The Light and Dark Sides of Social Media in the Workplace

There is no doubt that social media has begun to penetrate every section of our lives. However, it has started to show signs of limiting efficacy. When a professional person finds it permissible to tweet, outside of company tweeting, while appearing to be engaged in his/her work, he/she has deceived his/her employer and coworkers. It is a blatant and public declaration that the individual is not paying attention to his/her work. Rather, he/she is entertaining himself/herself at the expense of his/her employer. I find it commonsensical to not tweet or even browse, outside of social media work for the company, during paid work hours.

Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, the medium doesn't matter. It is the principle that is important. Remaining engaged within the workplace is key to productivity. Several companies have drawn up elaborate social media policies, designed to restrict potentially damaging tweets and also to prevent people from using personal use social media on the job. I think these policies are extremely important, especially from a PR standpoint. It prevents unnecessary image issues both external and internal. Internally, as having a bunch of disengaged employees is terribly inefficient and costly. Externally, as the policies carry legal weight against any possible defamation from current or past employees.

Employers, acting responsibly in today's world, must be proactive in managing the social media use of its employees, especially those in management positions. It is no longer built on a model of crisis management. It is about crisis prevention. Preventing the problem is more efficient in every area; rather than waiting for the outbreak and rushing to provide the cure. These policies can also be positive. It can provide guidance for professionals. It can provide a good foundation for those who may be less experienced in the use of social media. We can see how the transition from Facebook to Twitter can be a rocky one. Some people make mistakes easily in this transition. Social media policies provide companies with a form of insurance. This insurance protects them from the potential negative repercussions that employee's social media habits could bring upon them.

With new sites being introduced, old ones being used by masses, and some we thought we couldn't live without dying abruptly, we find ourselves at the mercy of these giants of virtual communication. That doesn't mean personal use has to penetrate through to the workplace. Developing, enforcing, and monitoring employee usage is key to productivity progress and poor performance prevention. Or else, you face the risk of being the victim of your own hiring. A danger that is easily prevented with a proactive social media policy.

To Tweet, Or Not To Tweet

That is the question I was facing last semester, here at Marquette University. Since then, I've used Twitter on a daily basis, but most of the time I still face that question, nearly every time I've use it. Then, I realized the true purpose of Twitter, and it's not tweeting. Twitter is social media, and aside from being a site for social expression, it is truly a business' dream. Twitter's value is not the plethora of tweets and meaningless anecdotes. It is in it's underlying potential to show the interests and aspirations of individuals, consumer's and organizations alike.

Where Facebook is the expression of immediate and perceived self, sites like Twitter and Pinterest present the detailed interests  of the actual person, not who they want people to think they are. Now, it is true that Facebook has this potential as well, but not in a professional sense, it is private. Twitter on the other hand, demonstrates an ability to obtain a more business related perspective. For example, Facebook can teach you about a person's relationship status, basic interests, and other demographic information. Twitter, on the other hand, shows an individuals more sophisticated interests and personality traits.

If, on Facebook, you observe a post in which someone details the stress of their day, to a business, this has little value. However, if you tweeted a brief description of your day, followed by the #stressed, it would place you in a larger group of other people who have been #stressed. Now, this is useable, because it creates a group or list of like-minded individuals for advertisers, marketers, and other business professionals to target this group. As marketing and advertising techniques advance, sites like Twitter and Pinterest provide priceless access to the individual consumers. This access is data. It is useable information to a marketer. #stressed creates a mini-market that can be targeted by a business to sell goods or services to. Continuing on with the #stressed example, let's say a pharmaceutical company just created a new drug for 18-30 year old's that relieves stress. This company already has a starting point for it's new drug, #stressed. Although this is a fairly elementary and basic example, it allows us to analyze Twitter's true potential for the business sector.

Now, in regards to a client, I have noticed a direct need for large to small corporations to invite their consumers to meet and get to know their executives. In a world where we have a large amount of distrust in the business sector, it is surprising to see not many active executives providing bio information and ideas specific to them. If, as a company, you create a foundation of trust between market and organization based on the well-crafted tweets of an executive, you have stepped out of the area of distrust. If I know, as a consumer, how the top-down of a company is ran and by whom, I can feel confident in my loyalty to the brand. So, as for any client of mine, I would encourage more activity from executives and top officials on Twitter. If you build it, they will buy. So, build a foundation of trust, and the consumers will follow, literally.

If I was to select five people/organizations I'm following as my favorite, they would be as follows: Edelman PR, FC Barcelona, Golin and Harris, Edelman Digital, and Marquette University. I will continue following all of them, because, in line with what I have said, these define me as a person and a consumer and that is what Twitter is all about.

SIngles Will Some Day Rule the World

I recently read an article by Eric Klinenberg entitled "The Solo Economy," in which he describes the growing trend towards single lifestyle in America. The article included some interesting statistics regarding this growing trend. To save you from a blog filled with statistics, I'll merely describe how this trend will soon be affecting any member of the Public Relations, Marketing and Advertising communities. I know I said I'd spare you from statistics, but one is imperative to understanding the magnitude of this trend. The singles in America represent $1.9 trillion in spending power. They also have a much more significant amount of disposable income. This is intriguing because it represents a change in values and societal norms.  It is interesting to me because I believe my generation represents the real "boom" in this trend. We watched our parents fail in marriage, as we watched the nuclear family get struck by a nuclear bomb. Therefore, we, Gen Y, represent the fruits of our parents failed labor. Which will, as time should tell have a drastic effect on how we use and evaluate info-graphics.

Infographics can be easily defined as the visual representations of information, data or knowledge. This boom in singles or singletons will have a drastic effect on how we use this tool. As a professional in the above stated fields, this tool is essential if not necessary. How can we expect to reach, inform or communicate with an audience if we are unaware of their true needs, wants and lifestyles? Truth is, we can't. In my opinion, infographics represents the future, as does the growth of singletons, in America.  Without this tool, we are without an ideal set of information. For any client represented by a PR, Marketing or Advertising professional infographics is a way to "get to know" your clients potential audience/customers. For any organization looking to diversify audience or customer base, infographics helps to understand the needs and wants of your audience/potential audience. For PR, it represents understanding. Understanding the expectations of your audience is essential to reaching them.

As the study of infographics grows and becomes a huge part of business(as if it already isn't), we will see its ability to help organizations tap into otherwise "untappable" sections of their potential markets. Just like demographics changed the game, so too will singletons and infographics. So, in the wise words of John F. Kennedy, "For time and the world do not stand still. Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or the present are certain to miss the future."  You heard him, so change and adapt yourself to adhere to the needs of your business. Until then, those willing to do what you cannot might end up with your dream job.