Week 6, Post 1: Reach vs. Engagement in Social Media

  "Post Reach" is a metric as to how many users viewed one's post on social media. "Reach" is related to, but similar to "impressions" in advertising. "Impressions" relates to how many times a piece of media was viewed, while "Reach" refers to the number of people who saw it. Therefore, if only one person sees the same message one thousand times, the message received 1,000 impressions, but had a "reach" of 1. This differentiation is possible with Facebook because Facebook serves every piece of media to a particular user, who has registered with Facebook and logged-in at that time, and so the impression can be tagged to a particular user.    

  "Post Engagement", on the other hand -- and here is where social media diverges from traditional media like print, radio, television, billboards and posters -- indexes the number of users who not only viewed the message, but interacted with it. As Facebook uses the term, "engagement" refers to any interaction, whether brief or extended. The least significant engagement is clicking the "Like" button, or clicking on the post to view the entire article, which usually opens into a different browser window. Comments and "Shares", on the other hand, are among the most significant forms of engagement. A "Share" incorporates that post into the Newsfeed of the user that shared it, and also the newsfeed of the most avid friends and followers of the user. In this way, a "Share" electronically disseminates a message through the Facebook accounts of potentially hundreds and thousands of users.

ln days of yore, a "Like" would cause the post and even an advertisement to appear in the margin of the Facebook friends of the user that "liked" the post, e.g., "Hannah Miyamoto liked Starbucks." However, this was eventually viewed as "too creepy" and users were given the option to disable this "permission" in their profiles. Facebook is even experimenting with stopping "Likes" from appearing in the newsfeeds of friends of the user that "liked" the post or page, to prevent what it calls "Like Envy," or jealousy at others who post material that is more popular.

It is important to remember that the newsfeed of a Facebook member usually only announces the activities of users with whom the member interacts to most, not just all his or her Facebook friends. If your distant Aunt Agatha asks you why you never like or share her cat photos, the most likely reason is that you haven't given any posts from Aunt Agatha a like, share, or comment recently (if ever), and as a result, your newsfeed does not report what Aunt Agatha is doing.  

On the other hand, when Facebook first gave users the ability to receive notifications about ALL of their Facebook friends, I experimented with not filtering my newsfeed. The experiment stopped soon because I found that my newsfeed was populating with more messages faster than I could read them and still be productive at doing anything else! Consequently, I value the filtering feature of Facebook for keeping me in touch with whom I regularly interact, and not distracting me with news about everyone with whom I rarely interact.

Social media users that want to increase their influence through social media, as well as use social media as earned media to promote their business or organization need to know the difference between reach and engagement metrics, especially when analyzing them in their Facebook Insights page. Media with a very wide reach -- particularly if achieved through paid advertising -- may be seen by many people, but motivate few if anyone to act on it. On the other hand, media may have an extremely high engagement rate -- such as an intensely-active comment thread -- but reach only a handful of people.

Generally, a Facebook user seeking to increase their influence and use Facebook as earned media should focus on "engagement," since shared media is more likely to be shared by friends of that user, while un-shared media is apparently having little to no impact if no one deems it worthy of sharing.

The Facebook Insights on a business page can be used to determine which items are of most interest to the customers of a business, and which merely "bounce off" of them. 

For example, a business could post a notice \inviting customers to click on it to open a page on the business website presenting a code word they can use for a 10% discount on their purchases that day. This would cost the business approximately nothing, other than the reduced sales revenue from honoring the discount. If that post received (relatively) many clicks, the business would know that its customers value discounts. Moreover, users that shared the post could be identified as users that think they have many friends who would also enjoy patronizing the business. Both clicking and sharing are forms of engagement. The "engagement" of the post can be divided by its "reach" to determine the relative engagement rate to the post. 

On the other hand, if that post was largely ignored, the business would know that discounting its products, or at least, that product, is relatively unimportant.

It is important to remember that like all marketing tools, the "reach" and "engagement" from Facebook-served media is only an indication of the real situation. Moreover, since Facebook serves media by targeting those to whom its computers think it will appeal to the most, results from Facebook media are not drawn from a randomly-selected sample. On the other hand, having some relevant data is better than conducting a business with none at all. 

