Infinite Ripple - the Social Media Revolution

By Glenn Mehta

Infinite Ripple is an essential read for anyone wishing to utilise the power of social media in their personal, academic and professional lives. With a strong focus on Irish examples, the book contextualises the key concepts of the growing global phenomenon with a focus on advice to harness this opportunity offered by social networking. The discussion and examples are relevant to modern marketers and businesses intent on keeping on top of developments in customer engagement and interaction, with a view to improving profitability by exploiting the massive potential offered by this relatively new medium. It further employs relevant theory to students, academics and researchers in Ireland and around the world in its desire to explain complex communications paradigms in a succinct manner, utilising laymans terms and topical examples to ease understanding. Whether you are new to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube (or any of the others) or an avid user already, there is advice for all readers in this book to effectively leverage social media for everyday success in all parts of your life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris UK
• Release date: Mar 19, 2013
• ISBN: 9781483606781

Glenn Mehta

Glenn Mehta BBS (Hons), MA (Research) is a lecturer in Social Media, Management Communications and Tourism at the Institute of Technology, Tallaght in South-West Dublin since 2001. An avid researcher in Web 2.0 and social media communications with a focus on the implementation of social media strategies to improve customer engagement and company profitability, he has devised strategies for several Irish-based organisations on the effective use of basic social technologies such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Google in their business models, and has developed methods to use social networking effectively in his career as lecturer and management consultant.

Book preview

INFINITE RIPPLE

The Social Media Revolution

Glenn Mehta

Copyright © 2013 by Glenn Mehta.

ISBN:          Softcover                                 978-1-4836-0677-4

                   Ebook                                      978-1-4836-0678-1

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Every effort has been made to trace the correct copyright holder of text and images featured in this book. The author regrets any oversight and will be pleased to rectify any omission in future editions.

The moral right of the author has been asserted.

Rev. date: 03/15/2013

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

Xlibris Corporation

0-800-644-6988

www.Xlibrispublishing.co.uk

[e-mail]

304468

Contents

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Chapter One   The Social Media Revolution

Not Just For Teenagers!

Why is Social Media Relevant to Me?

Revolution or Evolution?

Influence on Irish Society

The Big Brands

Chapter Two   The Connected World

Social Media Makes the World a Smaller Place

Ireland’s Place in the Connected World

Internet and Social Media Usage

Benefits of Connectivity for Organisations

Connecting Minority Language Speakers

Social Media in the Community

Social Media and Current Affairs

A Tale of Two Users

Chapter Three   A Farewell to Traditional Ads?

Mass Media is Dead! Long Live Micro Media!

Marketing Success Stories

Who Can Help Your Social Media Strategy?

Limitations of Social Media in Marketing

Regulation of Social Media

Getting it wrong—The McDonalds #Bashtag

Chapter Four   David and Goliath

A Level Playing Field

Viral Campaigns and Memes

Amplifying Little Voices

Daily Deals Sites

Chapter Five   The Power of Reviews

Trust Your Circle

The Baby Car Seat Example

eBay and e-tailing Reviews

Entertainment Reviews

TripAdvisor

Taking Reviews with a Pinch of Salt

Management Responses to Reviews

Chapter Six   Social Media in Recruitment and Employment

Employee Resourcing

Social Media in the Workplace Environment

Chapter Seven   Social Media in Education

Usefulness in Education

Academic Blogs

Relationship Between Teachers and Students

Chapter Eight   Politics and Social Media

An Uneasy Alliance

A Tweet that Influenced a Presidential Election

The Tea Party Smackdown

#BigBird and ‘Binders full of women’

Social Media’s Role in Getting Out the Vote

e-Revolutions

Hactivists and Activists

Chapter Nine   How Social is Social Media—Some Negatives

Parents and Kids

Poor Personal and Professional Communications

Are We Sharing Too Much?

Privacy Concerns

Exaggerated News

Social Media Witch Hunts

Common Sense in Social Media

Digital Legacy

Conclusions   The Future of Social Media?

Bibliography and References

For Eileen

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to acknowledge the contributions and support from my fellow lecturers and management at ITT Dublin, especially Patricia Medcalf and Aisling Duhy for their advice and assistance in the final stages of preparing this book.

Special thanks to my Father, Lex and to my dear friend Lorraine Kennedy for proof-reading drafts of this book, and to Shawn Oelofse for supporting me for the duration of the compilation.

Every effort has been made in the compilation of this text to ensure accuracy and that any opinions and contributions from other sources have been cited and referenced in full. If when reading the text you notice an area that needs to be addressed for accuracy or appropriate attribution and referencing, I would be grateful if you could contact me so that I can ensure a rectification for the next edition of this book.

INTRODUCTION

Social media may be defined as internet and mobile-based tools that allow easy sharing of every aspect of a person’s life, including status updates, news, events, photographs and images, video, links, opinions and profiles.

This book aims to explain the phenomenon that is social media as it sweeps the globe and influences everything from how we communicate to how we shop, who we vote for to what causes we follow and so much more in our everyday personal, academic and professional lives.

The majority of the literature in the area is American. And why wouldn’t it be? It is the birthplace of modern social media, and most of the world’s dominant global media brands originate there, whether it’s Facebook or Twitter, YouTube or Google. Their roots are firmly in the United States. As a lecturer, I often found myself in lectures quoting the theory from American authors such as Erik Qualman, for whom I have enormous respect. But Qualman, like most of the others I have read, present their material with American examples, some of which are understood in Ireland, given that American consumer brands are just as dominant in Ireland as the social media brands. I often find the need to apply an Irish example when I am explaining any of the myriad of sub-topics within the concept of social media. This led me to the resolution to compose a book on the social media revolution which presents an Irish perspective, but whose theories may be applied anywhere in the world.

