WhatsTheBuzzAbout.com

Your Vendors Are Watching You

I read an article today about a blogger who used his blog to vent about a supplier of his that was not meeting his expectations, and another individual who posted negative comments about a company.  In both cases, they were contacted immediately by a customer representative and in both cases were surprised that their postings were monitored. In this case the blogger chose to view this as “big brother” was watching him.

Isn’t this an interesting scenario? A blogger complains about a company in a public blog expecting many people to read it but not the company staff. The company responds immediately to the blogger and takes corrective action. The complaint is resolved. The blogger then complains that this response resulting from reading his blog posting is an invasion of privacy. Who out there thinks that the World Wide Web is private—a blogger of all people?

Was not the complaint that the company needs to take action, and when they do, it is a problem also to this individual?  Perhaps the blogger looked at his posting as venting only—maybe he enjoyed the complaint process, being the “victim” and that was taken away from him when the resolution came so quickly. He should be ecstatic that the company was responsive!

Not all businesses can afford to or choose to monitor internet chatter about the company, whether on forums, blogs, Twitter-type media, or otherwise.  Those who do and then take the extra step to take the comments, criticisms, problems, ideas for improvement, or complaints seriously deserve kudos.

If you have clients, monitoring what is happening through even a simplistic mechanism such as Google Alerts is very helpful. It is also helpful to monitor what is happening to your company as well.  Monitor yourself, monitor your company, and monitor your clients. Take action to make things better if you can. Monitoring is not a 2008 version of big brother; it is good, solid business practice.  Let your inbox buzz with good information.

What is your buzz about?

How Much Public Face is Enough?

The Web is an interesting place to spend time. You can simply spend time surfing, shopping, or learning etc.  You can become highly visible or you can be relatively stealth. Regardless of the option you choose for any or all of the social media tools, there is a certain expectation that what you do choose to reveal publicly is true.

You can participate in numerous social networks without revealing your true name, photograph, or email to the public or to other network members. You can assume an avatar and live a fantasy existence on certain platforms, or you can comment on blogs without having to take ownership of your comments.

Alternatively, you can choose to live a public existence–from revealing the date of your birth including the year to your photograph. You can participate in or join hundreds of groups. You can write a blog and have it feed into your profile. You can permit people to see what you read, what your favorites are in videos, and what you are doing at any one moment including your mood.

Many individuals permit their emotions to drive their choices. For example, many individuals will join Facebook because their friends are on it or they perceive that it has its roots in “social” connections and not “business” connections.  Others join social networks such as LinkedIn or Xing because they perceive those networks have a business value and will permit them to identify and connect with others for business development. Some will try to maintain a presence by separate “social” network and “business” network platforms. However, they quickly learn that their business connections will find them on their “social” network platform too. Do they want their business connections to learn that they enjoy having people add to their online monster car collection that they are a member of a save the three-eyed flying turtle foundation?

New people to social media do not always understand the ramifications or longevity of their choices to be or not be visible. There are war stories of individuals who have tried to have inaccuracies removed from the Web. People who say, “I wish I had not posted that or joined that” are too late at the gate. The decision whether to have a public face must be made at the start. Decisions to join any groups—including sports, religious, political, cause, or others—should be made judiciously.

Think smart when you make your decisions to join a network, a group, a cause, etc. or respond to a blog or posting or save something in your network which is visible to others. Buzz around in your mind and get a handle on whether you will be happy with your decision in a year. Think of your actions as being ‘in perpetuity.” They are!

What is your buzz about?

Social Media Personal Due Diligence

Most everyone in business is familiar with the term “due diligence.” Individuals and companies conduct due diligence when determining whether to invest monies into a new venture or going concern, for example. In addition to reviewing the known factors such as current competitors, investors also evaluate financial predictors and determine the potential return on investment (ROI).

Most social network individuals spend a good bit of time joining networks, joining groups, posting or commenting on posts, responding to invitations to join networks, groups, clubs, applications, or forums by saying yes or no or simply ignoring, getting RSS feeds, and using social media tools to communicate – such as Skype, Jaxtr, Twitter, Pownce, Pulse, or other instant message programs. Most people are on a react mode. They move the data—whether it is a request to join a group or a posting which drops into email.

