Noble says social networking may even take a cue from computer manufacturer Apple, which introduced a feature in its iTunes software that recommends songs based on music library history.
“This was introduced with the ‘Genius’ feature. It compares songs in your iTunes collection to songs that are most commonly used, logically that takes you to a place you can get recommendations from people who think like you, or eventually, even your friends. That is certainly difficult, but for any organisation that offers transactions online, you would increase these social features.”
Speculation has been rampant about the future of Twitter, especially as the site has grown substantially with millions of users but brings in no money whatsoever.
It has suffered several problems with several server crashes, as well as disappointing figures from Neilson, which showed it has a retention rate of just 40%. The company is looking to bring in revenue and improve its services, but Jason Falls said recently this process will culminate in Google buying out the micro-blogging site.
“They’ll probably do it out of the same frustration we all have with the platform – it’s so useful and good but hasn’t been improved in the least and still doesn’t work well. For a group of guys to build the single-most useful communications software and social utility in recent memory, you’d think they’d work to keep users happy and improve the service.”
“Google will not only make it work right, they’ll make it work better and add to their already ubiquitous hold on the online user experience.”
Twitter co-founder Biz Stone said recently at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival that the company is looking at introducing paid services for its corporate customers.
“From computer makers like Dell to companies like Whole Foods, Comcast and Jet Blue, we think we might be able to enhance the value they’re getting in exchange for some kind of fee. We’re in research mode as to what that will be like.”
Any consolidation that occurs in the industry will also likely involve former market leader MySpace. The News Corp-owned company has shed several staff members, and recently mixed up its executive board in a conscious effort to bring the company back to a “start-up culture”.
It has continued to lose members while Facebook and Twitter have grown, so it would be no surprise to see the site integrate with other services that expand its user base.
It seems the best advice for companies entering social networks is to be completely honest and slowly build a network of genuine, passionate friends and followers.
If that sounds a bit slow, maybe you can take a lead from one Australian company which has begun using Twitter users as a commodity that can be sold to businesses by the thousand.
uSocial chief Leon Hill says his businesses operates by examining a client’s needs, then searching out Twitter users who follow companies of a similar nature.
Hill says this service is similar to advertising services offered by Google, but believes his clients are gaining “permanent marketing tools”.
“We’re delivering high quality advertising. I’ve seen people buying clickable ads on Google, and they’re spending $3,000 before they make a sale. But if they gain followers on Twitter, they will have them as a marketing tool month-in and month-out.”
For all the people who use social networks and will join them in the future, there are millions of others who will stay away or simply watch from the sidelines.
Todd Defren, principal at SHIFT Communication, says that businesses must know and cater for these users even if they are not actively part of any social networks.
“For all the hype about services like Twitter and Facebook, there are many more millions of consumers who don’t ‘join’, who don’t blog nor consider themselves blog readers. Yet they likely to participate quite frequently (albeit unwittingly) in social media, via Google searches. Google searches which serve up YouTube videos, blog posts, etc. Social media-savvy SEO will be an ever-more-important factor for brands to consider as they seek to expand their influence beyond the ‘cool kids’ crowd online.”
As your company’s presence online grows, there will be more opportunities for your brand to be thrown in the mud.
James Griffin, founder of online risk management group SR7, says businesses must be aware of what is happening to your brand online.
“It all goes back to the stigma that these sites have just young people using them and what’s said on there won’t affect your brand and company. But some organisations might be very surprised at what risks they stand for online.”
“A lot of companies or risk managers in companies believe these users are just young people, but the sites actually have employees and staff using them to talk to friends and get out there… they may say things they wouldn’t at work.”
Social networks have also blurred the divide between the social and corporate worlds, with many businesses developing policies on how their staff should go about speaking about work on sites such as Facebook.
Telstra became one of the first companies in the country to develop a policy about staff posting online about the company, after one of its contractors created a ‘Fake Stephen Conroy’ Twitter profile and insulted a company executive.
Griffin says businesses must get on top of these situations early, as the speed of the internet will allow stories to enter the media before a company even knows of a problem.
“If there was a journalist who finds something, and you don’t know it’s there, you’re in for a lot of trouble. This is why companies need to be aware of these things.”
Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
