Corporate Social Media Is Being Used To Do Good Things
In the rush to try to capitalize on the new social media for money-making purposes, businesses have taken a little longer to start learning how to use social media for social good. The good social aspects of any new trend are frequently low on most corporations’ list of priorities, but an interesting thing has slowly begun to happen as businesses have started using the new media. The very nature of this new way of communicating is changing the consciousness of some companies. Their use of corporate social media is forcing them to think about the wider society and not just their own profits.
During the summer of 2009, a business marketing move of www.amazon.com prompted an uprising on Twitter, Facebook and other social websites. Buyers of an ebook version of George Orwell’s book, “1984,” suddenly found the file deleted from their e-readers (Kindle) without warning. Amazon said this particular version had not been authorized. The uproar on the social websites prompted discussions about whether purchased ebooks belong to the purchaser, as paper books do, and how people can trust electronic booksellers in the future. The ultimate result will be more clarity on property rights, and perhaps a limitation on such heavy-handed policies in the future. This is a small example of using social media for social good.
That is the first notable difference. Social media nowadays is instructing corporations as to what their customers attach importance to, and woe to those corporations should they try to provide the clients anything else. Because, secondly, social media is also making it possible for folks to discover very rapidly when an organization is trying to be a bit dishonest or if their track record is not all it ought to be. But this also means that companies themselves have a method of using their corporate social media for the greater advantage of civilization, and can also use the newest techniques to advertise when they are cleaning up their act in some way.
Most social media platforms were originally devised just to connect people who wanted to be friendly and chat about similar interests, but as they learned they could use social media for social good, the nature of those connections expanded immeasurably. Some of the interactions became political, as people worked to effect great changes, and other connections became informational. Social media today is helping businesses and their customers get to know each other as well. And in the end, as corporations recognize what people’s true values are and adapt to them, this is only going to do the world good.
Online strategies like corporate blogging and specific internet promotion are serving companies well. But the nature of the new social media is gradually making these organizations rethink their concentration on their own self interest, growing their vision outside themselves to target the interests of the broader world. With the new capability of their customers to organize quickly and make their priorities crystal clear, businesses are now required to give thought to how to make use of social media for social good, as well as their own good.
The social media websites that immediately come to mind are some of the most popular sites today, like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. Any avenue that allows people to socialize together without necessarily being in the same proximity is considered social networking. Find out more at the Social Media Resources site.