The Social Media Effect by Dominique De Leon

8/4/2019 The Social Media Effect by Dominique De Leon

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This is my second IT Ethics Reader Ethics 2.0 and I know I have so way to go to really publish a book.

Please let me know with your comments and suggestions so I can improve this book and my writing. You

can email it to me via [email protected]. Thanks
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


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The world is changing and it goes faster and faster than ever. Businesses have to adjust as a new age has

began. This is the age of web 2.0 technologies, the age of Social Media.

Hello World. 3

It wasnt an easy part. I grew up in the age where people can transfer photos via Bluetooth and send

ringing tones via infrared. The Cluetrain Manifesto Effect is my attempt to look back on how it all began

and what changed after more than a decade of manifesto. Lets see if it still matters after a decade.

In the Beginning of the World Wide Web. 4

The Internet before was very exclusive for only people who can use it and most people didnt care about

it. Market place was the hub of civilization. Communication and interaction is key. There is always a need

to be heard and be discovered. Everyone is an audience to another

The Need to be liked on Facebook 8

Web is viral. One liked topic in your friends steam can reach your network. Your friends friend and so on.

It gives you a room with no parents to nag you, no professors to send you to the disciplines office, just you

and your decisions.

Tweet is cheap 10

Conversation is what binds and nurtures a community. Projects are now being launched gathering people

from all walks of life and organize projects that were simply impossible in the traditional way of building

an organization.

Markets are likes, comments, tweets 11

Now a days, it takes one twitter search to know that everyone else is talking about. A trending topic would

say what people love to rant or share online. Type a status that has I want to buy a new domain and

someone else will reply and give you a link where you can see their offerings.

The #Hashtagged Organization 13

The Web builds that pyramid out of bricks instead of pure sand. It liberates us and gives us the feeling of

freedom. It disregards the job title or pay check amount for anyone to be connected to everyone.


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EZ Answer 15

Business is being transformed, but not by technology. The Web is simply liberating an atavistic human

desire, the longing for connection through talk. It is transformed by the voice of the people. The

technology only became a medium.

The Source Code + Vantage Point + Inception. 19

Todays Marketers always mention that it is now a two-way channel. The company promotes, consumers

respond. Compared to Mass media who focused on Advertisement, the web honed a and nurtured a

character where everyone is one click away from anyone.

About the Author. 79

Dedication. 80

References. 81


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Hello World.

When i was 7 years old, Rick Levine, Christopher Locke, Doc Searls, and David Weinberger wrote a book

the revolutionized the way people perceive business with the rise of Internet. Through the book The

Cluetrain Manifesto, they organized a set of 95 theses that examines the impact of the trend on both

consumers and organizations. It tried to impose guidelines for Companies plunging into the triple w dot

wave. Guidelines for companies so that they wont get culture-shocked with the nature of online

commerce. One decade after, The Social Media Revolution began. Web 2.0 technologies came to rise

taking everyone in to a different ride.

Writing thiswasnt an easy part. I grew up in the age where people can transfer photos via Bluetooth and

send ringing tones via infrared. The Cluetrain Manifesto Effect is my attempt to look back on how it all

began and what changed after more than a decade of manifesto. This book is a challenge to not give up if

we dream to write our own books. Stepping stones to have what it takes to be a best writing author

someday. Lets see if it still matters after a decade.

Erratum.

For our Vertical Market Solutions Class with Professor Paul Amerigo Pajo, we are to squeeze our brain

and write our responses to the so-called manifesto. Looking back and forth was a hard task for us. If you

have seen errors of any kind, please let me know by sending it to [email protected] or sending me

a tweet at @domdeleon. This will surely help me improve and come up with a better second edition.

Thanks.
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


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The Net grew like a weed between the cracks in the monolithic steel-and-glass empire of traditional

commerce. Christopher Locke

What i expect and hope youll learn.

Define Marketplace. To be aware on how the Internet made an impact in the e-commerce and see the big

difference from now and before.

Gamer / Learner Inside.

In 1991, Sid Meiers Civilation, a turn-based strategy game, was developed with one Objective: build an

empire that will stand the test of time. This 2011, I was able to have my hands on the game and was well

pleased on how the game portrayed the value of politics, social policies, laws, treaties, education, culture

and stuffs in order to build an empire during the start of mans civilization. The experience was

something a lot better and educational than the usual addicting Computer games like NBA, Counter-

Strike and forever played Defense of the Ancients (DOTA). It could actually be an inspiration for

Microsoft Imagine Cup, the world cup of Software Competition, for Game Development division. Anyway,

the point is that it was something way beyond exciting than our usual Asian History subject back in high-

school. People are not in School and they are learning.