Week 5: Blog Post 2: The California Liberation Movement PAC social media campaign

Business Name: California Liberation Movement Political Action Committee (CALM-PAC)

Business Description

CALM-PAC is a political action committee founded in February 2020. The purpose of CALM-PAC is “to advocate for and promote the independence of California” from the United States. This purpose includes the potential mutually-consensual unification of the State of California with Baja California in the United Mexican States. CALM-PAC is an actual business registered with the California Secretary of State.

According to the most recent polling in 2017, at least 9 million potential voters in California support nonviolent separation of this state from the United States, and a further six million are undecided and persuadable; this total of 15 million Californians is half the adult population of California. In addition, support for California independence among Californians under the age of 45 is about twice as strong as it is among voters older than 45. Social media postings since the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate refused to hear witnesses against Trump in January 2020 indicate that support for independence California has recently increased dramatically. 

The CALM-PAC logo

In addition, according to allies in Baja California, a majority of “Baja” residents support re-unification of “Gran California” if the State of California becomes independence of the United States. The fact that over 110,000 people cross the border between San Diego County and Baja California every day demonstrates that the San Diego (with 3.3 million people) and Tijuana (2 million people) collective make up the largest divided city in the world.

CALM-PAC was primarily organized to satisfy Google, which does not allow individuals to purchase political advertisements. CALM-PAC was originally going to operate under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code as a public charity, engaging in public education and research to advance its purpose, but Google considers any advertisement that mentions “Trump” a “political advertisement.” Google has still not fully-verified my account, but I plan to shift my direction to Facebook advertisements instead.

In using social media and paid advertising, the immediate goal of CALM-PAC is to collect e-mail addresses of people interested in receiving regular e-mail newsletters about events the matter to Californians, who can be asked to donate to the PAC to pay for more advertisements to reach more of the millions of Californians that support independence that have not yet been organized.

As CALM-PAC is being set-up now, it does not have an active social media profile. However, it does have a Facebook page, as well as Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube accounts. CALM-PAC is being developed in coordination with an Internet-based website that will present news, analysis, opinion, and features for Californians, “Your California Today” (YCT). YCT articles will be readily-shareable on social media, which is why it is appropriate to mention it here.

Target Market

People who support California independence, primarily residents of California, but also Baja California, and beyond. Their primary motivation is to feel that they are contributing to the improvement of their community, and even helping to create the world's newest superpower.

Immediate Target 

Californians that support the nomination of Bernie Sanders for the presidency of the United States.

At the recent statewide conference of California independence supporters, a consensus agreed that California Bernie Sanders supporters are the largest group most likely to be inspired to join the movement for California independence. This analysis rests on the fact that Sanders is likely to win the California Democratic presidential primary next month by a wide margin – the most recent poll gives him a 12% lead over Biden, Klobuchar and Buttigieg – and yet he will probably be denied the Democratic Party nomination for president, even if he wins the largest number of pledged convention delegates. Moreover, as soon as Sanders wins the California primary, the national commentators and party leaders are sure to insist that “Bernie” will not be the eventual nominee. This can happen if he is unable to win more than half of the pledged delegates to the national convention, causing the convention to be "brokered" by Party leaders.

This circumstance is expected to, frankly, enrage Sanders supporters and make them even more open to support separating California from the United States, in order to enact the kind of policies that Bernie Sanders has inspired his supporters to expect and demand. Unlike in the United States, a strong consensus exists in California for the enactment a wide range of progressive policies, including universal health care, affordable higher education, restoration of middle and working class spending power, and environmental protection. Meanwhile, the United States Government is accumulating debt at the rate of over $1 trillion annually, and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals – the federal appellate court that has the most impact on decisions in California on issues like the rights of women and immigrants, and environmental protection – will become a Republican-dominated body if Trump is reelected. If that occurs, our rights are not secure, and our values are threatened. 

Sanders supporters, goes this calculus, have the least affinity for what some call “traditional American values,” and are the most alienated against capitalism. They also skew young, which is a key target market for CALM-PAC. Although Bernie Sanders wants to be president of a united States, his California supporters are not so determined. As a result, they are the most immediate target market for CALM-PAC.

