Over the last couple years Social Media has had dramatic influence on our lives and society. Today, a life without Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. would probably be unimaginable. Not only have we become part of social media, but more important social media has become part of us too. In this regard I found a really interesting news article on The Australian website 'Opportunities abound in social media'. The article is clearly one-sided as the interviewee is from a digital company. For an outsider this makes it really hard to also see the other side of the coin. Nevertheless, the article has a clear structure and provides good examples to support social media. I really like the interactive buttons at the top of the story where the reader can see how many people 'retweeted', 'liked' or 'shared' their opinions about the article on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. For a news item about social media this is a clear MUST.
The article is about businesses becoming more and more 'social' due to a networked economy. First and foremost most businesses strive for success. So why in the world would a successful company change their business system for social media? Simply because sooner or later these companies will be overtaken by socially 'fit' businesses that have already adapted to the next generation. With social media platforms businesses can take advantage of being more flexible and open as well as listen to their customers. Nowadays, Customer Relationship Management is a really important attribute of a company. Socially involved companies strengthen their brand image by having direct conversations with their stakeholders via those social mediums.
In week 6 of our Online and Mobile Media lecture we learned about creative nihilism and contemporary Web applications like blogs. Creative nihilism basically proposes to get rid of old structures to start something new, for example deconstructing traditional media. There is a lot of critique in the role of mainstream media creating very passive publics. So by using social media platforms and active publics one could argue that other traditional manners of communication will be zeroed out sooner or later. As the article above demonstrates new media such as Facebook, Twitter and blogging has already changed the old structure by being able to challenge and comment on messages that are out there.
Although social media is not just a temporary fashion and is here to stay, its usage has to be handled carefully. Blogs and social media platforms might be able to communicate more effectively with their target audience but those social tools also tend to create more irrelevant and pointless babble than a 'social' business might need. Therefore, traditional media and communication tools cannot be replaced one-to-one with new media tools - I believe a balanced mix of both is the key to success and therefore this news story fails to some extent.
Online news article and references:
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/media/opinion/opportunities-abound-in-social-media/story-e6frg99o-1226162531626 The article is about businesses becoming more and more 'social' due to a networked economy. First and foremost most businesses strive for success. So why in the world would a successful company change their business system for social media? Simply because sooner or later these companies will be overtaken by socially 'fit' businesses that have already adapted to the next generation. With social media platforms businesses can take advantage of being more flexible and open as well as listen to their customers. Nowadays, Customer Relationship Management is a really important attribute of a company. Socially involved companies strengthen their brand image by having direct conversations with their stakeholders via those social mediums.
In week 6 of our Online and Mobile Media lecture we learned about creative nihilism and contemporary Web applications like blogs. Creative nihilism basically proposes to get rid of old structures to start something new, for example deconstructing traditional media. There is a lot of critique in the role of mainstream media creating very passive publics. So by using social media platforms and active publics one could argue that other traditional manners of communication will be zeroed out sooner or later. As the article above demonstrates new media such as Facebook, Twitter and blogging has already changed the old structure by being able to challenge and comment on messages that are out there.
Although social media is not just a temporary fashion and is here to stay, its usage has to be handled carefully. Blogs and social media platforms might be able to communicate more effectively with their target audience but those social tools also tend to create more irrelevant and pointless babble than a 'social' business might need. Therefore, traditional media and communication tools cannot be replaced one-to-one with new media tools - I believe a balanced mix of both is the key to success and therefore this news story fails to some extent.
Online news article and references:
Lovink, G. (2008). Zero comments: Blogging, the Nihilist impulse. New York: Routeledge, pp. 1-28.
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