On the rise of social media

It is said that the late Peter Drucker invented modern management. This was the man who showed Japanese auto companies how to produce the best cars in the world. It was he who predicted - in 1946 - that the way General Motors was managed was eventually going to hurt it.

It was also Drucker who predicted the rise of social media. He said in an interview in 2000 that "around the world, chat rooms or study groups can easily be formed to discuss how best to apply global ideas to local business or health or other organizations." (Jobs Letter) Now, the terms blog and social media had not yet been coined. But, that's what Drucker was talking about.

He saw that the rise of the Internet was going to change the dynamics of capitalism. No longer would there be a one way conversation: the seller talking to the customer. The power was going to shift away from a central point to multiple points.

Consider this: According to an article on the Web Guild site: "A study by Universal McCann called When did we start trusting strangers? that rather than being passive, consumers have taken creative roles in consumerism."

What that study found was that social media has democratized our decisions. No longer do we rely on what the seller tells us. Now, we can talk to dozens, no hundreds, of other people on their experiences with a product or place. It can help a company, or it can hurt it.

Consider the example of Comcast. Guy calls Comcast for repair service. Repair guy is at house so long, he falls asleep. Homeowner videos it, puts video up on You Tube.  Comcast responds with press release. What happens to Comcat's reputation?

To be fair, Comcast now apparently gets it. They now respond, quickly, to web-based complaints.

Yet, this should never happen to a savvy company, especially one in the tech industry. What has surprised me is how few companies have yet embraced this. Drucker saw it coming 20 years ago. But, a lot places out there don't seem to realize just how dangerous it is to ignore social media. 

What do you think? Let me know.