Week 5: Post 1: Subway and Hungry Bear websites compared

Subway vs. Hungry Bear

Except for price and possibly quality, both companies are in virtually the same market. The primary of both businesses is making sub sandwiches for take-out and fast casual-dining. Both businesses make salads, although salads are an afterthought for Subway, compared to Hungry Bear. Subway, strange to say, seems to have a larger menu, since Subway sells cookies and hot soup, as well as a range of chips and juices. Subway is also the only company of the two that sells sub sandwiches with items like tuna salad and Italian meatballs. On the other hand, Hungry Bear offers items like (spicy) Buffalo Chicken and Philly Steak that Subway does not.

Outwardly, there is very little difference between the two chains, except that Subway lists information about nutrition, catering, rewards and deals (promotional offers), and corporate responsibility in the header of its website, while Hungry Bear lists little more than its menu, location, and store hours.

The principal difference between the two companies is not menu range or restaurant format, but PRICE and the perceived quality. With all of its sub sandwiches priced at $11.99 and above, Hungry Bear sandwiches are about TWICE the price of Subway sandwiches. Even the $8 foot-long chicken sub I bought this weekend in Los Angeles was about 50% less expensive than a Hungry Bear sandwich.

For a 50% to 100% up-charge from Subway, Hungry Bear is implicitly marketing its food on the basis of superior quality. At these prices, Hungry Bear is almost making sub sandwiches into a prestige product. As I have never tried their food, I don't know how much better their products are than Subway, but the price implicitly promises superior quality. They promise "the Best Sandwich you ever had!" but Subway promises customers a good-tasting meal as well. The photos on the Hungry Bear website do not even indicate the actual size of their sandwiches, i.e., their length, as opposed to height and width.

The higher price point of Hungry Bear implicitly differentiates their customers from Subway. Many people would consider the prices at Hungry Bear too high for a choice of sandwiches and salads. Even people who will readily pay $12 for a meal are more likely to choose a different restaurant with "fancier" food. A full meal at Denny's, for example, is about as expensive as a Hungry Bear sub, even after tipping the staff.

On the other side, Subway is not a "slob appeal" business; it has consistently tried to market itself as an "alternative to the burger chains," rather than just churning out "chow" at the lowest possible price. For decades, Subway has tried to maximize profits by remaining affordable to as many people as possible, but it isn't concentrated in low income neighborhoods, nor does it cater to minority group tastes. Subway is not the "Dollar Store" of restaurants.

In conclusion, the two websites are very similar, except that Subway seems more focused than Hungry Bear on assuring customers that their food is nutritious and affordable, and that the company is trying to help the earth. Subway uses green, yellow and white on their website, promotional material, and stores, while Hungry Bear relies on red, white, and black, but the colors of Subway do not convey much about the company besides differentiate it from "the burger chains," all of which rely on some combination of red, white, black and yellow (McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy, Carl's Jr/Hardees., even In & Out and Five Guys). Hungry Bear, on the other hand, focuses their website on trying to convince people that their sandwiches are "the best you ever had" -- i.e., that they are worth the price charged.

Given the similarity in products -- disregarding relative quality -- the customer base of the two companies would be completely analogous -- at least around Vista, California -- but for the higher price point of Hungry Bear. As a result, there is relatively little crossover between the two businesses. If you think the sandwiches at Hungry Bear are worth $12-$13, and you can afford sandwiches at that price, you would probably never go to Subway if you have to choose between the two. If you don't think a Hungry Bear sandwich is worth that much, or you cannot afford to buy any meal at that price, you would never return to their store. 

Week 4: Post 1: Survey of four websites

jamilin.com: Personal/business website of Jami Lin.

I don't know who this Jami Lin is, and I don't care much. She is either the flakiest person walking or the most unscrupulous, preying upon the callow and gullible. Her website is still one of the worst I have ever seen. It reminds me of the kind of websites people put up 25 years ago. Here are just some of the things wrong with the home page, alone.

1. Above the navigation menu is a big banner ad for herself. This ad is hideous with about four different illustrations and a numbered list of five things, plus a couple URLs. 

2. There are actually two menus. The top one is multi-colored and appears to have nothing but random items on it. Then there is another menu that has another set of random links on it.

3. The center of the home page is dominated by a HTML table that lacks any styling at all. This is what I mean about being 25 years out-of-date. This is HTML without CSS.

4. Along either side of the table are two narrower columns with their own littler displays that appear to only be advertising "classes" that she offers.

5. Below the unstyled table is another styled table. Seriously, who publishes a web site with some tables styled and others bereft of CSS.

