"Learning social media lessons the hard way." Chapter 20: You're doing it wrong.

Over the past week, three separate international companies learned a hard lesson in public relations regarding their policies and understanding of social media.

Subway got into hot water in a 'footlong' discrepancy.

Applebee's fired a server after she posted a customer's snarky comment online.

...and last but not least...

HMV terminated 60 employees, who live-tweeted the event.

What all three of these instances have in common is showcasing the incredible power that social media has, and how companies still don't seem to recognize how important it is, because only a handful of companies are truly doing social media right these days.

Every single person that is running any sort of business, no matter how big or small, needs to recognize the power of social media in today's Twitter/Facebook/Reddit world, and make sure that the person or people in charge of their social media presence is capable, trustworthy, and properly trained.

The HMV case is a special one, because I think it brings up an interesting truism about the current state of almost every industry, and one that echoes a lot of the same problems that print media are currently dealing with.

60 young, passionate employees were terminated from HMV not unlike when 7 young, passionate, tech-savvy employees were laid-off at the Winnipeg Free Press.

Right now, in certain industries and within certain companies, the old guard remains in charge and is resisting the inevitable evolution of our next generation. If they don't adapt, they will die, and though money is tight and revenues may be declining, firing the young people that recognize and understand the power of social media is industry suicide.

But I'm sure they'll figure that out. Eventually.

                                                                                                                  -NxB

Watching: The Walking Dead 

Listening to: "Drive" Official Soundtrack