Will Smart Phones Propel Social Media?

Smart Phones, lead by the latest iPhone 3G launch, have moved beyond the bane of just business and government users now. The iPhone and BlackBerry Curve have made massive strides into the consumer markets. Looking through the available apps for the iPhone, this becomes crystal clear. Most notable are all the Social Media apps for the iPhone.

Key to market adoption and use of any technology are the underlying applications. The applications must provide a clear value proposition and deliver a benefit that is either qualitative or quantitative. BlackBerry has proven this with it’s email capability (still far better than the iPhone.) Now it’s iPhone’s turn with Social Media and Web browsing far superior to BlackBerry or even a Windows Mobile Device.

From your iPhone or Touch you can access all the major Social Networks, post entries to your blog and micro-blog and share photos or websites. People are using them, and this is just the beginning. If those in the Social Media business were evangelizing the need for business and government to join in the conversation taking place, then this may be the most compelling reason so far. As a peer of mine, Carmen Pirie has said “the conversation is going on with or without you…so you might as well help shape it.” Astute words.

The Key Point of Difference – Access & Availability
Prior to Smart Phones, a person had to fire up their laptop in a connected location or sit at their PC at home or work. This creates a barrier to usage patterns since the individual must take a pre-planned path before being able to share their thoughts or opinions; access and availability were a primary issue. Not anymore.

Our estimation is that this will lead to;

- More but shorter conversations on isses or “micro-conversations”
- Rapid changes in a story or conversation thread, making it harder to “shape”
- Increased speed of public opinion in Social Media on major issues
- Significant challenges for PR agencies and firms in crisis situations
- Increased viral spread of both positive and negative issues
- A change in societal behaviour and communication patterns
- Potentially new opportunities for Traditional Media (if they move fast)

Likely, these are just the surface of the changes that will occur. The adoption of the devices is clear, Social Media continues to grow in consumer use. What other changes do you think might occur? Could this impact government as well as business? How about localization of Social Media?

Corporate Social Media Policies – Embrace or Disgrace?

Many companies answer to Social Media and Networking in the workspace is to just say no. But employees go home at the end of the day. So what is a reasonable way to address the issue of Social Media in the company? IBM has acheived some success with it’s policies and so have some others.

Social Computing Guidelines is IBM’s policy on employees using Social Media. It’s worked well because IBM (certainly having an advantage here being a technology company) recognizes the principles of Free Speach and the impossibility of enforcing a policy on workers outside the workplace. A company can’t stop an employee from opening a Facebook or Bebo account at home or from blogging. Such services can be turned off inside the workplace. This action was taken by the Ontario Provincial government in Canada who noticed significant network traffic jams during coffee breaks and lunch hours. This was, arguably, a sensible move.

It’s certainly reasonable to turn off access to Social Networking sites and not allowing blogging or Twitter access during the day (although there is a business case for Twitter usage in the workplace) while work needs to be done. Too many employees accessing these networks during peak times cause network decay and can overload servers and routers, aside from serious productivity losses.

If a company takes an aggressive anti-Social Media stance and attempts to enforce autocratic management policies on its employees, this is very likely to backfire and may result in significant negative reputation issues in the Social Mediasphere. Leading to a PR problem for the company. If an employee is fired for using Social Media – albeit not saying slanderous things about their employer – then a law suit for wrongful dismissal is a probable outcome.

Embraced like IBM, a company can turn their employees into a Marketing Force. Imagine having 250 employees or even only 10 who love working for the company and speak in Social Media about the great things being done. As long as they respect corporate confidentiality on certain key issues and identify themselves clearly as employees but not as official spokespeople, such a strategy can bring huge rewards.

In establishing a Social Media policy, be clear about what the policy is, where and when it’s appropriate and how employees should identify themselves. If you’re planning on monitoring Social Media, and employees active there, let them know and be open. This is a challenging issue for a corporation, it is another level of transparancy. Yet being closed and trying to enforce a No-Use Policy will likely end up causing negative feedback in Social Media. Remember, employees also have friends and family and employees may also go work for your competitor or leave anyway – then the cat’s out of the bag. Embrace and adopt Social Media and the rewards could be priceless in marketing and PR terms.