Are you being talked about?
by sandman6210 ~ May 4th, 2009. Filed under: social networks, web @ work.
I know, I know …. another blog about social networking! Yes folks, it is. There seems to be a trend here doesn’t there?
More than likely your arrival here is the result of social networking! How many of you found your way here from the likes of my blog being Twittered about, then my Twitter fed into my other social networking sites and other blogs. What a snowball hey!
But it was inevitable. I knew when I first heard that retarded dial tone when I first connected to dial-up on the Internet, that we would have to start watching our P’s & Q’s.
Not only is Big Brother watching… most of the world’s online community is watching!
No such thing as Bad Publicity!
Poor Gretel Killeen recently got dealt the social cat-o-nine-tails for everything ranging from her attire, her hair and performance as host at the 2009 Logies. The Twitter universe ate her alive! It didn’t matter that there were also a large population enjoying the show, the media are only interested in reporting the nasties, which was evident by the many news stories today.
Forget about public stonings, these kind of social batterings can make or break people. Publicists have quickly begun to realize this. If stylists were kept on the ball with print media, and then the web, imagine their job now with Twitter & more. Dress one star wrong & your toast!
Less 2nd Chances to Impress
One web host (I know of) lose 3 clients in a matter of days because of lack of confidence after one dissatisfied client tweeted about it, and others agreed. Last year another web host lost most of his clients because he screwed up badly. It also wasn’t a matter of just losing clients from a screw up. They mostly lost clients by word of mouth of better deals elsewhere, or from their competitors circling like vultures ready to offer those better deals.
Making a Good Impression
A President more than likely got elected through his great social media presence, and still uses micro blogging sites to push his message. The press & Presidential family were SMS’ing & Twittering from the White House at the inauguration. You’d be blown away by how many were doing it from the audience and surrounding crowd. From those stuck in traffic to the ones who elected to watch it at home.
Little Sister is Watching Too!
Stephen Conroy and his pathetic notion of net filters and black lists, is constantly in front of a hail of bullets from the IT industry through social media.
So if so many people are talking, doesn’t it stand to reason that at some stage they are talking about you?
What will they be saying? Do you care? Will your business suffer? Many employees have lost jobs for disparaging comments on social media about the company they work for.
Is speech still free? Or are there more repercussions than previously?
Who’s watching what you tweet or update on your status? Potential clients, customers and consumers? Your boss? Your friend? Your family?
Then who is that information being passed onto? Your parish? Your employees? Your students? Your hairdresser, doctor, dentist? Shall we go on? But I think you get the picture by now.
However, then I have to wonder… Is it that we care less? Are we becoming more accessible? Maybe our skin is getting thicker and the insults and criticism don’t wound as deep. Possibly we research businesses and their staff more now before engaging in business or activities with them, so we are making ourselves more available for the potential clients and contacts to know better also.
Whether we like it or not, whether we want to play the social media game or not…. It’s there! It’s not going anywhere. It’s going to get bigger and bigger, and become much more a part of our everyday lives.