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Commerce on wheels.

One thing I remember about the game as I review the first Chapter of this book is the value of a Market

Place. According to the games wiki, under Resources info where market place is submitted, it emphasizes

that luxury is needed to make your citizens happy. You need your people to be happybecause you cant

force them to go to war, research how to use war materials, or just prepare the field, as easy as a right

click. Influence is vital. During the game, every time I build a new city, start researching about trading and

transportation, plotting streets made with bricks, I can now connect cities from each other. Commerce is

ready to go until you have the final ingredient. A market place. Then, you can now see donkeys carrying

goods from one city you control to another. It greatly increases luxuries for cities. It includes the feeling

of fulfillment and adrenaline increase as the user/ gamer / learner.

Keeping citizens happy is important and prevents the city from falling into civil disorder.

Vox Populi:

The marketplace became an avenue for everyone from different tribes, nations and culture to all collide

and share something they dont have in common. It was the hub and melting point of civilization. It

offered them something intangible, something that they miss when they are in their own cities. (You know

what that is? In the coming chapters, we will discuss that)

Day to day living started to change dramatically. It is now a space where human voices, something unique

about each one, are being discovered, being featured or your noon-time television shows and given awards

by reputable organizations. That is what the world wide web catered. The Voice of the people.

And so it began.

Poof! The web went viral like chocolate in the Koko Crunch commercial. A Global Revolution has began.

According to About.com, a website trying to answer almost everything online, It was in between 1989 to

1991 when Oxford University - graduate and World Wide Web Consortium(W3C) Director Tim Berners-

Lee lead the development of the World Wide Web.

Through the community of W3C, standards and conventions that guide HTML, HTTP and URLs.HTML (hypertext markup language) allows you to see stuffs on your browser. HTTP (HyperText

Transefer Protocol) instructs server on how to respond on your request for a page and transfer it to

your global address where your stuffs can be seen online by going to an address a.k.a URLs or

Universal Resource Locators.


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Fun with Trial and Error.

I remember an motivational writer who shares In Life, sometimes we win, sometimes we learn.

Mistakes gave way to accidental discoveries, accidental Billionaires too! The Internet became a powerful

tool to provide communication and gave voice to people who have been unheard before. It encouraged

stories. Its foundations were built by concepts of trial and error, do-this-then-try-that, fun while learning

and enjoy what you do stuffs. People had no one to tell them that it was wrong.

It gave new ways to answer problems with the comfort of making risks and gladness to learn something

new.

Never in history had so many had the chance to know what so many others were thinking on such a

wide range of subjects. Slowly at first, a new kind of conversation was beginning to emerge, but it

would achieve global reach with astonishing speed.

More than Target Markets.

Christopher Locke, one of the top 50 business thinkers in the world by 2001, also narrates the there is a

source of a deep hunger to spread through. Companies should not just see out needs of the market as an

opportunity to earn. Take their drive into a broader perspective. They should care more and not just using

power to seduce the powerless.

GetSatisfaction.

We all want our expenses to be less painful than that credit card bill. We want results with the money we

pull out of our pockets. In the Rude Awakening Vertsol Reader by Information Systems Alumni Riela

Antonio, she shared that Surfing the web is what she does best every day just like the several millions

online. It allowed her to connect to her friends but there are irritating parts of the web.

But for once, because of what I read, I noticed the companies numerous tricks in trying to get my

attention like those irritating pop ups that I just automatically close and dont pay any mind to and those

flash commercials that just come out from nowhere and wont stop until the close button shows up.

Company now a days try to sneak through every conversation we make and try to inject their products or

services and make us purchase it.

There are two new conversations going on today, both vibrant and exciting; both mediated by Internet

technologies but having little to do with technology otherwise. Unfortunately, there's also a

metaphorical firewall separating these conversations, and that wall is the traditional, conservative,

fearful corporation.


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What Ive learned:

There was a great opportunity that only few people saw when the internet began

With out conversations, there will be no great product or it wont improve products the company is

giving

The Internet before was very exclusive for only people who can use it and most people didnt care

about it.

Market place was the hub of civilization. Communication and interaction is key.

There is always a need to be heard and be discovered

Everyone is an audience to another

The World Wide Web


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Quotation: However much we long for the Web is how much we hate our job.

