Baby Boomers: trends and opportunities in social media for businesses, organizations and individuals' careers: Digital Wagon Train™

Preparing An Organization To Step Into Social Media

When most organizations step into social media the work usually begins with developing a plan. That plan will traditionally follow the structure of most typical strategies: define goals/objectives; determine what will constitute success and how will you measure it; and of course identify the tactical execution. 

However, few companies begin their internal social media foundation with HOW social media will impact the organization, the brand and the people. The first question to ask might be not which tactics to use but -

• Are the people within your organization aligned with your social media strategy and do they understand how social media will impact the enterprise?

By people I mean those who actively participate in social media whether through interfacing directly in blogs or social networks AND those whose job now includes analyzing how to (or how not to) integrate the information from consumer generate conversations into product development, customer service, PR, etc. etc. etc.

I also mean your customers and stake holders. Is there a disconnect between your Twitter response time and your telephone customer support hold time? Social media adds dimensions to our business relationships that go beyond negative comments. Opening the enterprise door to social media impacts the entire organization from the way communication is handled to customer service to hiring decisions

7 Tips For Preparing An Organization for Social Media

1. Create cross functional teams
2. Identify impact on specific areas
3. Determine if the right communication processes are in place
4. Determine if employees have the right skills and experience
5. Consider if new job descriptions which include new evaluation criteria are needed.
6. Identify here does social media will reside. Don't discount that there maybe multiple “homes.”
7. Determine which department  “owns” the customer relationship. This maybe the most critical and the answer might hold some surprises.

Social media will disrupt the way you do business .. but if you're prepared it can be a very good thing that helps not hinders the growth of your organization

Ginger Hop Restaurant Relies on Social Media To Attract Job Applicants

The Ginger Hop is going to be a new Thai restaurant in my neighborhood. This is great news! I was struck by their communication that the only way to find out about the job is to go on Craig's List 

This is the other part of the job fair notice on Craig's List that got my attention. Resumes optional.

TO APPLY : Come down to 201 East Hennepin Avenue this Sunday. The process starts at 11:00am and will go until 3:00pm. If that does not work for you we will be doing it again on Monday, August 31st from 4:00pm until 7:00pm. Resumes are suggested but we will also be having you fill out a house application.

What I have been hearing over and over again is that the resume as we know it may be a dying breed. After all many people have their relevant information on LinkedIn. Instead of using paper simply giving the hiring company your LinkedIn info serves the same purpose.

Ginger Hop also has a Twitter presence. So far, we are the 12th follower.

they don't seem to befollowing anyone else and this is a lost opportunity. Social media is supposed to be a conversation. Using it to simply broadcast news usually becomes a failed strategy.

I was surprised that I didn't find an Ginger Hop Job Fair Events on Facebook. Missed Opportunity?

Cross-posted on FunnyBusiness

Wish'd I had a Mac - sigh.

My significant other just got a new MacBook Pro. I've made the terrible mistake of going to the free classes Apple offers to get old PC users up to speed with all of the wonderful Mac features and tools, too numerous to list here. Believe me, my time is coming soon.

Stuart Goldenberg

However, this is not my lament about being chained to a PC. It's a link to a terrific Fortune blog post about the new Mac operating system, Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard,  which I believe will be available tomorrow.

The great news is two-fold:

1) If you have OS X 10, the new op system costs only $30. My god, that certainly is an anomaly, in this the era of ridiculously outrageous expensive software upgrades. Thanks Apple.

2) Price aside, the truly incredible thing is that the upgrade is skinnier and faster than its predecessor. When, I ask you, was the last time Microsoft provided an upgrade that was faster, better, cheaper? I believe Apple has finally gotten it, and Microsoft is still lost in the woods.

Interested in reading more? I hope so. Point your browser to http://is.gd/2CHLH to read a collection of helpful reviews. Gonna get me a Mac.

Confused About Web 2.0 ? This 5 Minute Video Will Clear It Up

By way of the Dr. Michael Wesch's Digital Ethnography Group at Kansas State University. Dr. Wesch is a cultural anthropologist who is exploring the impact of new media on society and culture. You can read some of Dr. Wesch's ideas on his blog


From Dr. Wesch's Manifesto

We want to save the planet. For us, it’s not so much about digital learning as it is about learning in general, out in the real world And the only way we can do this is if people participate. Self-government itself depends on participation. And it’s the only way that people are ever going to be able to get knowledge. That is the way of the future, there’s no doubt about it. And moving the discussion from education to learning more broadly, means that it applies to all of us, and all of us can bring our unique perspectives. It is very easy to have a worldwide impact in today’s world, so what will your impact on the world be?

Verizon Commercial Adds To Myth That Baby Boomers And Social Media Don't Mix

The scene is a family of four. They are out on their deck. The teenage daughter is sniping at her mom to stop leaving messages on her Facebook Wall. The mom smiles.The son is exasperated and demands that the dad stop tweeting. The dad ignores the son and speaks out loud as he tweets, " sitting on the porch."

Now I may have gotten some of the details a bit wrong, I only saw the commercial once and it is not yet up on YouTube. As soon as it's available I will post. I do know it was a commercial for LG phones.

Update: The video was posted to Youtube on August 12, 2009. Enjoy

While I am not in the market for a new phone right now, it did catch my attention because it inadvertently is reinforcing a message that when it comes to social media, baby boomers are clueless to social media's proper use and etiquette.

If there is one thing that is holding more baby boomers from using social media it's the sense that it's not only a waste of time but they will make mistakes that they can't repair. The permanency of a social media post or a Twitter Tweet can scare the bejeebies out of a baby boomer.

While some people do use Twitter to let people know they are crossing the street, many others use it to Mind-cast. Once you  learn how to use this tool to get  instant access to information on a particular topic, you'll quickly see that Twitter can be as important a tool as Google Search has become.

Where to start?

Start with a listening tour of Twitter.  It's like panning for gold. In the search bar, type in a topic you are interested in and see what people are tweeting. Chances are you are going to find some gems about that topic that are not only timely, but are articles that you probably wouldn't find on Google. That's the real power of Twitter-- it can provide you with fabulous information when you  know how to use it correctly.