Just as PR representatives have become accepted as a proxy for the organization they represent in the journalism community, the community or social media manager is now becoming accepted in the same way.

Examples on Twitter include Andrew Nystrom at the LA times (@LATimesNystrom) or Scott Monty of Ford (@scottmonty).

Rather than hide behind generic brand identities, they give a human face that encourages interaction.

What distinguishes them most for me is that they are listening! It’s not unusual to hear directly and promptly from @LATimesNystrom if I mention an issue with any of the LA Times stories or Tweets. I’d say that if you’re trying to determine who best ‘owns’ social media in an organization, base it on who’s listening most attentively. And that applies to all sizes of organization — from behemoth to boutique.

I think you did an excellent job of highlighting the main point of Brogan’s article. I think that too many companies are fatally unstrategic in how they use social media. Companies need to honestly look at what their level of expertise is with social media and which discussions they can participate in valuably and honestly. If your company is struggling to find compelling material to blog about then Twitter is definitely not the answer you are looking for.

As you mention content and integrity are the currencies in social media and if a company is providing neither, then they should not be using the service. I am going to post a longer article on our company blog http://scribnia.com/blog/ discussing the issue further but thank you for the solid analysis.

______________________________
Don’t pay for your electricity any longer…
Instead, the power company will pay YOU!

I’ve been really impressed with the work avaaz.org is doing in this space. I think that’s because they take real-life tangible actions with the member’s voiced opinions, then let us know what they’ve done. The feedback loop letting you know your voice has had an impact is so important in inspiring participation.

This current crisis is not of their doing. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Citigroup did this and the list goes on. For the car makers and their dealers it means no credit available.

I watched FOX last night and the Sen. from Jersey said he was against helping the automakers but wants to support small biz, the number one creature of jobs in this country. He was wrong AND right.

Small biz does create the most jobs. But, duh, the autos and their supplier companies and dealers– from seat manufacturers to companies that literally make screws — are THE biggest clients of these small businesses.

If one of these companies goes down — because of the inter-connectigivity ( a word?) of the industry — they all go down. And do does America.

Jason Vines
Former Auto Exec
Unemployed

Interesting how the people from the companies are here screaming foul. Maybe that’s why the big three are failing. They aren’t receptive to input, suggestions or criticism of any kind. Change or an alternative strategy, runs counter to all that they stand for.

I am a Online Communication Strategist and I agree with the core message of your blog post. And being on twitter doesn’t mean that you have the social media market covered. It’s true that twitter thus far has an audience, that is mostly composed of early adopters and higher income earners. But twitter is still very much in its nascent stage. And this may come as a surprise, but a significant percent of people are still unaware of twitter. Or if exposed, don’t use it often.

Twitter often personifies the very definition of noise. It’s a medium, where information has to stand out to get through because tweets are fast and furious. So instead of staying within the confines of twitter and relying on that network to spread the word, social media depts within car companies need to be more active.

Scott Monty may boast about having 5000 followers but how many of those followers are really spreading the message about thefordstory which may eventually lead to sales. And this is the problem. These car companies again have failed to realise that the entire market is important, not only a small segment.

Car companies should also be podcasting, have a presence on forums (yes people still use those archaic things), leveraging the promotional power of their youtube (or any other vid sites) channels, partnering up with third party orgs or groups (environmental, car enthusiasts, PTA) to promote their message online. They need to take a page from Obama’s campaign. Build a network, an email list and create a community of support around you. That’s how you break out beyond the limited market segment by engaging your audience in different ways. It’s not the 60’s any more. The big 3, no longer monopolize the auto market or the airwaves.