6. Finally on the bottom is an actual footer, with a site map and a copyright notice. However, the print is much smaller than the other text on this page, and it is haphazardly colored and it might be unstyled. 

I could go on, but this website is a disaster, or at least it would be, if Jami Lin were unsuccessful. However, she has a video of herself talking at a conference on her home page, so she might be proof that it is possible to be successful when your website is a wreck. On the other hand, the video is from a 2013 conference; maybe she has not done so well since then.    


roverp6cars.com: MGBD Parts & Service

This is another terrible website, but this is the kind of business that can survive no matter what the website looks like, because the customers are going to buy from it if they have the products that the customer needs. This website is for a British business that sells parts for a specific British car, the Rover model P6, a car that has not been produced in Britain for many years. The Rover P6 was only produced from 1963 to 1977, so anyone who wants parts for one now is probably trying to restore an old one as a "classic car."

https://www.aronline.co.uk/cars/rover/p6/

A classic car owner is happy to get any part, and they don't expect a slick and organized website. As unattractive as it is, the website has a handy left-column menu that helps the user find the part they need without having to use the search function. The menu in the header uses small fonts that are harder to read, but they connect the customer to information that answers their most likely quesetions as to how they should order the parts and how they will be shipped, what is the business return policy, etc. The home page also has a lot of other text that uses a serif font that is too small to read easily. However, a typical classic car owner is willing to go through almost any inconvenience or annoyance in order to get the parts they want to buy. Although the site is a good functional e-commerce site, it is not an attractive one,   


artcenter.org: California Center for the Arts Escondido

Having visited the Arts Center in Escondido before, I can say that this website is a very good one for the organization. The home page includes a large announcement for an upcoming show at the Center; the website should actually present a slideshow of announcements rather than one, randomly-selected announcement, but it is pretty good overall. 

The home page includes a header menu with big buttons for "Contact" "Visit" and "Give," along with a link to what appears to be a drop-down menu, but is actually a jump to a page of links to different parts of the site below the below-the-header event announcement.

The Arts Center is a multi-faceted institution, hosting performances by national and internationally-known stars, along with a small art museum, community art classes, and it rents rooms for weddings and other community events. Given this diversity of uses, the website does a good job presenting all these elements, compared to a website for a symphony hall or auditorium that hosts only performances. 

Below that navigation "section" is a list of upcoming events, as prospective ticket-buyers are apparently the most kind of users that the Arts Center expects to be the primary user of its site. 

Finally, there are more Contact Links, including information about the phone number and e-mail address for the Arts Center, along with social media accounts of the Arts Center. Lastly, the website has a footer that uses print that should be larger, but is still large enough to be useable.


nps.gov: National Park Service

In my experience, the NPS website is a difficult one to navigate. However, it is very well designed, given the sheer volume of information that the NPS provides. There is so much information that it is impossible to fully outline what is there.

Aesthetically, the dominant colors of nps.gov is green, although the pages for the individual parks and museums are mostly black and white, with large color photos at the top of the page and elsewhere. Photos, in particular, are used to help encourage users to visit the parks; the mission of the NPS, after all, is to encourage people to visit the parks, as well as protect the resources therein. 
The NPS logo and name, along with a navigation menu, are always present in a slim header, to reassure the user that they are on nps.gov.

One issue with the NPS website is that it manages much more than stereotypical "National Parks" whose chief attractions are scenery. For example, the current splash item on the home page relates to African-American History month. Clicking on a couple links brings the user to a page with a whopping 32 sites managed by NPS that relate to African-American history. Clicking on any of those links brings one to what are effectively separate web sites that the NPS maintains for all its facilities and units.

In short, the National Park Service website is a good illustration of how to organize a very large amount of information. Navigating across nps.gov is reminiscent of the Internet itself; the nps.gov website is full of useful information that is very well organized, but there is still more information available than one can review in a single sitting. The best approach is to know which park or museum one wants to visit, and then get useful information from nps.gov.


toyota.com: Toyota automobiles, U.S.A.

The Toyota U.S.A. website is primarily designed to sell cars, rather than help a customer locate repair parts and service, download manuals, and other items typically found on manufacturers of things like computer equipment, for example.

I have used the site before, when I was considering whether to replace my 1997 Lexus ES300 with a new Toyota Camry. This website has a sort of "Wish Book" type feature called "Build" where you can see all the features you can add to your dream car, choose colors for interior and exterior, and get a manufacturers suggested retail price for the car you want.