Learning Expectations: to realize why people long to login and check facebook every hour and then.

Review:

David Weinberger, Co-author of the book, defines the importance and value of voice. Most of us ask the

value of the Internet. Why was it created, how did it ever start, what is the purpose?

The chapter shares that the internet during their time served as a place of their sanctuary. Where they can

extract their creative juice and be someone better than what their boss or job title says. A good case to

show how web 2.0 converted conversations would be the website initiated by Harvard Under-grad Mark

Zuckerberg. Facebook is the most popular Social Networking site that allowed people to add friends, add

photos, post status and like everything you post. The site is available in 37 languages, 1 in every 13 people

in the world joined the network, 1 Million links are being shared every 20 minutes and 50% of active

users log on to the facebook.com at any given day. It gave people an infinite loop whole to stay in front of

their desktops. One link leads to another. One friend refers to another one and so on.

Abram Limpins vertsol reader shares that voice is something that companies need to hear and something

they need to share with sincerity and not just for any business reasons. I havent been employed yet so I

dont personally know what it conversation looks like inside a company.

Web is viral. One liked topic in your friends steam can reach your network. Your friends friend and so

on. The voice that the web or Social Media gives us is not the ability to post different poses and angles in

front of our webcam or in front of mirror with your DSLR or whos winning ball games on the NBA Season

Finals. We do that once in awhile but the spark didnt come from that. It gives you a room with no parents

to nag you, no professors to send you to the disciplines office, just you and your decisions.


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Weignberger adds that There are many ways to look at whats drawing us to the Web: access to

information, connection to other people, entrance to communities, and the ability to broadcast ideas.

None of these are wrong perspectives. But they all come back to the promise of voice and thus of

authentic self.

The internet now a days gives us a voice to be heard. A hashtag to use so the world can see your tweet. A

chance to be mentioned on your favorite News and Public Affairs Channel or win a ticket for an online

contest. It just gives you a spark to be someone that other people care about even if you dont know them.

The world tend to be your stage even for just a while.

So why is there a need for someone to be liked on Facebook? It boils down to the natural need of human

beings to be accepted. To engage and to feel belonged. To make us feel important.

You must have experience a friend texting you to send a sorry message to her boyfriend on how much she

regrets her decision of leaving him and now she wants their status back. Since your friend asks, you just

text the boy even though it would have been very awkward for that person to receive text messages from

different person whom he didnt even know.

Just like your female friend, many people find comfort sharing stuffs on their social networks. They want

to sustain their influence with their posts getting not less than 10 likes. A message sometimes pops-out

asking you to like her status. Sometimes, a like meant the different way.

What Ive learned:

We became a very big part of our daily lives

The net gives the voiceless a megaphone to shout and rant

Advantages of living in a managed world: Risk Avoidance, Smoothness, Fairness and Discretionary

attention.

Professionalism is way beyond wearing the proper corporate attire.


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Quotation: I consider myself an artist and a craftsman, and bring a craftsmans attitudes to my work

and life. One perspective that seems to surface with some regularity is a deeply instilled obligation to do

new work, create stuff people have never seen before.

Learning Expectations: No what it needs and takes to create something new to the market.

Review:

I agree with Ellen Evangelistas comment when she wrote on her verstol reader that all you need is an

idea, a partner, a voice, and an opportunity to prove that talk is cheap. We love to talk about something

that makes us a person of subject matter expertise. We desire to be a person that someone can refer

whenever a friend ask. A job-hunter perhaps?

Companies should focus more on what the customer wants. A real voice who are willing to listen to them.

Not just a third part call center agent who will direct them to what they say as customer service.

People talk to each other. In open, straightforward conversations. Inside and outside organizations. The

inside and outside conversations are connecting. We have no choice but to participate in them.

Conversation is what binds and nurtures a community. Ive started a project months ago focusing on

grouping Benildeans according to their passions and expertise. One case would be the Benildean Java

Programmers. I started a thread that asks: What makes Java so special for you. Days passed and no one

replied. In my surprise, I suddenly changed the question and posted what makes java so hard for you?

We had a conversation. A Professor responded on how he gets frustrated with Students hating the art of

programming just because they didnt get the solid logic of analysis. Others, instead of getting challenged,

gets depressed and just quits. More and more replies came. It was like a classroom where everyone does

not care if his professor will give him a failing grade for answering questions that went out straight from

nowhere.


