Social Media 2010 – “It’s Like Television in 1946” – But Better

Hey – We’re really onto something here with social media.  Speaking as a long-time PR pro, the best part is that our profession has a lot of influence in how it is used.  Most notable is how we tap our clients to utilize it effectively to obtain their objective – sales, recognition, opinion shaping, brand building, fan clubs, etc.

But we are just in the infancy of it.  As a person who is of a futuristic mind (NOTE: keep this thought when you reach the last paragraph), I am always wondering, “what’s next – how can we maximize what we are doing?”

As I sit here pondering, Social Media reminds me a little bit of what Television was like in 1946.  The only difference in the mindset is, from the get-go, we expect it to grow and get better. 

When Philo T. Farnsworth was finished tinkering around with his invention, he had no realization that the majority of the world would gaze upon it on a daily basis.  Yes, TV brought a lot of excitement when it became available to the public at large, but at the time did anyone think it would go beyond the black-and-white kinescope?

Progress was slow.  First color television was the big barrier, then cable and fast forward to VHS, Picture-in-Picture, Plasma TV, Pay-Per-View, Satellite, High-Definition, TiVo, specialty channels (all-news, all-sports, all religion…) and other cool services.

Social media is providing the same buzz (without rabbit ears or antennas – or for that matter, wires) and is transcending the way us digital peeps communicate in 2010.

There’s a line from the Little Rascals when one of the kids says to Stymie who is attempting to control a runaway vehicle, “Hey Stymie, where are you going?” He innocently replies, “I don’t know, but I’m on my way.”  This is how we have to look at social media. 

Like the **GULP** dot-coms, there will be survivors and shakeouts.  Take a look at the graphic accompanying this blog.  Realistically, I expect only 20% of these logos to be in existence in the next 3 years.  Too many “me too” sites and services.  If they serve a niche audience, great, they will have a following, but chances are funding, practicality and user indifference will be influential in placing a toe-tag on those that lack the Darwinian survival skills (aka 404).

Television in 1946 and Social Media 2010 share something in common – captive audiences.  While we aren’t watching Westerns or Serials, our engagement is based on a quick message (Twitter) and personalization (too many sites to cite), which stems from common interests, but YOUR way.  Video, text and user control are the appealing aspects of social media and it’s 24/7. 

So, where does this lead us?  More options, more services, more personalization?  One can only wonder what a blog post will be sixty-four years from now: “SomeCoolFuturisticThing in 2074 is like Social Media in 2010.”

I plan to stick around to witness – and write about it; perhaps send it via telepathy, that is, if the chip inside my head needs upgrading – and my friends on other planets can access their Galaxy Version of their Facebook account.  If any of the media have their transponders turned off, well, you may miss (Again!) another good story.

Yogi Berra was right.  The future ain’t what it used to be.

Who Dat? Is it a New Hire or is it a CEO as….Undercover Boss?

Immediately after the Super Bowl, when most of America is schnockered and full of the euphoria of a win, or doldrums of a loss, CBS launched the premier of Undercover Boss (full episode here).

Let’s face it; many of us (I can’t stand it either, but there are fans of American Idol and Real Housewives out there) are tired of reality programs with useless values (and minimal relation to their real lives). Can viewers really learn from some of the topics and antics of the majority of the contestants?

Undercover Boss really gets to the heart of the matter.

Larry O’Donnell, President & COO of Waste Management is the PR pro’s dream. A C-Level executive who actually knows – or, let’s say in this instance, NOW KNOWS – as he experienced a day in the life of the worker bees in his company. For one week, he shucked the luxuries of his professional and personal life, left the corner office, and got a firsthand look (AND appreciation) at what everyone in his company does. He was on the proverbial battlefield in combat vs. sitting in a cushy chair at command center.

Often in our field of PR, we are working with executives who have great ideas to propel their business model and company to profit. But their vision comes from afar and they really aren’t at 20/20 when the bubbles hit the surface. Many of them come from a business background without direct experience in the day-to-day life of the rank-and-file employee. Larry was one such executive. He didn’t realize that many of his policies on his watch were the cog of employee unhappiness and strife. Essentially, he was asking “Who Dat?”

Is it a flaw of Corporate America? Hard to say. If a company is very big, it is virtually impossible to be involved with every facet, but it’s a management defect if you don’t care or attempt to drill down. (A nice story of an executive, Gordon Bethune, Continental Airlines, who did visit employees: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/03/business/03corner.html  ) In a smaller company, with everyone on site in one location, it almost becomes imperative for the top executive to get MORE involved. Undercover Boss as a program is good validation of extrapolation best practices.

Larry, posing as “Randy” at several Waste Management venues across the US, got his hands dirty, his pride sullied, his handkerchief wet (with tears) and experienced many A-HA moments. Let’s take a quick look:

• One region docked workers 2 minutes for every minute they were late to punch in.

• A supervisor, Walter, who went to dialysis 3x a week. Walter really wanted to help other people with the same problems. (In an ironic twist, Walter “fired” Randy because he couldn’t get enough trash in the bags in an allotted time. From a second view, a CEO was too inept to do a menial job).

• Witnessed how Jaclyn, a woman who had a series of medical problems - 5 types of cancers before age 29 - was a huge multitakser with high energy. She even invited him over to meet her family and have dinner on his “first day.” They were struggling to keep their house.

• Cleaning Port-o-Let toilets at an amusement park in Texas, he was amazed that his supervisor had a lot of pep and enjoyed what he was doing. He took a not so fun job and turned it into a positive experience. His comments on doing the job were “This is a lot more to his than I really thought. ” His supervisor said he needed to be faster and clean on average 15 of these standalone stalls per hour to be efficient.

• Saw that Janice, a female garbage collector had a lot of friends along the route, yet had to rely on a – forgive me dear reader – a pot to pee in. One poignant moment was when Karen, a disabled woman paid tribute to Janice with a little ode. It particularly hit home as Larry has a daughter with special needs.

So, throughout his experience, Larry showed a bit of humbleness along with physical and mental weakness. He actually saw that people are hard workers and not just numbers or cells with dollar signs in an Excel sheet.

Larry came to an epiphany to change the way they do business. He would investigate many of the present bad policies which he implemented and get the employees more involved, have input and help them charter a course to rise in their careers.

As we all know, PR can creates a favorable view of a company both internally and externally. If I were a CEO I would want that to mirror that people WANT to work here and that companies WANT to do business with us. For PR practitioners, this is a great example of what can be learned by upper management. A telltale comment: “I had no idea this job was physically demanding and mentally exhausting.”

I would challenge all CEOs that you represent to take some time to get to know the employees, their roles, their true feelings. There can be many stories generated and best practices gleaned that the media would never otherwise know about. Corporate messages can be tweaked a bit better and you will help propel the image of your company a lot better. In the mean time, I think CBS is on to something.

Personally, I’m hooked.