Aesthetically, the website features the Toyota logo and the signature red color of the company a lot; both of these are well-known around the world and identified with the Toyota company. All the test is easy-to-read sans serif font, probably Arial. All elements are conveniently grouped to help potential customers find information they want.

The website has other useful aftermarket information, such as a dealer locator, recall information, and mobile phone compatibility, to name just a few things. The gamut of information on the Toyota U.S.A. site is in the site map in the footer, and the items are groups in categories like "Shopping Tools," and "Helpful Links" to help a user find the information they want right now. However, the primary purpose of the site is to SELL NEW CARS, and it features many elements that literally whet the appetite of a prospective Toyota buyer. 

Week 3: Post 3: Social Media Use by Competing Businesses

My business is "California Liberation Movement PAC", and the current main goal of the California Liberation movement is to try to recruit supporters of the Bernie Sanders presidential campaign in California. As such, our "competitors" are the Bernie Sanders campaign, and the organizations that support him. So here is research about how five organizations that support Bernie Sanders use social media, focusing on their platforms and media formats, rather than specific content and messaging themes.

1. Bernie 2020 (The official Bernie Sanders presidential campaign)

Domain: BernieSanders.com

Type of Business: National presidential campaign.

Social Media feeds: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram

•       links in footer of home page, and in “More” menu in header.

Most recent update as of February 11, 2020, 12:30 p.m.

• Facebook: 6 minutes ago (many times an hour during the day and night)
• Twitter: 1 hour ago (several times a day)
• YouTube: 5 hours ago (several times a day)
• Instagram: 3 hours ago (several times a day)

Followers

• Facebook: 5.3 million likes/followers
• Twitter: 10.5 million followers
• YouTube: 314,000 subscribers, 55.5 million views
• Instagram: 4.2 million followers

BernieSanders.com uses social media very well, mostly by releasing graphics and videos for campaign supporters to share. They clearly do not listen on social media to any extent, but that’s understandable when their social media feeds are this active. Many of the comments on the social media of the campaign are negative, but also unhelpful.

2. Our Revolution (A Political Action Committee founded by Bernie Sanders)

Domain: OurRevolution.com

Type of Business: Political Action Committee

Social Media feeds: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Medium

• Google search. No mention of social media platforms on the website, but “Our News” links to Medium.

Most recent update as of February 12, 2020, 11:00 a.m,

• Facebook: 51 minutes ago (every few business hours)
• Twitter: 53 minutes ago (every few business hours)
• YouTube: 11 months ago (several times a year.
• Instagram: 2 hours ago (every 1-2 days)
• Medium: 2 days ago (once or twice a week)

Followers

• Facebook: approximately 300,000 likes/followers
• Twitter: 130,500 followers
• YouTube: 270,000 views (number of subscribers unlisted)
•  Instagram: 20,400 followers
• Medium: 51 followers

[Not to be too cynical but] “Our Revolution” largely exists so that Bernie Sanders can receive contributions larger than $20. Their donation page explicitly states that $20 is the smallest contribution they will accept. As indicated, “Our Revolution” produces a lot less content than BernieSanders.com. It also does not listen much; its primary focus is publishing content for supporters to spread.

3. Progressive Democrats of America

Domain: PDAmerica.org

Type of Business: Political Action Committee

Social Media feeds:    Facebook, Twitter, podcasts, LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram, Flickr, and Tumblr

• Links in header and footer of home page

Most recent update as of February 12, 2020, 1:30 p.m.

• Facebook: 1 hour ago (about 1-2 times a day)
• Twitter: 3 hours ago (approximately 1-2 times a day, plus many retweets)
• Podcasts: 1 day ago (approximately daily)
• LinkedIn: 2 days ago (approximately daily)
• YouTube: 1 month ago (about every 1-2 months)
• Pinterest: Data unavailable
• Instagram: 17 hours ago (about once a week)
• Flickr: Today (About once a month)
• Tumblr: 2 days ago (about every 1-2 days)

Followers

• Facebook: about 95,000 likes
• Twitter: 11,500 followers
• Podcasts: Number of subscribers unlisted
• LinkedIn: Number of linked profiles unlisted
• YouTube: 713 subscribers, about 115,000 total views
• Pinterest: 40,800 viewers/month
• Instagram: 727 followers
• Flickr: 83 followers
• Tumblr: Number of followers unlisted

Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) was founded in 2004 out of the campaigns of Howard Dean and Dennis Kucinich. Unlike “Our Revolution,” PDA is independent of the Bernie Sanders organization, and is a more loosely-aligned member of his coalition. PDA primarily uses Facebook and Twitter; like other groups in this list, it produces content for distribution, but does not engage much with its followers.

