be a positive traffic source if they post the right content. In fact, Tech Crunch recently admitted that LinkedIn now beats twitter for referral traffic to their blog.

It’ll be interesting to see how they get on with this new feature.

Are you a regular LinkedIn user?

Source: SimplyZesty