The Groundswell (Book)

            Right now, in 2014, social media is bigger than ever.  Take into account Facebook and Twitter have only been in existence since 2004 and 2006 respectively, but with their incredible popularity, especially among the millennial generation, other new mediums have come into existence.  Instagram and LinkedIn are now coming into prominence, as are Vine and Skype.  However, this book, written by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff, was published in 2008.  Even though that was only six years ago, at the rapid pace social mediums are developing, that may as well have been 20 years ago.  In the first part of their book, Li and Bernoff focus on how businesses and companies can use social media effectively, such as relating to their customers well, marketing their current and new products, maintaining a good company image, and most importantly, avoiding a crisis situation.  It is now very important to monitor customer attitudes on social media, and businesses must listen attentively to their customers.  By doing this, you can understand what your company represents from their perspective, what products they may approve or disprove of, and hopefully avoid or manage a crisis if something goes wrong.  Managing public perception and crisis situations are vital from a Public Relations standpoint.  Perception is really all that matters, because if the perception of your business is poor, or perception is that you sell a bad product, then sales could drop and a crisis situation could develop. 

         This is why companies must be active in social media and interact with their customers.  It can be an effective way to develop excitement about products or the company in general.  Energizing people and building interest in your business is always a good thing.  Also, by communicating with customers and potential buyers on social media, a business can be inspired to develop new product ideas.  The customer gets what they want, and the business promotes itself.  As active as people are now on social media, a significant amount of this seems like common sense or normal because businesses have begun to do this.  However, keep in kind this book was written in 2008, just as social media was taking off.  Imagine what it will be like a decade from now…