4. Center for Popular Democracy

Domain: PopularDemocracy.org

Type of Business: Public Education group

Social Media feeds:    Facebook, Twitter, Instagram

• Links in header of the home page

Most recent update as of February 12, 2020, 2:00 p.m.

• Facebook: 7 days ago (approximately 1-3 times a week)
• Twitter: Yesterday (several times a week)
• Instagram: Three weeks ago (approximately 1-2 times month)

Followers

• Facebook: Approximately 29,000 likes/followers
• Twitter: 19,300 followers
• Instagram: Nearly 3,000 followers

The Center for Popular Democracy Action is a group that focuses on organizing disadvantaged groups in cities, towns, and rural areas across the U.S.A. As a charitable organization, The Hill probably erred in identifying them as a “Sanders” group. Nevertheless, like the other groups, they primarily use social media to announce their activities and events. Their Facebook posts receive almost no comments, nor do their tweets. On the other hand, their Facebook videos receive enormous numbers of views; well in excess of 500,000. The Center is also unusual for having no YouTube presence.

5. People’s Action

Domain: PeoplesAction.org

Type of Business: Advocacy Group

Social Media feeds:    Facebook, Twitter, YouTube

• Links in footer of the home page

Most recent update as of February 12, 2020, 2:30 p.m.

• Facebook: Five hours ago (Approximately once a day, during weekdays)
• Twitter: Four hours ago (every 1-2 hours)
• YouTube: Last week (about 1-2 times a month)

Followers

• Facebook: About 69,000 likes/followers
• Twitter: 22,500 followers
• YouTube: 153 subscribers, 22,400 total views

People’s Action has a similar mission to The Center for Popular Democracy Action, except that it is an advocacy organizations, and not organized as a public charity. As such, the group has openly “endorsed” the Sanders campaign. However, they are not permitted by law to spend money to aid campaigns for elected office, such as the Sanders campaign for president. People’s Action Facebook posts get few comments or shares. Their tweets are also not retweeted more than a dozen times, and their videos only get a couple dozen views, or less.

Summary

Having already written a paragraph on each group, and having found that all the groups essentially use social media the same way, it is impossible to write very much to summarize my research. None of the groups are “listening” to chatter about them on social media, as Dave Kerpen uses the term.

On the other hand, all the groups produce a lot of social media content. The Sanders Campaign produces the most, but that is understandable given that this study is occurring in February 2020, between the New Hampshire and South Carolina primaries, heading into Super Tuesday when California and Texas will vote.

One distinguishing factor is how much the various groups get from publishing social media content. For example, many Facebook videos from the Center for Popular Democracy receive over 600,000 views, yet only a dozen shares. On the other hand, People’s Action produces many videos, and most receive only hundreds or a few thousand views. It will be worthwhile to look at these sites closer to try to determine why videos from one group are a thousand times more popular than videos from another group.

Sources of Information about Sanders Campaign Supporters:

Easley, Jonathan. “18 Progressive Groups Sign Unity Pledge amid Sanders-Warren Feud.” The Hill. 16 Jan. 2020 Accessed 11 Feb. 2020 <<https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/ 478533-18-progressive-groups-sign-unity-pledge-amid-sanders-warren-feud>>.

Slodysko, Brian. “Shadow Group provides Sanders Super PAC support he scorns.” The Associated Press. 7 Jan. 2020 <<https://apnews.com/ 345bbd1af529cfb1e41305fa3ab1e604>>.

Week 3: Post 2: Blogs on which I commented

I commented on the blogs of these students:

Raynor, Hailey
Slade, Janda

Vigil, Janae

Week 3: Post 1: Communication with Businesses

Even before the Internet, communication with businesses was difficult, but generally, only the smallest businesses were so minimally staffed that no one would even answer your phone call.

