At Microsoft they have this great expression that has passed into common language – it’s called “eating your own dog food”.
It implies that you must consume the products that you create. As Microsoft was the epitome of the software world and changed the way people developed code, this made sense.
While the company may look a little dated and as less able to remain relevant than, say, 15 years ago when I was there, it still cuts a swathe in the world. And rightly so.
Microsoft like many companies particularly Google and Yahoo are deeply involved in social media.
In travel, the powerhouse in our little world has to be Expedia and it’s TripAdvisor product.
But it is by no means the only game. Twitter has taken the sector by storm – in my view not always for the better, but that’s another story.
There is another issue – that of the whole concept of social media within companies.
A recent study by Creative Group on where Marketing and Advertising Execs Get Their Social Media Information seems to be the antithesis of the “eating your own dog food” concept.
But what of the other side. Are there any studies that show us how people are consuming social media inside companies, and is it healthy?
Corporations have done plenty to build security into their corporate IT groups – social media seems to want to break down those barriers and, indeed, cause a company a lot of problems.
There is even software from a company called FaceTime whose product Socialite is designed to “… track users across multiple social media platforms; prevent data from leaving the company, either maliciously or inadvertently…. ”
This is a bigger issue that perhaps people realize. Of course people spilling the beans outside of work with the data stores they carry with them (aka their memories) are hardly controllable by software (or hardware).
But there is an increasing trend towards social media monitoring tools from just about every software vendor worth his salt.
An interesting study was released last week on the subject (referred to here).
On the hiring side, companies are using social media to check out prospective staff (estimates vary from 25% to more than 50% of companies are checking you out on Facebook, Twitter and other social networks).
But it’s interesting to note that now they are starting to monitor and even control use of social media during office time.
Sadly there is still a dearth of talent in the area of social media. If you put “SM specialist” on your resume, you can get hired in a heartbeat.
Or so it would seem judging by some of the talent I have been exposed to lately inside some organizations who should know better.
At least one major hotel player has had to do conventional (aka public relations) spin/damage control after some ill-advise comments posted by an authorized employee.
And what of a company’s internal consumption of social media? Should this be encouraged or curtailed?
Perhaps we should encourage responsible use of social media inside corporations, even amongst ourselves.
Like everything else, moderation should be the order of the day.
My biggest concern is not that bad things will happen. I worry more about the amount of lost productivity.
To support this, UK Jobs website MyJobGroup published a survey earlier this month, asking 1,000 people to determine their use of social media at the office.
Employees spend an hour a day during work time on Facebook, thus accounting for £14 billion pounds of lost work time.
On the plus side – at least they are not round the pub gassing to their mates. But you have been warned…
About Timothy O'Neil-Dunne
Hi Timothy,
Excellent post because, instead of trying to convince, it raises the right questions. I think a large chunk of the self-proclaimed “Social Media Evangelists” or “Social Media Experts” are trying to convince others live the Cluetrain Manifesto without ever having worked in a real corporate world environment.
Mind you, I am a Social Media supporter – I think they make your individual world much bigger and yes, they allow brands and companies to communicate on one to one basis. But every company should think twice before opening the Social Media gates.
There are some boring words that have real maney value for each and every company: productivity, focus on the product or the service, quality and return on investment. Other boring words are essential to a (big) company’s success: discipline, hard work and a well executed strategy.
My advice: embrace Social media, but stay away from “one powerpoint will do the trick for all sectors and companies” individuals or semi-specialists. If someone wants to talk to you about Social media, start with asking him/her if he knows YOUR business. if he/she does not have a clue, tell him/her to preach somewhere else.
Here in Europe, every single travel company has discovered the power of Twitter and facebook during the ashcloud crisis. But, there is a difference between crisis survival and day to day management.
Best regards
Jan Peeters
Jan – thanks for this. I agree.. One Tweet does not Social Media make (if I can really mess up a Shakespearean quote).
Indeed this was my point. You need to be better educated first. Understanding Social Media (in of itself very poorly defined and very broad) requires a lot of learning and understanding.
While I am not generally a fan of large swathes of what is called SM – I recognize it has value in many different scenarios. It is also becoming widely adopted which in turn means we have to learn to live with it.
As I noted above. Moderation and understanding are keys to becoming successful. But we should all be aware it is no panacea for all ills.
Cheers
Depends on the usage.
If it implies that employees are playing Farmville or tweeting “off to lunch…back from lunch…off for a coffee…”, then yes, it should be limited.
However, if they are playing quizzes and then thinking of a quiz that the company may use to interact with their customers, or “liking” pages and groups (or tweeps) related to their industry and engaging with them, then no, social media usage should be encouraged.
In our company, employees are actively encouraged to spend time reading relevant tweets and facebook posts (e.g. airlines, airports, aviation media, etc.) and: a) interracting with them; and b) analysing what they read and how it can be used to improve our own communication.
I love the expression.
I have another one from you.
“Don’t get high on your own supply”Scarface
One of my favorite sayings: “You can lead a horse to water… but if you can get him to lie on his back and float you’ve really got something.”
Okay, I admit this saying is not relevant to the article and I apologize for the failed segue.
We are all allowed that one brain fart…