This book therefore is relevant to academics and students of any discipline within which social media has an influence, but in particular in the disciplines of business, management, marketing and communications.

This is not a college textbook however. The theories and examples presented within are presented with the business professional in mind, including guidelines for managers, marketers, recruiters and customer service staff of any type of organisations, from profit-making enterprises of all sizes to charities, causes and public representatives.

Theory is presented with relevant Irish-focused examples to help the reader contextualise the paradigm shift that has take place in recent years. While there is a focus on Ireland, the book also draws on international experience. Further, I don’t intend to sing the praises of social media without taking a hard look at the negative impacts it can have on individuals, society and business. While I am a firm believer in the positive power of social media, I feel that to present a one-sided view is myopic if I wish the reader to gain an understanding of the entire picture. The text focuses constantly on the regular question I hear from so many people—how does social media affect me?

Compiled in late 2012 and 2013, this edition presents the most up to date theories on this global phenomenon. In preparing theory and discussion, I relied on the expertise of several journalists of The Irish Times, and you will notice that I cite the opinions of this newspaper and its journalists many times in this book. Given that it has such a high readership of managers and professionals, the articles on social media presented in The Irish Times are timely, relevant and industry-focussed, and I must complement the publication on its coverage of the social media phenomenon, which I believe personally to be the best coverage of any Irish broadsheet. In compiling the book, I am hesitant in presenting too many facts and figures. The nature of social media is such that these change so rapidly. Even between the time that I produce the final draft and the printing of the book, a great deal can change. In order to combat this, and in true social media style, updated facts, figures and statistics will be presented in regular updates to this book via both the accompanying website www.InfiniteRipple.net and the Twitter feed for this book @InfiniteRipple. Further, I welcome comments and questions via Twitter and the website above, or directly by email at [e-mail]

Glenn Mehta

CHAPTER ONE

The Social Media Revolution

The importance in a social media age is to be nimble and not afraid to make mistakes. The more things you can test or try, the more chances you have for success.

Steve Kaufer, CEO, TripAdvisor,

cited in Qualman (2011: 109).

Not Just For Teenagers!

Social media has changed the world. Dismissed as a teenage fad just a few years ago, it is now embraced by powerful brands and small retailers, politicians and celebrities, charities and causes and anyone else who has an internet connection and wishes to perform one of the most basic functions of human existence—socialise.

It is true to say that humans as social animals have always sought to socialise. The ease of use of today’s information and communications technology (ICT) has led to a revolution (or should that be an evolution) of how we, as humans, perform this most basic task. High-speed broadband connections, once only available in the workplace, are now available at home and on the go via mobile devices in many parts of the world. And connection speeds are getting faster as networks vie to offer the best service to their customers in a competitive market.

Add to this the ease of access through mobile devices such as smartphones, tablets and pads (let alone laptops and netbooks), we now have a recipe for effective mass-proliferation.

The equation goes something like this:

High-speed internet connection + ease of access through various devices = perfect climate for snowball effect of social media.

It can be argued that this equation is the reason why Facebook became the global success it has become—the snowball effect took hold at the exact right time when in many parts of the world, faster connections to the internet were rolled-out (e.g. fast broadband in the home, 3G wireless signals when out and about) and newer multi-functional mobile devices hit the market (e.g. the iPhone and iPad). One has to wonder, if Bebo or (going back further) the WELL was able to harness this perfect climate for growth, would they now be the dominant global social media brand?

Modern social media has its roots in online communities in the early days of the web. As mentioned above, one of the first social media brands to gain prominence was the WELL, or the Whole Earth ‘Lectronic Link, founded in 1985 in Sausalito, California. Still in existence today, this pioneering developer of social networking has just a few thousand members. In 1995, Classmates.com was created to allow members to keep in touch with school friends. Subsequently renamed Memory Lane, it operates in many countries in Europe as StayFriends. In 2002, another Californian brand—Friendster—became one of the first of the major successful mainstream social media sites, clocking up over a million users. Yet another Californian-based social media brand was launched in 2003—MySpace. Between 2005 and 2008, MySpace dominated global social media, until it was eventually overtaken by the current dominant force in social media—Facebook.

In Ireland, our social media habits are driven by what comes out of the USA. This constant revolution in brands and technology crosses the Atlantic and lands squarely in homes, schools and offices of all sections of Irish society. Who are the winners in this revolution? The consumers of media of course. That’s you, me, your peers, siblings and friends, colleagues, parents and even grandparents. Yes, social media is no longer a teenage phenomenon restricted to sites such as Bebo. The mass appeal of Facebook and Twitter proves this. The newest segments of the population joining Facebook and sending you friend requests are likely to be your parents or your grandparents!

Why is Social Media Relevant to Me?

Many do not see the benefits of social media in their personal, academic or work lives. For some, it is a distraction best left to teenagers. For others, they simply have enough tasks in their everyday lives to make room for social media. And that is a fair point. Social media can take up a lot of a person’s time, whether it is used for personal or professional reasons. Students of mine tell me that they could easily spend an hour at a time on social media, with some leaving Facebook open in the background on their laptop all the time—a welcome distraction to studying they say! When I have advised corporate clients on their social media strategy, I caution them on the amount of time needed to implement a successful strategy.

For others, social media is as regular a part of everyday lives as any other form of communication. Teenagers’ personal lives are organised through it. Students access academic material through it. Marketers target customers through it. Politicians win votes through it. Consumers find and rate products and services through