As a child, I can recall going into one-person shops run by someone who would repair watches or fix shoes, and how they would have to stop everything they were doing -- including talking to a customer -- if the telephone should ring, because there was no way to know who called, or if they would ever call back. In the 1970s, the "answering machine" was invented, and so now the solo business owner could "let the machine answer" the call and they could call the person back.

The only other way to contact a business, without going to it personally, was by mail. Old-timers told me how the mail used to be delivered twice a day, such that it was possible to send a message to someone in the morning, and possibly get a reply in the afternoon, or the next day. However, in my time, the mail only came once a day. Offices concentrated in downtown areas, and companies hired "delivery boys" solely to carry letters and packets of documents between offices.

For larger businesses, phones were answered by a receptionist and transferred through a "private business exchange" (PBX) usually using the distinctive five-button phone with one red button to put a caller on hold.

There was also an ancient system called "Telex," plus you could send a "Telegram" over Western Union, but they were costly and in the case of Telex, required special expensive equipment.

The fax machine came along in the 1980s; for the first time ever, it was possible to send someone a message, and they would receive it in seconds. Besides missing a message when the fax machine ran out of paper, the fax machined created a new problem: For the first time, it was actually possible for  a person to receive messages faster than they could respond to them -- assuming their mail wasn't delivered in stacks or bags -- especially if they had anything to do besides reply to messages.

Now, thanks to the Internet, it is possible to send messages as fast as one's fingers can type. However, not only is the time to reply to those messages the same length, but one has no way to know how busy the person you had tried to contact is.

Life in Business, before the Internet (1993)

When I was a technical support specialist for a small computer equipment manufacturer, our priorities were simple: Telephone first, e-mail/fax/mail second. When people called, our policy was to spend up to 20 minutes "walking" the caller through the process of solving their problem. If the problem wasn't solved by the basic support specialist, the call would be transferred to someone with more experience who would keep working until the problem was fixed. Nevertheless, some of the most irate callers would be someone who "just sent an e-mail" and wondered why no one had responded. Our "up to 20 minutes (or until it gets done)" policy always surprised and soothed them: "Wow, you really help people" was a frequent comment.

Now we have social media and Internet chat. Internet chat is great for getting help from a business, but it tends to be slow, because the person on the other end is helping several other people besides you. Many times, I have to spend most of an hour to get four replies.

Enter Twitter. Twitter serves consumers largely because every message sent over Twitter is a potential threat to the entire business. A company MUST reply to Twitter messages ASAP because the world can see when they ignore them. On the more positive side, if one customer has a problem, several other people probably have the same issue, and the company should respond immediately.

I have found Twitter most helpful when traveling. When a train doesn't show up and the other information available is conflicting, a Tweet to Amtrak, Metrolink, or NCTD (Coaster) usually gets a prompt, useful reply.

For example, I once was waiting for the last train from Los Angeles to San Diego that was late, and the only reason I was shivering on Platform 8 was that the departure board at the station said the train was here, yet it clearly wasn't. The Amtrak phone application was not working, and there were no Tweets from Amtrak about Train 796, so I sent a tweet to @Amtrak (now @PacificSurfliners), expressing some of my frustration, and Amtrak tweeted correct info about four minutes later.

When you think about it, the chief difference inherent in using social media to communicate with a company or agency is the pressure it puts on the entity. Using social media is like erecting a billboard outside their headquarters. From my perspective, social media makes business infinitely more difficult, because one failure can convert your most enthusiastic customers into an electronic lynch mob in less time than it takes to go out to lunch. Toyota and Apple are just too companies that rely on a "fan base" that tends to treat these private firms as though they were public agencies whose reputations depend on being responsive to the public.

Hiring "social media managers" is costly, but it is as important a part of a business as a employing a receptionist to answer telephone calls and open mail. Just as one would not let the telephone ring unanswered, or leave piles of mail unopened, a business or agency must reply to social media messages if it opens such accounts. Social media is like the proverbial two-edged sword; using it to send messages to potential and current customers leads the general public to use the same channels to communicate back to the entity.

Week 3: Blogs on which I commented

I commented on the blogs of these students:

Raynor, Hailey
Slade, Janda

Vigil, Janae

My blog post of about 2000 words was unusually long, I know. However, I made my main point in the first paragraph: Internet-based social media is an evolution from historical trends that are at least two centuries old.