Irreversible

One wonders how social will effect how organizations create more value. Most people in the U.S. are employed by tiny little companies that help dig it up, grow it, or make it.

How many of the 5 man machine shops really need a Facebook page?

Will twitering enable a mining company in Elko Nevada to increase their bottom line?

What effect will the blogosphere have on the Florida orange harvest?

That companies whose stock and trade is distributing low value added product, or services with no end product at all are vurnerable to speedy rebuke and real monetary damage by the cloud wanderers is no suprise.

HP used to make great, world class stuff, it's hard to knock you off when you are doing the right thing right. They went wrong a long time ago. That people are talking about these things in the medium they have at thier disposal is not something new.

It's funny you should mention Elko, I was there this summer and had a similar thought - how are the changes changing them? I did find a lot more smartphones out there than I expected to see.

A couple comments to your thoughts:

There are distinct strategies that need to be pursued for B2C and B2B. You're citing B2B examples that may find little to no audience in Facebook. Twitter is a part of an SEO-driven PR strategy that shouldn't be overlooked. LinkedIn may be much more appropriate for the industrial audience.

We're at that point where social is now what a website was at the turn of this century. No serious company would dream of pursuing biz without a website and email today, and social will get to that point soon.

As you point out, social isn't a substitute for having a solid product. But an OK product marketed well (see the other comments about Microsoft, their marketing power is undeniable but their product/support does leave a lot to be desired) outdoes a technically superior product with little marketing. I see this time and time again in clients I work with, the advanced form of "build it and they will come" thinking - it does not work very well today.

The final thought is this: you never know where that next customer is going to come from. The Florida orange grower competes with product from South America. The mining company may have a client in China. That machine shop, if they were a supplier to somewhere like Boeing's Wichita plant, now has to pursue other avenues. The notion of "community" being local is being replaced by social.

And we're part of that discussion in here ...

The entertainment industry has fought the new technology battle many times. After being dragged into it kicking and screaming went on to make insane profits. Radio broadcasting, VHS, Digital media, Streaming. Although they never seem to learn they are swept into it initially with snarls and chagrin only to find their nirvana.

Microsoft has "fully embrace social"? When was the last time Microsoft listened to a customer?

Their entire mobile and gaming strategy is completely socially driven.

Are you equating them not being open source with not listening?

I equate the fact that I have never, ever gotten a legitimate answer from their technical support system. Which is one of the main reasons I switched to Open Source...

Coincidentally, Information Week posted this article yesterday: Why Your Business Can't Ignore Social Networking.

http://www.informationweek.com/thebrainyard/news/social_networking_consumer/232301417/why-your-business-cant-ignore-social-networking

Thanks for the link- although most of what they describe sounds more like marketing hype than real analysis, one line caught my attention:

"...that change is moving the primary focus of online consumers away from search and toward networking..."

Why that line caught my attention is based on my own experiences with on-line searching- it is getting harder and harder to find exactly what you are looking for as the amount of information (and players that know how to game the search engines) expands. We see this even here on CR4- a lot of people would rather ask for technical details here in this forum rather than try struggling through a typical search. Connecting with known "experts" if you will. I also find LinkedIn to be quite useful- but I refuse to use Facebook or Twitter- I don't need to have my life cluttered with excess noise.

When it comes to business, there is no substitute for the face-to-face. I can not even imagine embarking on a new project based solely on "social networking". "Social" may facilitate project progress, may help identify potential new clients, etc.- but I want that face-to-face contact- even more important than a legally binding contract, in my mind. With a positive face-to-face, I am often willing to commit resources on the basis of a handshake- and I don't want to stop working that way...