However, we doubt that just the minimum modicum of serious due diligence is undertaken by the social network participant who reacts to the torrent of requests. If we really thought seriously about the ROI, would we join so many networks, or groups, clubs, or forums? Would we take the time to read posts which do not add serious insight or knowledge value?

I had the opportunity the other day to hear a strong proponent of social networks tell someone else that he or she remains connected to a social network which is not giving a positive ROI and saps time, because that individual believes that he or she is expected to have a presence there.  “Hoisted by one’s own petard” so to speak, giving credit to Shakespeare for this initial thought and verbiage which is now modernized.

There are many reasons why individuals react as they do to all these stimuli. Most people want to respond positively to others who present something to them to consider, whether it be an invitation to join a group, or an invitation to participate in a podcast. Facebook has an interesting option called “ignore” which permits the meek or the indecisive or others to table a request and not respond “no.” Does not an “ignore” decision equate to a negative reply and not a positive response? Somehow, there is a perception that to ignore a request is a gentler way of dealing with the tough decision and response of replying “no.”

However, with all these options, how much due diligence, how much thought, how much reflection and evaluation do each of us do when we make these social media decisions to process data? We challenge you to look at your stream of social media data and apply the ROI eye to it, if only for a day. You will be amazed. Take time to smell the flowers (the beautiful stream of information you receive) and think about the nectar you are collecting through your decisions. Do your decisions make for good honey at the end?

What is your buzz about?

The Buzz is About

Buzz  - is an appropriate word to use for us social networkers. What is buzz? Our colleagues at Wikipedia today use the term “hubbub” to describe buzz and Merriam-Webster Online seems to use the applicable terms “murmer,  wisper, go quickly” to describe a buzz.

Let’s  think of the term ‘buzz’ in two ways for purposes of this blog:

1.       Rapid and consistent activity and

2.        What is “hot” at the moment (i.e., what are people talking about today? )

 We are all moving quickly through this space, taking care of business, friends, family, community, social and personal matters, environmental and other great causes and initiatives. The whole time we do this, we are processing information and data at enormous speed – discounting and forgetting some, making written notes and following up on others, moving other data to others, etc.

We use almost every part of our brain every day, though not all of it is used at one time, just like not all our muscles are used at the same time. We don’t have a brain drain, we are absorbing information at a phenomenal speed and those of us with a thirst for knowledge, buzz about gathering knowledge just like bees gather pollen. No wonder they are so busy, it takes a bee over 240 hours to collect about a teaspoon of pollen. Aren’t we fortunate in how much knowledge we can gather and how productive we can be in the same amount of time and that bees exist which enables humans to exist?

The question for us becomes to focus or not to focus.  If you are buzzing – what are you buzzing about?  Are you just buzzing with no definite purpose or destination or for the sheer joy of buzzing? Or are you buzzing with a purpose, a clear direction, a path, a target? How about your colleagues, your friends, your family – have you started them buzzing as well on a focused or non-focused path?

What is your buzz about?

Welcome to What’s the Buzz About

Welcome to What’s the Buzz About at www.whatsthebuzzabout.com and thank you for visiting my blog. The main purpose for this blog is to stretch our thinking and to encourage and enable the free exchange of ideas and opinions.

Many of the blogs will center on the softer issues of social media and social networking, though not all. Therefore, don’t expect to find a posting on how to create a blidget or a detailed analysis of a certain technology, etc. You may find a recommendation or discussion about certain technology, group, or forum. You may find a blog about a recent announcement, etc. In general, I will be posting blogs on this site on topics that interest me and, I trust will be of interest to you. You may see a guest blogger here on occasion.

Please feel free to comment –the good, the bad, etc. because I want to hear from you. Please feel free to suggest topics, ways to improve the postings, etc. That is what exchanging ideas is all about to me – to help us become more knowledgeable, more open-minded, and more willing to contribute.

I look forward to our interactions! Buzz on in!

Margaret Orem