7.4: Social Media
- Page ID
- 95066
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\(\newcommand{\avec}{\mathbf a}\) \(\newcommand{\bvec}{\mathbf b}\) \(\newcommand{\cvec}{\mathbf c}\) \(\newcommand{\dvec}{\mathbf d}\) \(\newcommand{\dtil}{\widetilde{\mathbf d}}\) \(\newcommand{\evec}{\mathbf e}\) \(\newcommand{\fvec}{\mathbf f}\) \(\newcommand{\nvec}{\mathbf n}\) \(\newcommand{\pvec}{\mathbf p}\) \(\newcommand{\qvec}{\mathbf q}\) \(\newcommand{\svec}{\mathbf s}\) \(\newcommand{\tvec}{\mathbf t}\) \(\newcommand{\uvec}{\mathbf u}\) \(\newcommand{\vvec}{\mathbf v}\) \(\newcommand{\wvec}{\mathbf w}\) \(\newcommand{\xvec}{\mathbf x}\) \(\newcommand{\yvec}{\mathbf y}\) \(\newcommand{\zvec}{\mathbf z}\) \(\newcommand{\rvec}{\mathbf r}\) \(\newcommand{\mvec}{\mathbf m}\) \(\newcommand{\zerovec}{\mathbf 0}\) \(\newcommand{\onevec}{\mathbf 1}\) \(\newcommand{\real}{\mathbb R}\) \(\newcommand{\twovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\ctwovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\threevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cthreevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\mattwo}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{rr}#1 \amp #2 \\ #3 \amp #4 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\laspan}[1]{\text{Span}\{#1\}}\) \(\newcommand{\bcal}{\cal B}\) \(\newcommand{\ccal}{\cal C}\) \(\newcommand{\scal}{\cal S}\) \(\newcommand{\wcal}{\cal W}\) \(\newcommand{\ecal}{\cal E}\) \(\newcommand{\coords}[2]{\left\{#1\right\}_{#2}}\) \(\newcommand{\gray}[1]{\color{gray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\lgray}[1]{\color{lightgray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\rank}{\operatorname{rank}}\) \(\newcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\col}{\text{Col}}\) \(\renewcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\nul}{\text{Nul}}\) \(\newcommand{\var}{\text{Var}}\) \(\newcommand{\corr}{\text{corr}}\) \(\newcommand{\len}[1]{\left|#1\right|}\) \(\newcommand{\bbar}{\overline{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bhat}{\widehat{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bperp}{\bvec^\perp}\) \(\newcommand{\xhat}{\widehat{\xvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\vhat}{\widehat{\vvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\uhat}{\widehat{\uvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\what}{\widehat{\wvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\Sighat}{\widehat{\Sigma}}\) \(\newcommand{\lt}{<}\) \(\newcommand{\gt}{>}\) \(\newcommand{\amp}{&}\) \(\definecolor{fillinmathshade}{gray}{0.9}\)In some respects, the easiest way to think of the media landscape today is to recall how it was at the turn of the 19th to 20th Century. At least 15 daily general circulation newspapers scrapped for readers (and revenue) in 1900. Today, as a result of mergers, acquisitions and business failures there are just seven. Depending upon what you are promoting, you might want to be in all of them, or just one or two.
It's the same way with social media. YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Mastodon and more vie for the consumer’s time and attention. And that’s in addition to email and hundreds of cable television channels.
Social media can play a vital role in any corporate communications program. It gives the company the opportunity to have a conversation with its fans. If somebody tweets they love a food company’s new product, the social media person can immediately respond – “Thanks. So glad you like it.” On the other hand, if the purchaser of a product that was defective tweets out a message trashing the product, the social media person can do two things: First, he can say he’s sorry it didn’t meet the customer’s expectations, and, second, he can ask the person to private message the social media staffer to provide more details or to give the company the opportunity to “make it right.”
Simply responding to customers in this manner goes a long way to enhancing the reputation of a company, One was a spokesperson for Southwest admitting “we f’ed up.” She also said, “We don’t watch the weather. The way our system is set up is we don’t have a system. We operate on more of a let go, and let done policy.”
I wrote this chapter six days after Southwest began “normal operations.” I scrolled Twitter for Southwest Airlines all the way back to Dec. 29. I had no trouble finding hundreds of tweets condemning the company for the travel chaos that occurred during the blizzard, for choosing to buy back stock or pay dividends rather upgrade its crew scheduling system and for not making refunds quickly enough. But I could find only one tweet from Southwest itself.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg did the tweet on Dec. 31, 2022, that Southwest should have done about cancelled flights:
All airlines average: 2%
Southwest Airlines: 1%
Buttigieg took almost as much criticism as Southwest itself did, largely accusing him of not regulating airlines enough.
Southwest should continue posting its cancelled flights average daily to Twitter and its website for several weeks to establish that Southwest’s performance normally is pretty good.
Once Southwest got back to operating normally, it posted a job opening for a public relations advisor to handle media queries. The posting was immediately mocked by social media users. Southwest said it was looking for someone with “entry level experience.”
PRACTICAL EXERCISE
Which social media platform do you use most? It you were to be hired today, who would be the employer? Go onto your favorite social platform and see how your company uses social media. Are they doing a good job? How would you improve it? How often a day do you think that company should check its social media account?
Be prepared to discuss what you find in class or to write a 500-word paper on the subject.