Tag: Facebook

Whaddaya Think Wednesday: Is F-Commerce Gone for Good?

Dana PhelpsBlog, Social Media + Influencer Engagement, , 2 Comments on Whaddaya Think Wednesday: Is F-Commerce Gone for Good?

If you’ve been reading our blog this week, you’ll know that Margot Horgan, Clairemont intern, has taken us from Pinterest to peplums and now to F-commerce in today’s Whaddaya Think Wednesday. Tune in tomorrow when Margot shares how to put some green in your clean.

With Facebook becoming ever more popular and powerful, the social networking behemoth had started to brand itself as not only the place where you talk about things you like, but the place where you actually do those things you like. In the past Facebook was where people could like a movie, but in Zuckerberg’s future, Facebook would be where people could watch that movie. So, it only seemed natural that retailers would set up shop on Facebook, where users could purchase items without ever having to leave the site.

However, retailers like Gap, J.C. Penny, Nordstrom and GameStop are closing up shop on Facebook. According to Sucharita Mulpuru, an analyst at Forrester Research, “There was a lot of anticipation that Facebook would turn into a new destination, a store, a place where people would shop,” said Mulpuru. “But it was like trying to sell stuff to people while they’re hanging out with their friends at the bar.”

But does this really mean the end of F-commerce? Maybe not forever, but definitely for now. Retail stores on Facebook were slow running and offered users no incentive to buy there instead of the regular store website. And, with other sites like Pinterest more equipped for retailers, big brands have switched over from Facebook.

So for now and the near future, Facebook users will have to leave the site in order to shop online. But, for majority of us, we won’t miss this app. Will you?

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Whaddaya Think: Is 2012 the Year of the Twitter Election?

Josephine ButlerBlog, Social Media + Influencer Engagement, , , , 2 Comments on Whaddaya Think: Is 2012 the Year of the Twitter Election?

We’d like to welcome our new intern Margot Horgan, a social media queen, to the scene. She’s kicking things off by starting a debate, if you will, on whether or not 2012 will be the Year of the Twitter Election. We encourage you to share your thoughts.

An example of a Twitter infographic from the S.C. Republican Debate.

As the dominance of networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook continues to grow, we are beginning to see the deliberate infusion of social media into the current political campaigns and primaries.

Both former press secretary Robert Gibbs and Twitter have already dubbed 2012 the Year of the Twitter Election. And, with the extensive use of Twitter and hashtags during the South Carolina Republican Debate, it seems that social networking will indeed play a large role in this election season.

During last week’s debate, viewers were encouraged to participate in the conversation by submitting questions via Twitter and by using the hashtags #answer and #dodge to rate how well the candidates answered each question.

Nearly 8,000 people used these hashtags to weigh in, providing real-time audience sentiment to each of the candidates’ answers within 15 to 30 seconds. From this data, we get awesome infographic timelines depicting the audience’s reaction to candidate responses.

Not only that, but debate commentators could the use the minute-by-minute Twitter data to bolster the need for more thorough responses from candidates.

So whaddya think, everybody? At the South Carolina debate, candidates were forced to answer to the live commentators and audience members and viewers tweeting from home. How else will social media impact the 2012 elections? Is it really the Year of the Twitter Election?

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Free Advice Friday: The Dos and Don’ts of Social Media Etiquette

Josephine ButlerBlog, Free Advice, Social Media + Influencer Engagement, , , , , , , 2 Comments on Free Advice Friday: The Dos and Don’ts of Social Media Etiquette

Our intern Ashely Hurteau shares her thoughts (and sense of humor) on social media etiquette. 

If you are a member of the social media world (and my guess is that if you’re reading this, you are), then you’ve seen it, too. You’ve also cringed with second-hand embarrassment. This atrocity that I speak of is the lack of etiquette that is all too present in social media.

From overly dramatic status updates to inappropriate photos, it seems as though manners and grace are not taken into consideration when posting on the Internet. Real Simple magazine and their readers agree.

After polling 945 readers, Real Simple homed in on the top ‘social DISgraces’ as voted on by their readers. Allow me to share some of these, along with some helpful tips to avoid making the same mistakes.

  • Save the vague, disconcerting status updates (i.e. “Jennifer wonders whether it has all been worth it.”) and personal problems for your real friends, not your 856 social media friends. You will not receive the advice you seek, and according to Real Simple readers, it is the most annoying type of post there is – even more annoying than chronic complaining!
  • When you’re friend requesting, make sure you keep it to just that – your friends. Randomly asking someone to be your friend is one of the top-ranking annoyances on Facebook. A good tip: if you are trying to reconnect with an old friend or acquaintance, send a message along with the request to serve as a refresher and avoid being labeled a creep.
  • When tagging photos of others or yourself, have some respect. No one wants to see anyone three sheets to the wind or too much PDA. Think before you tag, and if there is any question, ask those individuals in the picture whether they would like it tagged or not.
  • The number one sin that is committed on Facebook and Twitter? In my opinion, it’s foul language. My friends on Facebook include teachers, family and co-workers. The idea that one of my friends could drop the F-bomb on a comment or my wall for my boss to see is mortifying.

Social media is designed to put you, your company or product out there for the masses to see. Do it with dignity, and remember, if you would not want your grandmother to see it, you probably should not post it!

What do you think? Please feel free to share some of your ideas – the more advice, the better!

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More Monday: To Delete or Not to Delete…

Josephine ButlerBlog, Social Media + Influencer Engagement, , , ,
To delete or not to delete....That is the question.

We’ve all faced this dilemma. Realizing that it’s generally good practice to leave negative comments up on a company’s Facebook page (ChapStick definitely learned this lesson the hard way), we’ve also come to the conclusion that there’s a lot of gray area.

According to Russell Working of Ragan.com, it’s OK to delete fans and/or comments under several circumstances. First off, and definitely the most obvious, is that it’s OK to delete fans’ comments that make hurtful, derogatory or defamatory personal statements about other fans on the page, including brand administrators. Second off, he writes, it’s OK to kill trolls, or anyone who posts inflammatory, extraneous or off-topic messages on your page. But what about when the answer’s not so obvious?

Building social media strategies as well as managing day-to-day interactions for our clients makes us no stranger to dealing with questions, complaints and issues. However, one particular fan of a client’s Facebook page recently tested our dislike for deleting and blocking.  Because we so commonly advise to let negative comments live (typically along with appropriate responses), we went through several weeks of back and forth, in attempts to be helpful.

This included our timely responses saying we were sorry to hear of the issue and thank you for contacting us, along with the information the customer needed to correct her issues – as determined by our client’s customer service process. We also worked closely with our client’s customer service team, and we knew they were making every attempt possible to help her. Still, she continued to post her initial complaints on the page, again and again. Additionally, she created a Facebook page “boycotting” our client and made posts to the wall from this account, in addition to her personal page.

Despite what we tried to do to help, she persisted in posting the same information multiple times, and furthermore, was misrepresenting the situation. She was hijacking the page! While a few other fans cried uncle, we also noticed that our normal level of positive interactions was declining. Our loyal fans were being robbed of what they loved about and expected from the page.

After careful (and painful) consideration, we decided to ban the fan. We have never had to do this before (and hope to never have to do it again), but ultimately, her excessive posts were taking away from other fans’ enjoyment of the page. In total transparency, we simultaneously blocked her and posted about why we did it on the wall.  In response, we received only positive comments (some said thank you!) from other people who like the page.

It was a difficult decision to make. Do you think we did the right thing? Have you ever encountered something similar? How do you handle negative comments? As always, we’d love to hear your thoughts on this More Monday!

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