 Not too long ago, I joined some business acquaintances for lunch, which was a novel experience after 2020. One of them was new to our group, and when introductions came around to me, I explained that I handle social media marketing. Our new acquaintance said that they were just starting to use social media, and had someone showing them how to work with Facebook. Then proceeded to say, “But I don't do Twitter.”
We were all a little curious at this declaration, and someone beat me to the question of, “Why?” The reply was, “I don't understand tweets, so I don't use it.” The conversation moved on. However, it reminded me of the times I have heard similar comments from business acquaintances, and some clients. In terms of personal use that is fair enough, but for businesses they could be cutting themselves off from potential clients. Granted, you don't have to be on every social media site, but there are some that have a wide demographic of users; plus, many have an impact on the search engines. Five examples are: Google, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. I will also be the first to acknowledge that for a business owner it can be overwhelming to learn the various social media sites, and then to try to keep up with them. That is where a dedicated social media manager is very useful. What is my point to all of this? To any business owner, I would say, “Don’t reject outright a social media platform because it looks confusing, or it’s not a personal favorite.” You never know, it could be a perspective client’s favorite platform.
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Social Media and Death Part 2 - Dealing With The Logistics of the Internet, Social Media And Death.11/24/2014 No matter whether family is having to go through personal effects, or handling bills, or dealing with computer accounts, many find it very hard to look upon the reminder of a life now gone. Often times the reaction is to deactivate the email and various accounts. However, what many don't realize is that in some cases deactivation is not actually deleting an account, and can be reversed.
The various social media platforms now require prove of death, and relationship, before accounts can be managed. However, they do offer various ways of handling the accounts. Facebook requires the survivors to contact them. They will never give out account information, but after proving that a death has taken place, and that you are the representative, you can request one of three actions. One is to request that the site be memorialized; this means that people can add to the timeline, and messages, but other than that nothing else can be changed. The second action is to deactivate; this is a reversible action, and the family can later decide to memorialize. The last action is to delete the account, and this is a permanent action. Twitter requires all documentation to be mailed in. They will not give out account information, but with the correct documentation they will deactivate the account. Google always seems to be thinking ahead, and offers the "Inactive Account Manager" so that you can decide how your many Google accounts are to be handled. You can decide if trusted contacts will have access to your accounts, or if your email and data will be deleted after an allotted amount of time. Pinterest requires full documentation of a death, and relationship, to deactivate an account. The family member needs to first send an email to their customer support. Linkedin requires an online form to remove a member's profile, along with proper paperwork. Instagram and Tumblr require you to contact their support emails, and representatives will then contact the family with the needed requirements. Many funeral homes are now creating checklists that can be used to make sure accounts have been dealt with. These same checklists can help with pre-planning, and provide the family with account information that allows for easier handling of the accounts. Still many would think that this is trivial compared to more pressing concerns of final arrangements, and financial concerns. However, internet accounts should be considered just as vital, since inactive accounts can be gateways to identity theft, and that is the last thing a family needs as they try to deal with the intricacies of death. Even more pressing is when the deceased was a business owner. Whether the business has employees, or the business owner was the only staff, those accounts are vulnerable. For businesses, particularly businesses with one or two employees, it is necessary to have a trusted associate have your sign-in information. If the business is going to continue you will not want accounts, such as Twitter, deactivated. Granted not many of us want to consider the hour of our demise, but most are coming to realize that funeral pre-planning is a good way to ease the way for our survivors, or to at least make sure that our final wishes are carried out. The same can be said with internet pre-planning. Make sure you have accounts and passwords listed somewhere, and then make sure that list is kept with your executor or funeral home. Also make sure to periodically update those lists, since we always end up with new accounts, or password changes. Facebook, Twitter, Google +, and Pinterest accounts are not normally high on the list of priorities when you are considering your final wishes. However, social media now effects every part of our lives and businesses, and in a three part series I will look at how it can impact the survivors.
