Companies and Social Media

Are Companies wasting their time with social media profiles?

This has been an age old question since the inception of social media in the early 2000's. Are companies relying too much on social media? should they be bothering at all with social media? all these questions are raised not only by the public but also by the top executivees in these businsesses and they sit at the boardroom table in these meetings and make these decisions.

The fact is that companies cant be without social media. Today when people want to know something about a company, they done want to go onto their website anymore, they check and search on their twitter and facebook and see if the company appears. If you dont appear it could mean bad business as people are not going to look further for information on your company. We want the world at our fingertips and social media allows this everyday. It is also important for companies to have these online presences as stakeholders also look at their profiles. If they want to increase the stakes in the shares or sell their shars they need to know how the company is coping to keep up with the fast paced society. Whoever manages the online aspect of a company also needs to be someone who is very well experienced and trained for the job, as in most company profiles, it is easy to see when it is not a PR person handling the page as they past irrelevant content or they dont respond or react to people's comments.
A good example can be of Spur. Their facebook page is very well managed and when a customer complained that they recieved bad service at a branch, they immediately found out what happned, appologised on behalf of Spur and even gave the customer a voucher towards the next meal. Woolworths is also known for being good with their social media aspects.
Whatever your take is, Social media is here to stay and it is up to companies if they want to join the badwagan or not.

Signing out
Candice Cummings

Hootsuite Vs Tweetdeck

Hootsuite Vs Tweetdeck







I have looked at both these amazing concepts and their pros and cons. Both tools are very good and easy to use, which is a bonus in the PR industry and it is something we definately need in order to survive. Especially those of us who will be going into the business of managing clients online reputation management (ORM). Both are useful in the sense that even if you are out of the office, or on leave you can still keep the client's online image going, without having to drag around your laptop, Ipad or smartphone. You can simply schedule tweets and posts to go out at exactly the time and date you want and the profile will manage itself. As, those pool commercials would say in their taglines, "Simply set it and forget it".

There are however, aspects of each tool we need to look at before downloading and subscribing to them. There will be some people  who will be downloading both, but that would just confuse you and get you tweets and posts all wrong.

Tweetdeck:
Tweetdeck used to be the most popular of the two, as one could manage all teh social media platforms onto one dashboard and it would be easy to access and run. Then tweetdeck decided that they would only subscribe to Twitter and Facebook. This is wonderful for people who only have these two mediums, but people such as Public Relations practitioners who have to manage more than one platform at a time it can become challenging.  Tweetdeck is also easier to download, as soon as I signed up and the downloading and subscribing immediately took place with me only having to click once or twice.

Hootsuite:
My personal favourite is Hootsuite. It has ALL the social media platforms and you can access them all at the touch of a button. It is also downloaded onto the desktop and you can schedule tweets and posts. Check on your FourSquare profile and see where your friends have checked in, you can manage photo uploads and updates.

In conclusion, there is not clear winner for each tool, but definately a preference. My preference as i've said is Hootsuite. What's your take on this? Comment please.

Signing out

Candice Cummings

How hard is it to adapt to change

Hi Readers

It is very hard to adapt to change. Any change. Personally , I do not like change I am a proud control freak. I don't like the idea of not being in control and being forced to conform to a specific idea.  Change comes in many forms and it come fast, for example the changing media world and the ever changing technology. You can have the latest cellphone and barely a week later a new "modern" version emerges.

It might be strange that a 21 year old is afraid of change, but myself along with others (perhaps the older generation as well), are more weary when it comes to change. I have not and don't think I will ever own a Blackberry. I love the convenience but I never gave in to the trend. Change is good though, and it has made some people billionaires by coming out of their comfort zone, they learnt to simply adapt but still remain a proud control freak. Thank Bill Gates and Sir Richard Branson.

If you are reluctant about change and society trends. Adapt. Dont conform.

Signing out

Cape Peninsula University of Technology