Social Media’s Transformation of the Business Landscape

I recently started working for a software company in Irvine, California and one of the topics that come up regularly is the importance of understanding social media. As a newcomer to the company, I was surprised that my opinions, those of a 21-year old undergraduate college student, were being taken so seriously. I then realized that my generation has a lot of insight into this area, and I’m glad companies are starting to listen.

Social Media seems to be all you hear about these days, and not just in the marketing world, but in the world in general. News anchors, corporate executives, consumers, and even governments mention or use social media in some form, virtually every day. Some dismiss the social media frenzy as nothing more than that – hype. They feel that sites like Facebook and Twitter are merely fads; they’re hot now, but eventually they will go the way of cassettes and parachute pants. They think that social media will simply fade into the background as soon as the “next big thing” comes around.

I disagree. Social media, with sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube, is a very, very big thing. I think it’s the greatest revolution to take place since the Internet itself. Like the Internet, social media has completely transformed the way human beings communicate with each other, and it is important to realize that such drastic changes to the human condition are not fads; they are permanent. They are assimilated into the daily lives of each and every individual who encounters them.

We need to pay attention to the beat and the buzz of social media. For businesses, social media can have a huge impact on whether a business does well or poorly. As part of the Web 2.0 movement, no longer are consumers passive victims of the corporate machine; individuals are no longer willing to blindly accept whatever the companies hand to them. Furthermore, consumers are no longer anonymous figures on accounting documents. With the treasure trove of personal information available on sites like Facebook, companies can find out for themselves, in excruciating detail, exactly who their customers are. At the same time, consumers are blasting themselves as personalities to companies, not numbers. Reciprocally, consumers are more and more aware of who the corporate executives are. And if a customer feels somehow wronged by a company, his actions on social media websites can have far-reaching effects - effects spanning much further than just one person.

The good news for businesses is that they can use social media too - to quickly put out fires before they become unstoppable infernos. For example, if a certain web service stops responding, a simple Tweet can alert millions of users that the problem is being addressed and a solution is on the way. This relieves the anxiety of users and also enhances the perception of the company, that it is concerned about its users as well as its products. This dialog between company and consumer is one of the ways in which social media has so drastically altered communications – direct and even personal relationships can develop.

Never before has the consumer had so much insight into a company’s operations. Businesses are no longer fortresses of top-secret information; these days, more and more companies are adopting an open information policy. In the past, people would try to contact companies and, after being routed to numerous supervisors across multiple continents, they more than likely ended up at a wall. With open information networks branching across Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Blogspot, etc, individuals are asking and are now being answered, sometimes directly by the companies’ top execs.

This is why it is important for companies to monitor how they are talked about across the Internet on various social media platforms. With still many untapped opportunities for both businesses and consumers, social media will undoubtedly continue to grow in importance, and likely at an even faster pace. Social media has easily and greatly surpassed the “fad” idea and become a valuable part of business. Once upon a time, companies were encouraged to promote a culture of seclusion. Now, they can no longer afford to be anti-social.

About the author: Jimin Zheng is currently a part-time marketing assistant intern at Centergistic Solutions in Irvine, CA. He is also a full-time undergraduate Psychology and Business Administration student at the nearby University of California, Irvine. Jimin is expecting to graduate with a Bachelor’s degree in the Spring of 2012.

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