Saturday, 7 December 2013
TIME 16:23
Twitter for Business

Many business big and small have found a voice using various forms of social media. Twitter is one of the most prominent and with over 550 million active users it is an easy way to reach out. Businesses have found many different methods of connecting with their followers, to raise brand awareness, announce new and upcoming products or even just entertain with interesting facts of figures about their industry. The most successful businesses have found a balance of letting their followers know about what they are doing but also engaging with them on a personal level. In recent times twitter has developed into a customer service tool which depending on how well and quickly it is done can have positive or negative effects to the brand. By responding positively and quickly to customer complaints or queries, not only is the asker satisfied, but the brands whole following is also able to see how well they have dealt with the issue and potentially answering a question many other also have. Alternatively, not issuing a response or not making an effort to satisfy or rectify the issue is also seen by the entire following which will have negative results.
Twitter lists a number of success stories on their business site. By use of ‘promoted tweets’, essentially an ad dressed as a tweet that shows up on the twitter feed of anybody who fits into your demographic, businesses are able to expand their reach and use twitter to enhance areas of their business, be it visitors to their website, more online sales or just extra twitter followers. Bigger brands too have found success with many finding large followings. The image below (link) shows the 25 most engaged brands out of the largest 100 followings. As stated on the right, the 10 most prolific content creators were not on the list of most engaged. This could be due to tweeting too much which doesn’t allow followers the time to read, think and engage before the next tweet come along.
With all this said, twitter is not for everyone. There are many brands which will not see any benefit of twitter and there are many which will not want to put in the time to generate followers and constantly engage. Like most forms of social media for business, creating an account is one thing, but failing to follow through and create interest, connect with people and be regularly active will prove to be a waste of time. Twitter is around to keep users in the know and if a business wants to capitalise on what twitter has to offer then finding the right balance between regular updates, connecting effectively and generating interest is the only way.

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TIME 16:06
Mobile Devices

It is clear that mobile devices are taking over our lives, it is hard to go anywhere without seeing somebody motionless staring deep into their smartphone screen. To owners of mobile devices the benefits are obvious, instant access to information, entertainment, socialisation, shopping and anything else you could want. But does this take away our human interaction and lower our face to face socialisation skills? It is hard now to have a conversation with somebody and add your own creative spin to your argument without somebody pulling out their phone and “googling it” only to prove you wrong and promptly end the discussion thanks to Wikipedia’s take on the subject.
As a mobile device owner, you essentially become ‘always connected‘, meaning that no matter what you are doing, where you are somebody can get hold of you. Even when on holiday it is common to receive a work email and feel obliged to respond, the sender too may feel that because you are contactable you should respond despite the situation. As 63% agreed in a New Zealand employment survey, technology resulted in them doing more than they used to (link). This can make it hard to break down the work-life barrier which leads to many doing work late into the night or on weekends, this is particularly bad for people who have international connections or colleagues which can cause the stream of conversation to flow steadily from when you finish a day to when starting the next.

Self-reliance on mobile devices is also a particularly worrying trend. Many people have become less organised that those of the past thanks to being able to send a text or make a phone call. It is rare to make plans with a group or individual to meet at a set time, at a set place and not be told at the last minute someone is late or unable to make it. For me it appears as though the ability to plan ahead and ensure that they are there is rapidly becoming less common.

All these points mentioned highlight some of the negatives of mobile devices, however it is easy to see how they can be used positively too. Mobile devices have the ability to make our lives much simpler and easier to manage if used well, and like anything else should be used in moderation. Especially in children, attention should be paid to make sure social development is not hindered by means of constantly playing with a tablet or phone. Mobile devices can be a powerful tool but they can also be damaging to society if not used well.
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