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Quotation: "Markets are nothing more than conversations. See these magazines? Theyre a form of

market conversation. We should already be in their stories. We are key to the subject, but were missing in

action after working in secret for years. Our only hope is to talk. Starting now."

Learning Expectations: Now how important conversations is and how to effectively create a

conversation to create a market.

Review:

The industrial Age has clouded the true and valuable meaning of market and replaced it with industrial

substitutes. Companies then tried to let people buy whatever they are selling.

In order to find a market, we need to know what they are talking about. Where they prefer eating, what

orders they usually take, how much time do they spent doing stuffs that your company can provide, and so

on. If you will ignore the market, they will ignore you or whatever you are trying to feed them.

Now a days, it takes one twitter search to know that everyone else is talking about. A trending topic would

say what people love to rant or share online.

Type a status that has I want to buy a new domain and someone else will reply and give you a link

where you can see their offerings.

Twitter is a great tool for listening. It is a big cloud of ideas and messages from people at random times at

any given topic. With the use of Search Button, you can see who wants your product, what they want to

improve it, what they really need and so on. With this, you can then know what you need to get better. You

have an opportunity to improve a product even without running that long surveys or wait for the sales

result and compare it to your competing brands. It just takes a time for you to monitor and listen to what


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people are talking about.

Conversation should not put a period on sale

it should be a continuing desire to serve the consumers.

What Ive learned:

Markets conversation are one twitter search away

Social Media can be used to leverage your companies feedback system

Unfiltered content from users is what Companies should provide to users, too

Marketing should evolve and cope up rapidly and learn faster than business do.


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The #Hashtagged Organization

Quotation: Its free, and its getting easier every day.

Learning Expectations:

To see the value of the web to organizations and how it can help them.

Review:

Business hierarchy is about connection among people. They create organizational charts out of fear of

human errors and mistakes. Hierarchies tend to be built on fear rather than task distribution and

decentralization. Hyperlinks overthrows hierarchy because of its messy nature.

The Web builds that pyramid out of bricks instead of pure sand. It liberates us and gives us the feeling of

freedom. It disregards the job title or pay check amount for anyone to be connected to everyone.

Conversation should be made without the fear of getting wrong or ruining some elses work. Yes it should

be bounded with certain limitations but not that that will prevent you from freely thinking.

To be human is to be imperfect. We die. We make mistakes. We should always make a room to improve.

Admit that we all have flaws are more rooms to improve. Accepting and realizing it can go a long long way

for you organization and company. You just need to focus on improving your product instead of sugar

coating a lie that you are guilty.

The web changes time from sequential to random. Have you been in similar experience where you are

suppose to get an event schedule for your dads seminar online and after 30 minutes, he asked you again

and you just realized you were distracted by your friends post on Facebook. A tweet by your favorite star

or the like by your high school friend in one of your photo album. Things we plan turn out to be

distracted, instantaneous, and out of schedule. The web affects us in a very direct way.


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Reading Ellen Evangelistas respond to this Chapter, I understood that people are now realizing that there

is a world beyond those extravagant building. Voice is something that needs to get out in every

topic being discussed. Every argument being debated.

What Ive learned:

The web showed the power and advantage of democracy

Internet revolution wont stop. Ride with it or be left watching

Webs character: Hyperlinked. Decentralized. Hyper Time. Open. Rich Data. Broken. Borderless.

We can all be an expert even in the smallest but trivial idea we have


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Quotation:

From the furthest historical reaches of Jump Street, markets have been conversations... Somewhere

along the line, speech and craft lost each others phone numbers.

Learning Expectation:

What EZ Market is, what i need to learn about it.

Law of Mechanical Turks

By the time the twentieth century rolled around, industry hit upon an even more potent multiplier:

interchangeable workers. The assembly line turned workers into machines. Through this stroke of genius,

craft skill was effectively hosed, and workers were told to shut up and do what they were told.

A clue, clue!

Ideas, talk, and conversation were now encouraged among workers because they helped to deliver what

organizations so desperately needed: a clue.

Stop me. If you can.

Slowly (some are still attending summer school), companies began to realize that workers knew more

than theyd been letting on -- mostly because no one had asked them for about a hundred years. This led

to the reemergence of craft in the workplace, and a concomitant revaluing of speech -- a fancy way of

saying "lead, follow, or get out of the way."

Business Transformer. Autobots or Decepticons?

Business is being transformed, but not by technology. The Web is simply liberating an atavistic human

desire, the longing for connection through talk. It is transformed by the voice of the people. The

technology only became a medium.


