The Power of Social Media
In high school when I met my husband he introduced me to new media writer, Marshall McLuhan, who wrote about the idea of the "global village". Unfortunately McLuhan passed in 1980 before he could see his ideas come to life before him. He was so ahead of his time.
From Wikipedia:
In the early 1960s, McLuhan wrote that the visual, individualistic print culture would soon be brought to an end by what he called "electronic interdependence": when electronic media replace visual culture with aural/oral culture. In this new age, humankind will move from individualism and fragmentation to a collective identity, with a "tribal base." McLuhan's coinage for this new social organization is the global village.
As an impressionable 18 year old I thought this one of neatest things I ever heard of. I had just got the Internet that year (1996) and I was learning about chat board and reaching out to people across the world. Groundbreaking stuff.
Fast forward to 2010 (the future!!) we have Twitter and Facebook and any sort of website you can imagine for reaching out to people the world over INSTANTLY. Think about that for a moment. Do you know people in different parts of the world because of Twitter or Facebook? The answer is probably yes right? Some companies are realizing how powerful these social medias are at getting in touch with their customers.
From Wikipedia:
In the early 1960s, McLuhan wrote that the visual, individualistic print culture would soon be brought to an end by what he called "electronic interdependence": when electronic media replace visual culture with aural/oral culture. In this new age, humankind will move from individualism and fragmentation to a collective identity, with a "tribal base." McLuhan's coinage for this new social organization is the global village.
As an impressionable 18 year old I thought this one of neatest things I ever heard of. I had just got the Internet that year (1996) and I was learning about chat board and reaching out to people across the world. Groundbreaking stuff.
Fast forward to 2010 (the future!!) we have Twitter and Facebook and any sort of website you can imagine for reaching out to people the world over INSTANTLY. Think about that for a moment. Do you know people in different parts of the world because of Twitter or Facebook? The answer is probably yes right? Some companies are realizing how powerful these social medias are at getting in touch with their customers.
For example ShopNBC is one of those companies. You can subscribe to ShopNBC’s Twitter page and get instant updates about daily deals. Or if you are more into Facebook, visit ShopNBC on Facebook and leave them your feedback or ask questions! I know lots of people don't have TVs anymore but almost everyone has a computer and you can watch ShopNBC on YouTube and see behind the scenes exclusives.
15 years ago could you of imagined having contact with someone at a company that didn't involved waiting on hold for 10 minute and pressing 348920 buttons to get through? You can now just @ them on twitter and usually you get a response within the day. The companies that are doing this are realizing how this is a great way to connect with their customers in real time and get feedback they normally wouldn't. How many people would call a company to say they liked an item? Not many. Maybe my grandfather but not many others. Now how many people would post a quick Tweet saying they loved that same item @ the company? Lots.
This is a sponsored post about ShopNBC but all that McLuhan stuff is me, and something I am really passionate about and would love to hear your thoughts on the matter.
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Have a lovely Friday,
Jungle World Citizen