Engage: The Final Chapter

Actually I'll be covering more of the final part - Part Six - not just Chapter 25.
I found it interesting that with the change to Web 2.0 and thus CRM 2.0, there was much more focus put on customer relations management. There was, however, another shift and this time from CRM to sCRM (social customer relations management) and ultimately to just SRM (social relations management). I can completely see and understand how sCRM is important because it shows that it's necessary for all parts of the company to be involved in promoting the company's brand identity, answer questions and build relationships and loyalty.
With the change to just SRM, this relates to managing your social relations with customers, vendors, employees, experts and partners. Though it will obviously take more work to maintain and manage all of these relationships, you and the company will benefit from the additional attention to others' needs and wants. For SRM you'll need more collaboration than just conversation, really listening instead of intermittent researching, action and resolutions over just monitoring, and personalization, not just automation, is key.
I like this because realistically it applies to everything - any company and any person. Yes, your customers must be happy and have expected service provided, but relationships with friends and the people that may be able to help now or in the future must be maintained to keep everything running smoothly. Contact should be kept consistently and should be mutually advantageous to benefit both parties and keep everyone happy and happy to help.

Does Social Media Make Us Antisocial?

After reading a blog called Overtweeting: Are We Becoming Socially Antisocial? from Influential Marketing Blog, I felt like I should tell you all me take on the situation.

The blog starts out saying that in the past there were two different types of thoughts: the thoughts we would share with others and the thoughts that we would keep to ourselves. But now there is a third type of thought where we share online with the virtual world instead of telling someone in person.

To be quite honest, I don't like texting people, though it's a basic necessity these days for communication. I would much rather meet with someone and be talking to them face-to-face than through a phone screen. I just don't like how impersonal it can be. Plus with texting, there are so many ways that messages can get misconstrued and taken the wrong way. I think that you get a lot more out of communicating in personal than though technology.

Now don't get me wrong, I think technology is great and it can help you connect with people who aren't here that you can't just hang out with and see, I just think that technology has changed society and especially for the younger kids who grew up with all the technology. For example when people text or Facebook chat each other while in the same room instead of just engaging in a conversation. I mean technology is great and all, but that cannot be solely what you use to communicate. Another thing that gets me are those virtual online worlds like World of Warcraft and that SecondLife website. Some people get so addicted to those games and they make that their life. I can't imagine making a character on a website be how I communicate with the world. I suppose that I just need people interaction that much, but I think everyone does, which baffles me because then instead of going out and hanging out and doing things, some people can just sit in front of a computer screen all night.

Sometimes I think we all just need to take a break from social media, because it does take up so much time and just unplug and go out into the world without being so dependent on that constant connection. It's a pretty freeing feeling to not always have your phone on you. That way you can just enjoy living in the moment without all of its distractions and interruptions.