The Fantastic Tavern returned two weeks ago (sorry for the delay in writing this but an adventure in Japan took presidence), reformatted and in a new location, The Leather Exchange.
This time the food was so much better and didn’t run out and there was just enough beer and wine to last the evening. The community is growing – there are over 100 members and events are easily over-subscribed. Thanks to EMC Consulting for sponsoring it and Michelle Flynn for making it happen again.
I had planned that we would discuss the Twitter Effect for an hour, loosely around a set of questions TFT community members – Taverniers - had pre-submitted. Having said that, I wanted to let the discourse meander along its own path without intervention if that was the way things headed.
We talked for an hour - perhaps it could have been a little longer on the night – and it’s my intention that we continue this debate as a community. Do so here with comments or twitter me directly @mattbagwell with thoughts.
We had the pleasure of a willing panel who started the discussion around each question before throwing it out to the audience – Chris Robson , Richard Sedley and Colm Brophy . I’d like to thank them all for the time they committed to this debate and supporting TFT. I’m very grateful.
It’s not easy to summarise what we covered but there was a good debate, people got involved and so I’ll do my best. There’s video (hopefully) so I’ll get that compressed and published shortly. To make this more fun (perhaps), I’ll keep points to the divine number, 140 characters....
The Question?
Is Twitter just a fad that isn't worth investing time & money in? Won't something else just come along a replace it in the next 18 months?
The Answers
“Yes.”
“ It’s normalising just like Facebook did that preceded it”
“It’s what some communities are using today and they may move on. That’s not the point.”
“Almost inevitably, it won’t exist in five years time, just enjoy it today.”
“There is a lot of media hype but social media will continue to be an increasingly important part of people’s lifestyles. “
“We may reach a tipping point for Twitter soon, but its appeal and audiences are quite Niche”
“It’s used by media savvy types and personality chasers, with a specific purpose – like building networks of like-minded people.”
“People will transport their networks with them easily.”
“It’s being fuelled by who uses it – but does the average joe in the street even know about it?”
“You’ll use any utility that your peers are adopting – perhaps briefly.”
In my humble opinion…
Twitter is a faddish tool and the latest manifestation of a prevailing trend; that we want to communicate and be present – whatever that means. With advances like tweetdeck, this particular utility may have some long-term future, in some evolutionary guise. It has some specific qualities that underpin compulsion and adoption but we have to remember, its still very narrow cast even if the stats suggest that it’s climbing the web traffic league tables.
The Question?
So assuming it’s actually got quite a Niche appeal, what’s the opportunity (for brands) today in this space?
The Answers
“In the mainstream, people are obsessed with personality. It’s good for that. Twitter is for stalkers. ”
“Its being used right now to order beers for those out of reach of the bar!”
“There are some aspects of business where being on Twitter can be beneficial for brands but it’s not a simple as ‘selling’ with it.”
"It’s a great tool at conferences and you do see a proliferation of its use around things like MIX.”
“Brands can use it to be aware of what people are saying about them, to provide customer service, to know what they are doing wrong.”
“This channel throws up new challenges about compliance (FSA) or brand management.”
“It’s good for gaining some customer insight.”
“Its an opportunity to get involved and interact with like-minded audiences and customers.”
“ Perhaps it’s a good channel for recruitment, brands should be meeting perspective employees out in social media.”
“After all, lots of recruits will have researched the brand through peer comments and feedback – its inevitable.”
“Brands need to be aware Twitter appeals to its own audience and that’s different (in purpose, demographic or attitude) to Facebook.”
“Customer advocacy – or its inverse – can be prevalent in this media –Brands should support that and monitor activity.”
“ Arguably, it could be better for customer research than the artificial environments of focus groups and panels.”
“Maybe it could be used as the ‘think tank’ for new product or services development?”
In my humble opinion…
Just as applications like Facebook and Twitter create compulsion through presence and observation, brands can benefit from these states by being both active and observant in these environments. However, the reality is that as ‘channels’ they are very narrowcast and perhaps insight gleaned in these environments should be interpreted as such. That’s not to say that the feedback afforded and the interactions brands can enjoy are not valuable – they may even be representative – its just to remember, what are you really trying to achieve and when you do the maths, does significant investment in these spaces really add up? My view is brands should certainly have a toe in the water but really think about how to play to a media’s strengths. The idea about recruitment certainly stands out. After all, who doesn’t do searches these days as part of the recruitment process and groups and even tweets will surely feature in some people’s perception of brands. In fact, couldn’t the inverse be true and brands check ours?
