Trust the experts on social networks
Posted 21 January 2008 at 9:27AM by Ian Betteridge in Doing business online
As a writer working in IT and business, you often find that you have a foot in two different camps. On the one hand, there's the world of technology: a mix of lively geeks and serious managers who have the unenviable task of ensuring that a company's systems keep running.
On the other hand, there's the world of marketing. While the 80's image of marketing as full of loud ties and red braces is wide off the mark, wild ideas and having "a finger on the pulse" are not exactly unwelcome. I say nothing of the parts of marketing that have to do with statistics and data, as my CSE in maths disqualifies me from talking about it.
Nowhere is the difference between these two worlds more obvious than in the attitudes to social networking, as exemplified by two recent reports. On one hand, we have a story in BrandRepublic, talking about how "super advocates" on social networks are a powerful tool for making a brand's reputation.
On the other hand, a story from Silicon.com which tells how a poll reveals that social networks are snubbed by IT executives, who largely see them as a waste of time.
Where does the truth lie? As ever, both sides make some good points. Anyone who's wandered around an office at lunch time and counted the number of people staring at their Facebook profiles is bound to wonder if it's really an aid to productivity. But social networks can be a powerful way of connecting with customers, clients and co-workers.
The answer probably lies in being selective about how and when you use them. Business-focussed social networks like LinkedIn and BT Tradespace have obvious real-world business use. And it's worth at least keeping an eye on developments on sites like Facebook, especially if your customers are in the key demographic of the under 25's.
Just make sure that, while researching Facebook, you don't end up having "just one more" game of Scrabulous...
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Tags: bt tradespace, bt tradespace communities, business networking, facebook, linkedin, social networking
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