About 10
years ago no one would believe you when you said businesses would be controlled
by a simple alpha-numeric symbol on our computer keyboards that is called hashtag #. In actual fact, no one ever imagined that Social Media will grow as
rapidly as it has in the recent ages. It has become hard for organisations to
ignore it to such an extent that there are reputation management agencies that
mainly focus on handling other businesses’ Social Media accounts and campaigns.
Micro blogging sites like Twitter have went from just simple social get
together sites for old friends or people of similar interest to the biggest
business platforms, so much so that even the old traditional media is dying
because everyone is glued to their laptop screens and mobile gadgets. All is
done in just 140 characters.
The word hashtag
or the simple symbol # has become a key word in the cyber and everyone
who wants to be relevant or be up to date with the latest information on
anything or anyone in the world only needs a device that has internet
connection. A friend of mine; Era Baloyi once told me that news breaks on
Twitter and that at times he does not see the need to watch television for
updates such as the news or his favorite soap operas. True to his word, he has gone
on to master the craft of being the local Social Media Guru, as he calls
himself.
Celebrity’s
command huge numbers of followers on Social Media, some accounts even go for
over 2 million. Oh wait, while on that celebrity topic, just recently, in fact
two days ago, a South African Idols
judge and a popular Metro FM radio DJ who is also a singer herself; Unathi
Msengana was suspended at the radio station due to the heated argument she had
with one of her listeners and a follower to her Twitter account. The DJ had
apparently made distasteful remarks on air about a heated race argument much to
the dislike of her listeners who took to Twitter and in just minutes she was on
already trending in Johannesburg. Local tabloids had no choice but to run with
the story and add fuel to the fire. The power of # and the 140 characters could
really do more harm than good if not handled well.
The biggest
challenge that most user’s struggle with though is to always stay relevant
because even smallest things such as spelling error or typo, one can be
crucified for ages, especially the more popular people (I am still safe for now
#chuckles). On the relevance note though, one cannot help but notice that
Twitter, as is the sole attention of this post, has its own set of vocabulary…or
must I say a certain interest group may create its own vocabulary to avoiding committing
grammatical sins especially when the 140 character restriction gets to them. Lately
I have noticed phrase like Oomf,
which in most cases I get to realise that it may mean “someone” based on the
different contexts. One can never keep up with these things.
Back to the
business part of micro blogging; organisations that do not engage with their audiences
on Social Media are seen as stuck in the stone ages and the shareholders gets
to see the impact on the profit margins. I learned during my years as a
University student that negative trends about any brand can spread faster than
the Cape Town wild fires. Unless the spokespeople are very well informed and
active on any Social Media platform, they may be faced with huge damage control
to do, of which it will seem like a losing battle because they will have to go
back to the very same Social Media platforms and build from scratch. The difference
this time around will be that they will need to have a substantial amount of
budget for the new campaigns.
Just like the
police always say; anything you say will, or may be use against you in the
court of Twitter.
As I see it...
