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Companies abuse social media in three ways
terry flores Updated - 19th May 2010
You mention the primary one: using it strictly as a sales and advertising tool in a one-way path. The other two misuses are equally important. Many companies dress up advertising as content (sound familiar?) and then pawn it off on social media sites. And many companies use it strictly to pass off advertising, without any means of dialog or feedback.

It's barely tolerable on normal websites when it's clearly identified as advertising, but it's not acceptable on social media sites. As you mention, social media operates on a level of trust different from normal websites ("guest in your home") and when that trust is violated, the resulting negative impression harms the corporate image that much worse. I'm often surprised at what gets passed off as "advertorials", because much of it is a direct insult to the intelligence of the potential customer, do you think we can't spot it?

Finally, social media is a two-way communication path with some idea of value exchange, not in money, but in the "you show me yours and I show you mine" kind of way. When businesses use social media simply as a push mechanism without that two-way exchange, then they again damage their own image. Like the blabbermouth guest at a party who isn't interested in listening to anyone else, they are soon shunned.
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