I will grant that as a discussion topic this was far from my thoughts; at least not until I found myself reading a Facebook memorial service for an acquaintance. She and I had only reconnected on social media a few months past, and not soon after I noted a post where she said she was having a minor medical procedure done. Then came a flurry of sympathy posts for her passing, and her sister turned the deceased's Facebook page into a memorial site. The end result of this was I ended up interviewing the owners of Butler Funeral Home about how the funeral industry was handling social media. The first thing that Mr. Butler said was that whatever the medium used the human impulse to share news, and to give support, doesn't change. However, that with social media the spread of the news has sped up. He mentioned that this is something that families might want to take into consideration when using social media to announce a passing. When death happens there is a desperate need to reach out to the living, and in telling of the death to try to deal with the reality. Smart phones, laptops, and tablets make it far easier to reach out to friends and acquaintances, but the speed of communication sometimes out runs more traditional means. Mr. Butler said they have heard of families who heard about a death on Facebook before the official call came. The speed of interaction can also be a blessing for those directly involved, because it does allow of nearly instantaneous outpouring of sympathy, and help. It is also a way to share out funeral arrangements, and funeral homes are helping with this by linking obituaries to their social media. The Facebook accounts, and other social media, can also offer a place to share memories, which is particularly helpful for friends and acquaintances that can't be there in person. And if desired that page can be turned into a permanent tribute to the deceased. 
I'm going to say up front that I love when a business hires me to handle their social media marketing; not only because of the business itself, but the chance to design a program that works for my client. However, before any business takes a step towards social media as a marketing tool, whether on their own, or letting someone else handle it, there are new developments they need to take into consideration.
Not that long ago a Facebook business page offered a great opportunity for free marketing, and everyone had heard the stories of the pages that became phenomena in their own right. And the common cry was, "You have to have a Facebook page!" And that was what many businesses did, particularly the smaller ones. Some of those pages are now sad, empty virtual store fronts, but other businesses have dutifully posted to their pages. Maybe not every day, maybe not every week, but they posted. Unfortunately that faithfulness isn't offering the rewards it once did, and in truth hasn't in a while. What has been happening is that Facebook has truly become a corporation, and has been decreasing its "organic reach" (how your free posts appear in newsfeeds). And they are doing so again. Rumor has it that the changes is so that businesses will buy Facebook advertising, or buy "likes" to boost a specific post, and there is a strong likelihood that rumor is true. It has always been true that if you aren't active on Facebook (at least 3 times a week) that your posts would get bumped from newsfeeds by more active pages. This also requires having "sharing" and "liking" occurring. Now this is even more so. The truth be told, you can't just concentrate on Facebook. All of the social media platforms are intertwined. So to have it worth your while you need steady activity on Twitter, Google +, and Linkedin (at minimum). We won't even get into the power of original content (blogs) or YouTube. This is where you need to decide whether you can commit to social media. Small businesses always have had challenges when it comes to marketing. They try very hard to stick to flyers and business cards they can do themselves. Maybe get a free website up. And try to do a bit with Facebook. However there comes a time when you have to go to a printer, or get professionally done business cards, and its the same with social media. You have to ask yourself whether you have the money, or the time, to make it work for you? 
Recently I overheard a conversation while I was at a dinner, and during the course of the meal the conversation managed to cover both the uses and liabilities of social media. The over-dependence on social media in this particular case had caused hard feelings amongst friends. This "why"was being discussed in length by my table partners. The lament was that some had been invited to a party, and some hadn’t. It turned out that their friend had only used Facebook’s “Events” to notify everyone. He had not calculated that some were not daily Facebook users, and if they were, that they didn’t check the notifications. At the opposite end of the spectrum was a woman who admitted she usually didn’t know where her daughter was. And in order to keep track of the girl her mother would call the girl’s aunt. The reason the woman’s sister was in the “know” was because she kept an eye on Facebook and Twitter, since she had children of her own. The woman’s excuse was, “I don't pay much attention to Facebook.” It all comes down to social media being a communication tool. And with all tools there are times when it needs to be used in concert with other tools. When having a party, or a meeting, it needs to be kept in mind that not everyone is going to be checking their social media. Invitations and announcements also need to be put out in either paper form, or email; along with social media reminders. Yet, on the other hand, social media is a powerful tool. There shouldn’t be a disdain for it just because it’s “just” social media. This holds particularly true for parents. Parents need to stay aware of popular trends in social media, and know how their children are communicating. It has been noted that with a teenager a “tweet” is rarely ever left unread. 
This time around I am going to focus on public opinion and communication. Letter writing has always played a huge role in the spread of public opinion, with an example of this being during the heydays of immigration. In A True Picture of Emmigration, by Rebecca Burlend, the author told how her husband listened for news of letters coming from America. Then he would go and hear what was said of conditions in the U.S.. Nor can the power of the coffee and chocolates houses be forgotten - as those gathering places were where politics and popular opinion were vehemently discussed.
