Everyone has a different view of social media. In one of our Sales 2.0 Conferences, a VP of sales from Microsoft shared a story of how, as he was walking through the office with Steve Ballmer, he noticed employees quickly changing screens from their social-media accounts to Excel or Word. The story suggests that Microsoft is not as enlightened about the use of social media as Zappos. (See how Zappos does it.)
Here is a unique, contrarian voice from Australia on social media:
"Social media will fragment," says David Chalke, an Australian media strategist, suggesting that a wave of disillusionment has washed over the market because social media has been "massively oversold." He concedes that social media works for many companies: "For some brands, it’ll work. For others, it's a complete waste of time. Snake-oil salesmen have been telling us that this will fix all your problems."
Chalke has received many comments such as the following: "The potential for bulk BS is demonstrated by those people with 750+ friends." (http://mumbrella.com.au/social-media-oversold-misused-and-in-decline-51704) Note: This link may not work in all browsers.
Is there much thunder in the voice from down under? Not likely. Although Chalke’s views have been tweeted and retweeted by about two dozen Australians, Chalke himself isn't likely to know about it, since he doesn't have a Twitter account.
Robert Scoble, a noted blogger, tech writer, and industry icon from the United States, offers a unique, positive voice on social media. In this recent interview, he shares how you can achieve social-media success. He explains that such success requires a strong culture and smart people, as well as social-media training.
P.S. Robert Scoble has 191,100 Twitter followers.
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