The Question?
How should employers and employees act with regard to social media activity?
The answers
“The line between work and social time is increasingly merging and the way value is measured has to change.”
“ At the end of the day, employees should be responsible enough for getting the work done in the time. Let them do what they like.”
“People are allowed to smoke, why should working in social networks not be allowed?”
“ The very fabric of what work is and how it’s done is changing. Twitter is a part of this phenomena.”
“There is commercial benefit for letting people interact in and outside the business. Apply intelligence to it, explain the rules.”
“People can be more productive with breaks and other ways to ask and answer questions. Think open source.”
“ There is an important consideration – if we’re paid by the hour, should we be working for an hour or delivering an hour’s value?”
In my humble opinion...
This is a challenging question. Not because we have to consider the balance of freedom to responsibility in the hierarchies and bureaucracies of yesterday, but because we have to consider the nature of work today and more critically tomorrow. The role of both the employee and employer are evolving and what we do to create value – new roles and activities – reflect this change. I consider access to the Internet and its social spaces entirely natural and expect my (digital native) team to enjoy full and unmonitored access. I’ve employed them as responsible individuals, capable of managing their own time and value and they respect this. I’ve also consulted some of the world’s biggest enterprises about the changing nature of work and how they have to embrace increasingly free open practices in order to maintain and rejuvenate their staff. Human resources have to be as involved in sustainability and brand experiences. To sustain human resources – people – the organisations they work for have to emphasise with people and what makes us as communities tick. And people love to interact.
The question?
Should brands represent themselves as corporate brands or as acknowledged individuals?
The answers?
“I’m not a fan of corporate brands in social spaces unless they are allowing staff to be surfaced.”
“Brands have to be very careful where they position individual brands – people – speaking on they’re behave.”
“If you staff can represent the company, provide very clear instructions.”
“ Microsoft give us free access but provide great guidelines about our conversations.”
“ Very few people are genuinely following brands online and the interactions cannot be considered that representative.”
“ About 400 customers on average are following a bank and banks are either not that worried about what this niche says or ignore it.”
“There are ways that brands can benefit being out there as the brand – not simply sales – but finding new ways to engage.”
“A corporate CEO should pay attention to what’s being said – it’s too powerful.”
In my humble opinion…
I don’t think that we answered this question as thoroughly as we could have done – perhaps the beer was kicking in – or lack of food? I think there is a general lack of trust in the ability for brands to afford transparency between their staff and customers or audiences. So we seem cynical of brands that allow it. We also seem rather ‘anti-brand’ too – surprising given what we represent as a community. I think much of this lying in a desire to find ‘non-policed’ or commercialised spaces to interact in and we don’t like them to be ‘subverted’. We’re seeking freedom and authenticity. Its early days in the transfer of power and influence to society at large and the emerging relationships between brands and people are still in their infancy. My recommendation? Watch the space. Closely.
The Question?
What new skills do people need to develop to thrive in the emerging societies, communities and networks that are affecting and representing so much change?
The answers?
“Younger people invariably find it easier to adapt to the new skill they need for work.”
“I only lost my virginity four hours ago”
In my humble opinion…
Iyas from EMC Consulting was of course talking about his adding himself to Twitter and tweeting. And yes, he expressed how alien he found the environment. But while it might be true that people who have grown up surrounded by digital media might be ‘conditioned’ to be more adaptive than those from just have a generation ahead, I think we are only just scratching the surface of this question. New forms of media are emerging at an increasing pace and new skills are an inevitable consequence. I spent a few minutes looking at a recipe community on twitter last week with every recipe being less than 140 characters. The vocabulary of twitter is even more quintessential than text was a few years ago.
So what will we teach the student of today so that they can survive tomorrow?
Baked Beans on Toast?
OpenTin.AddBeansToSaucepanAndHeatWhileStirringUntilSteaming.ToastAndButterBread.PourBeansOnToTheToastAndServe.RecycleTin.ArgueWashingUpRota. (140)