Comments on: Social Media Overwhelm – Don’t Build a Ghost Town http://www.thoughtlabs.com/2009/07/01/social-media-overwhelm-dont-build-a-ghosttown/ A blog about Social Media by John Maver and Cappy Popp Mon, 26 Jul 2010 08:00:28 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: John Maver http://www.thoughtlabs.com/2009/07/01/social-media-overwhelm-dont-build-a-ghosttown/comment-page-1/#comment-384 John Maver Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:28:40 +0000 http://www.thoughtlabs.com/?p=484#comment-384 Tyler,<br>I think we have to start with the fact that most companies aren't listening. There are countless tweets directed at various brands that don't have any presence at all - take <a href="http://twitter.com/target" rel="nofollow">http://twitter.com/target</a>, which isn't run by them at all. Search for tweets with @target in the name and you will see a large customer base that is trying to engage with no response. If Target had a Twitter account, and simply started off by listening, they might learn quite a lot about their customers in the process. There is value in that exercise for both sides.<br>Yes, later on Target and its customers would get even more value out of actual interactions, but those interactions could be informed by several months of just listening.<br>The end point of the my post agrees with you in principal about creating ghost towns - don't build something and abandon it. If your company creates a social media presence, then you should commit to sticking with it. Otherwise, what was a positive step, instead leads to general negative feelings.<br>Thanks for the reply, Tyler. I really enjoyed your post and the interaction and by responding, I am also glad to know that you are listening. :) Tyler,
I think we have to start with the fact that most companies aren't listening. There are countless tweets directed at various brands that don't have any presence at all – take http://twitter.com/target, which isn't run by them at all. Search for tweets with @target in the name and you will see a large customer base that is trying to engage with no response. If Target had a Twitter account, and simply started off by listening, they might learn quite a lot about their customers in the process. There is value in that exercise for both sides.
Yes, later on Target and its customers would get even more value out of actual interactions, but those interactions could be informed by several months of just listening.
The end point of the my post agrees with you in principal about creating ghost towns – don't build something and abandon it. If your company creates a social media presence, then you should commit to sticking with it. Otherwise, what was a positive step, instead leads to general negative feelings.
Thanks for the reply, Tyler. I really enjoyed your post and the interaction and by responding, I am also glad to know that you are listening. :)

]]> By: Tyler Putterman http://www.thoughtlabs.com/2009/07/01/social-media-overwhelm-dont-build-a-ghosttown/comment-page-1/#comment-383 Tyler Putterman Fri, 03 Jul 2009 12:52:24 +0000 http://www.thoughtlabs.com/?p=484#comment-383 ....just one last thing...I think your point about how the interaction and responding does not necessarily have to be via social media is very important. It's the idea that the end goal isn't a direct message back, it's to know that the feedback is being acknowledged and addressed in SOME way. Great point, and something not a lot of people think about. ….just one last thing…I think your point about how the interaction and responding does not necessarily have to be via social media is very important. It's the idea that the end goal isn't a direct message back, it's to know that the feedback is being acknowledged and addressed in SOME way. Great point, and something not a lot of people think about.

]]> By: Tyler Putterman http://www.thoughtlabs.com/2009/07/01/social-media-overwhelm-dont-build-a-ghosttown/comment-page-1/#comment-382 Tyler Putterman Fri, 03 Jul 2009 12:46:23 +0000 http://www.thoughtlabs.com/?p=484#comment-382 John,<br><br>I really enjoyed your post. The last sentence, "Customers will appreciate this and will be happy to know that someone is hearing them" got my mind remembering allllll of those really frustrating times, especially with larger "successful" corporations, trying to get through to customer service. <br><br>It's really frustrating, and as a consumer, you'd like to think if you have valuable input that it will at least be considered. We all know that is not always true, and I think the companies that "don't have time" shouldn't even use social media. If you're not going to do it right, don't do it, because as you said, without the listening, responding and interacting, isn't their FB or Twitter just like the one way customer support that maddens us all...really just another dead-end facade of pretending to care about their consumer base? John,

I really enjoyed your post. The last sentence, “Customers will appreciate this and will be happy to know that someone is hearing them” got my mind remembering allllll of those really frustrating times, especially with larger “successful” corporations, trying to get through to customer service.

It's really frustrating, and as a consumer, you'd like to think if you have valuable input that it will at least be considered. We all know that is not always true, and I think the companies that “don't have time” shouldn't even use social media. If you're not going to do it right, don't do it, because as you said, without the listening, responding and interacting, isn't their FB or Twitter just like the one way customer support that maddens us all…really just another dead-end facade of pretending to care about their consumer base?

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