To Like or Not to Like...

I was tricked into attending a "social media" workshop today.  I am always up for a new task or project, so when I saw the invite pop up on my outlook calendar late last week, I promptly accepted it, overlooking the three and a half hour time commitment.  Maybe I will be part of a guinea pig type focus group or my opinion will be solicited on some already implemented web based branding tool, I thought.  I am good at listening, contributing my thoughts and playing devil's advocate - no biggie, I said.

Well - guess again.  Ironically, for a person with no Facebook or Twitter account, no i gadgets and limited Linked In skill, I was scheduled to be a part of a "social media" team that would brainstorm and recommend the need for our company's entry into the social media world.  As I read the agenda and scanned the room for familiar faces, I began to think "is this a joke", does anyone in the room, know my expertise ends with email and online shopping?  Not sure if I am hurting or helping this group right now.  But, after calming down a bit, I figured, just because I am not a user, I at least recognize the value in a company having a strong presence or brand and social media can help us do just that. 

After the ice was broken, I became a part of a very progressive conversation about how and why social media is being used from a major corporation standpoint.  It's not all about liking, following or tweeting one's every move or or thought, but about connecting with customers and clients and trying to better understand needs, build a rapport, and deliver great customer service. 

Now, this committee still has a long way to go, to actually identify the type of social media presence that would be beneficial to the company and our customers, followed by executive approval, but we did agree that social media can bring an updated twist to a long standing company philosophy: customer satisfaction.

Access Denied...

Just a little rant....I am all for company security, information technology rules and regulations. 

However, at work I like to listen to my playlist.com music site (that I so excitingly blogged about last February) read a little Hollywood gossip here and there - fashion police anyone!  But guess what, I'm blocked now.  One little Microsoft Upgrade, has sent all my favorite sites to upgrade exile.  
  
I know people look for jobs on company time and on company equipment - which is very crazy, inappropriate and a huge risk and that kind of thing should be prevented.  Some people may blog at work (I may think of a topic and email it to myself), facebooking (yeah FB is blocked too - but I'm not a Facebooker anyway - face what?) Others may twit, tweet, chirp - whatever they do on Twitter - I'm not a Twitterer either (am I starting to sound lame?) People also shop on their company computers (I've done this - whoops) but hey, plane tickets and concert tickets are the most I do.  You can't lallygag when buying those types of things.  And I can't forget about my new found love - Groupon!!!!  Yes - I groupon at work!  Those deals are on the clock....

But I suppose I'll get over it - I can still listen to CDs on my computer and I brought in my Ipod docking station for my listening pleasure.  As for shopping - still gonna do that - I'm not blocked from groupon.com, ticketmaster.com and expedia.com ~ HA! 

So, while I am both for and against personal Internet use on company property and time - here's my two cents - you, my FBers and Twitterers - there is always those apps on those oh so suped-up phones that you could use throughout the day, No, I don't have an Iphone or blackberry - so I really don't know how those apps work either!  But, those TV commercials make it seem like its easy!