“Everything’s dangerous here!” said Joely, leaping to safety just in time to avoid the small, energetic bundle of fur that was the captain’s Jack Russell as it made its way to the back of the boat docking outside the restaurant. Perhaps this time, her worry was unfounded – but with tales of shark attacks and […]
I read the words this morning, “Company X is truly unique…” and immediately stopped reading. It’s not the only word or phrase that seems to elicit that response these days. Strong visceral reactions (or, conversely, complete apathy) often accompany the sighting of “truly global”, “innovative” and other such platitudes – especially when appended with “truly.” […]
A nice illustration of how even the simplest of information can be distorted beyond recognition if it passes through enough people. If your message is complicated to start with, don’t expect word of mouth to produce a more faithful rendition. <p><a href=”http://vimeo.com/18998570″>A Sequence of Lines Traced by Five Hundred Individuals</a> from <a href=”http://vimeo.com/clementvalla”>clement valla</a> on […]
Social media tools have a core role to play in engaging an internal audience and can serve as platforms for both one-way communication or as more interactive platforms. Many organisations use social tools to deliver company information in a broadcast fashion, whether by way of update services such as Yammer or Twitter or via internal […]
In the rush to embrace social media, corporate communicators forget that dialogue and conversation isn’t always as desirable or helpful as clear, authoritative one-way communication. This month I had the opportunity to discuss this with Mark Terry-Lush, founder and CEO of Renegade Media who argued that in this era all communications are two-way. However, I’m […]
Recent research by Penna Barkers, has found that 90% of organisations feel that managing their employer reputation online is important – yet only 38% believe they are able to do this well and one in seven thinks social media is ‘dangerous’ when used as a recruitment tool. Although the discussion of social media has taken […]
Google boss Eric Schmidt sparked controversy when he said he expected today’s children would seek a new identity when the time came to disown the rebellious activities of their teen years, as documented on social networks. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, the chief executive of the technology giant said: “I don’t believe […]
It’s important to differentiate between social media use within recruitment marketing and advertising and the many online discussions that are actually about consumer brand use. Consumer brands need consistent engagement with their “fans” in order for them to buy more than once. As a consumer brand manager, I’m looking for repeat purchases. Employers aren’t, so […]
I feel there may be a paradox in using Twitter as a way of building credibility. The thinking goes something like this: Microblogging thrives on News News thrives on Novelty Novelty is at odds with Credentials So if you’re Tweeting about something, I will assume that it’s of novel value to you (something you’ve just […]
<
An Unweeded Garden 
April 12, 2012
1