Is Social Media The New Junk Mail Or The Best Communication Tool Since The Invention Of The Telephone?

 

As I scroll through my "news feed" on Facebook I wonder how people keep up with this, or if they do, when they have thousands of friends/fans/likes. I have my core group of friends and I also join many B2C and B2B companies to watch how they are using, or not using, Facebook as an interactive marketing and communications tool.

Some of my favorite brands do a great job; Dell Small Business, Gaiam, Mashable. Unfortunately there are many, many others who just send out a press release once in a while. The latter are similar to my friends who let me know what they had for breakfast and never reply back when I ask what else is going on in their life. The companies that are truly good are using Facebook as a communication tool, not just promoting a product but in someways a lifestyle, in other ways providing information to help your business be successful.

So is it junk mail, or the greatest communication tool since the telephone?  At least with Facebook it is very easy to "unlike" and then my newsfeed is clear of their messages. Unlike real junk mail where the flyers continue to stuff my snail mail box.

I've used the "unlike" feature a lot lately. ; )

John

@johndmeyer

Comments

[B.J. Smith]

There truly is a lot of "junk" floating around, but as you point out, we do have a good deal of control over who we let into our personal and business online networks. I'll read about someone's breakfast on occasion if they more often are providing information of interest.

The junk makes me appreciate even more the good stuff I find now and then.