Jumping ahead to today, and particularly to the oft-bemoaned fact that everyone has their nose in their smart phones and tablets. And while I will admit that I too bemoan this on occasion it also cannot be ignored. Or, it might be better to say, "It is risky to ignore." The forums for public opinion have changed, and become lightening fast.... ......Pictures of a restraurant dinner on Facebook are usually sent with a comment..... ......Bored people, waiting in line, having nothing better than to Tweet their status...... Basically opinions of businesses and services fly with the speed of thought. And businesses can only ignore this at their risk. If you don't "hear" what is being said then you cannot highlight the praise, or show solid customer service, if there was a problem. Nor can a business afford to focus on just one "window" into the thoughts of their customers, because their clients may use a Tweet one day, or a FB post the next. Or they may be on a tablet, and writing a longer review on Google Plus. A hoax warning on Facebook tied nicely into a workshop I've been working on regarding internet safety. The warning came from one of the pet rescue pages, and was a warning about a nasty Halloween hoax regarding Pitt Bulls - a "Kill Pitt Bull Day." The pet rescue site administrator wisely referred to Snopes.com, which is one of the best places to check out the accuracy of internet stories. The warning in question can be found at http://www.snopes.com/critters/cruelty/pitbull.asp.
Hoaxes have been around since the beginning of communication, with many of them forming the base of urban legends, which are now studied as part of folklore. Of course the speed that hoaxes spread has increased from months to hours with email, and now minutes with social media. Nor is it just hoaxes, but information that has been scrambled in the transmission or context. Some of these stories make it to the news, radio or TV, and make it seem that the internet is a frightening place; bogged in misinformation and pit falls for the unwary. This leads to many individuals being terrified to use social media, or even the internet. And yet, hoaxes and misinformation does get spread, and it is not all done by malicious individuals. The one true statement that can be made of the internet, and particularly social media, is that people mainly skim text. They only read in depth if the material is of great interest. Of course, when you skim material you don't always catch the full meaning. This holds true for photos and the partial context of Facebook, or Twitter. We see something that looks "neat" and go sharing it on. This also holds true for email. Lately there have been many emails that come through appearing to be from Facebook and Linked, or financial institutions. Granted internet users are savvy about such spam, but many people aren't. Then they get burned, and in turn, frightened. What all of this comes down to is being internet "savvy." Take that extra second to see what a post is really about, or if a email doesn't look right, and if you still are questioning its validity - check on http://www.snopes.com. They are still one of the best sources about the truth of internet stories. In every business "how to book" and seminar one of the main emphasize is networking, and it is accepted as common sense that to build your business you have to know a range of people. Sometimes these are people you meet at networking groups. Sometimes it is an acquaintance you meet at the grocery store. And it is a solid practice. A practice that hold true for your Facebook, Google +, Linkedin, and Twitter interactions. And even Pinterest - "pinning" makes a difference too. When you "like," "follow," "connect," or "create a circle" another site, or customer, you begin to get their postings in your "newsfeed." Your newsfeed is usually found in your "home" on most of the platforms. However, what you see in your newsfeed is not, at that point, showing up on your public profile. This holds true for either personal, or business, pages; both of which have "home" icons and newsfeeds. Those postings in your newsfeeds offer a wonderful chance to help out your business associates and clients. As you read through your newsfeeds you can also share or retweet your colleagues' postings, and with this you help broaden their visibility. And remember, if you are pleased with their business - add a comment, or recommend them. So, when you go out to post, keep your business friends in mind, and help them out. It not only will help strengthen their web presence, but yours' too. "'Like' us!" "'Follow us!'" "'Friend' us!" More often than not we take "likes," "friends," "follows," "sharing," "retweets," and "endorsements" for granted; requests for them happen so often that they become background noise. Or an annoyance. For a business page, however, they form part of the life blood of the media interaction, particularly since search engines are more heavily tracking social media traffic. What most don't realize is how thrilling a "like" or a "follow" can be to a business starting off into the strange world of social media. And comments of satisfied customers can make a owner's whole day. In truth, this holds true for most small businesses and their social media accounts. Activity means that people are staying aware of the business and their services. Yet with the demands of keeping up with their own media platforms businesses sometimes it is easy to forget to return the favor for their customers. For business to business relations "liking" a customer's page helps build activity for both, and to take that a step further - sharing posts between pages really helps. And it goes beyond that too; by keeping up with clients' pages, personal or business, you learn what is important to them. Plus you learn where you can help - whether as a business or as a person, by supporting their favorite causes. So when you are out posting to your own social media sites make sure to look in on your clients'. Like their pages. Endorse their talents. And share generously! |
Cathy Mosley
Cathy Mosley brings her 26 years of storytelling and writing experience to the realm of Social Media. To help small businesses. Archives
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