Social Media is an outlet of consumer perspectives and opportunities waiting for marketers to gobble this valuable information up in order to formulate better target markets for products/services. In the book, Secrets of Social Media Marketing, Paul Gillin wrote a section in the first chapter about the opportunities to go further with a company through use of Social Media and the negative/positive perceptions and feedback from consumers.
Fiskars, a scissor selling company found through Social Media that their target market was not companies that valued the precision of their scissor blades (even though they fulfill this market as well), but that of a younger crowd of women in their 20’s that enjoy scrapbooking. This was profound information that set up many opportunities for Fiskars Company, because Social Media uncovered their ultimate target market which could possibly have ruined the company if not revealed. Social Media can also uncover the past of present and future job seekers and information found about them can ultimately be devastating if an employer views rude conduct, excessive partying, and/or drug use all over the internet.
Facebook and MySpace are known for being checked by employers, because they want to hire someone who is responsible and takes care of themselves. Social Media also provides employers with background information on recent jail, prison, and/or institutional visits when they are searching. I have researched ‘my name and my most recent employer’ under search engines (Google, Bing, etc.) and have found nothing incriminating and everyone should take time out to search their name before any future interviews. Brian K. is a friend of mine who has a degree in Family Studies and had been declined a job due to a DUI on his record from within the past 5 years. Caroline, was a peer that I worked with in the past who was fired from Kohl’s when they found out about a past shoplifting crime that was on her record.
Cnn.com posted a video, The Help Desk: Verifying Your Background Check, which identifies cases in which people are victims from their own background checks and receive loss of employment in the job market.
Unfortunately, Social Media can harm some people but in other cases can help people as well. All someone can do is keep their criminal background clean and try and get some sort of credit for achieving goals in the workplace posted up under your name. An example for a photographer would be to have many of his/her photos up on the internet so that when they have their name checked by an employer the search engine might bring up all of their beautiful works and get them the job.
Gillin, Paul. Secrets of Social Media Marketing. Quill Driver Books (2009).
Link to Cnn.com video: http://money.cnn.com/video/pf/2009/09/30/pf_data_broker_privacy.cnnmoney/
Definitely think it's important for all of us to conduct research on ourselves routinely to see what kind of new information the public can find about us. I have also researched myself on Google and 123people.com and haven't found any "bad" information that could possibly do me any real harm. However, I should go through my pictures just as pre-cautionary measures because I wouldn't want anything - even the smallest thing - holding me back from getting a job or being the only reason I wasn't hired.
ReplyDeletewww.123people.com
I think that's really interesting about the Fiskars Company. That clearly shows that the use of social media saved their company. SM makes it easy for companies to instantly find and "see" their target markets online and really cater to other customers that they didn't realize they even had.
ReplyDeleteWhen talking about Googling yourselves, I didn't think to go through Bing and any other search engines...so I tried searching myself through that and 123people.com. I found about the same information as I did going through Google which is good but I do have to say I found something else that was interesting. It actually pulled up other people's Twitter account that I follow. thankfully, they are all my friends who don't post anything inappropriate. But it also pulled up a few celebrity's accounts that I follow. This just brought to my attention to be careful about who you follow...just make sure it isn't anyone too outrageous!
Lainey, I like your point about how the peoples' Twitter accounts you follow shows up on a Google search. It reminds us that with social media, we need to not only worry about our own pages, but keep a close watch on your "friends" or people you follow. If they post something using your name or a picture of you, you can find yourself in the same position as if it were on your own page.
ReplyDeleteSome of these points make social media seem dangerous and harmful, so I like Brent's suggestion about posting some of your work on your page. The benefits of social media are amazing if used properly, so be sure you keep your pages looking clean!