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The fifteen-peso megaphone.

According to Ellen Evangelista, an Information Systems Student who wrote her Vertsol Reader for Retail

Market as her first book, the Internet is something that allowed us to be free from decades of

industrialized imprisonment. It once again gave us the microphone as cheap as 15 pesos per hour.These

bridges allowed communicating and exchange of ideas.

The Internet is not for Businesses, supposedly.

The Web is not aimed at business in particular. It wasnt built for business, it isnt fundamentally about

business, and it cant be controlled by business -- any more than the Internet could be controlled by the

Pentagon that sponsored it.

The Next Big thing after Facebook.

Continents drifting across the oceans have trends. Bullets have directions. Cannonballs have trajectories.

The future doesnt. The future is the intersection of choice and interruptions. The Web -- what a surprise!

-- is more like the future than a cannonball. It will be what we make of it.

What happened in HighSchool stays in YouTube.

Will the Web become a broadcast medium? Will it become TV? Thats vitally interesting to media titans

who see the Web as a threat to how they make money. But thats not a question of the heart.

Let Me Google That For You.

The Web got built by people who chose to build it. The lesson is: dont wait for someone to show you

how. Learn from your spontaneous mistakes, not from safe prescriptions and cautiously analyzed

procedures. Dont try to keep people from going wrong by repeating the mantra of how to get it right.

Getting it right isnt enough any more. Theres no invention in it. Theres no voice.

Reputation Management for your remaining reputation.

Maybe wed have more luck with the Cluetrain List of Donts than with a List of Dos. The first ninety-four

items wouldbe things like: dont snoop on your employees, dont build knowledge management systems

and corporate portals that are nothing but funnels for the same old propaganda. Dont hire people whoclaim to be experts at increasing morale. And right at the bottom of the list, number ninety-five, would be

the most important one: dont rely on lists, self-styled "gurus," or business books.

There is more to Internet than just Porn.

The Web isnt just redrawing the line, its changing the nature of the line, making it explicitly permeable.

But a new type of line means a new type of public.


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The Ultimate guide for Business success, promise.

The Cluetrain Hit-One-Outta-the-Park Twelve-Step

Program for Internet Business Success

1. Relax2. Have a sense of humor3. Find your voice and use it4. Tell the truth5. Dont panic6. Enjoy yourself7. Be brave8. Be curious9. Play more10. Dream always11. Listen up12. Rap on

The Cluetrain Manifesto in the age of Social Media?

Barret Rossie, currently Marketing Director of The Washington Network Inc and writer at the Inbound

Blog, wrote that he was slapped in the face by the concepts of Cluetrain Manifesto in 2002. As he wrote

The Cluetrain Manifesto : still relevant, he shares that the same questions that Christopher Locke

asked 10 years ago is still the unanswered wonders for some Marketers today.

The One Million Dollar Questions

1. Do you have what it takes to get your feet wet and have more than an advertising persona?

2. Can you go out there and be the Real you?

3. Can you deal with such honesty and exposure to Your consumers?

4. Do you have any genuine passion to share?

5. Can you do it, really?

Because of bandwagon of Social Media, Companies have no choice but to have a corporate blog and

spending as much as they can to get their image better, atleast online.

...before I discovered it. What an awakening. It captured, organized and made sense of loose thoughts

that had knocked around my head since the late 80s. I had been having serious misgivings about the

relevancy and effectiveness of advertising. Of course, I still appreciated advertisings power. But too many


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things made no sense.Barret Rossie, 2011.

According to the Marketing Professional, Internet-based marketing was still a side show despite its

immense power. He concluded his article by complimenting Ralph Waldo Emersons message that who

you are speaks so loudly I cant hear what youre saying.

Travelling faster than the corporate speak.

Talk about what Social Media is currently doing today in terms of conversation and market impact on

business and roll the time frame to 1999 where Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg was only 15 years old

and Friendster wasnt developed yet.

First published in 1999, it soon becomes obvious what makes this book so special. Way before Linkedin,

Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other social networks that we now take for granted, the Cluetrain

Manifesto laid its foundations in a very different online world. (Xavier Izaguirre, Unruly Media, March

2011)

He highlights that it is a book not just to effectively jumpstart and leverage on the power of voice, the

power of Social Media for your marketing pitch, but on building a better relationships with your

employees and rule the competition.


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Quotation:

From the furthest historical reaches of Jump Street, markets have been conversations... Somewhere

along the line, speech and craft lost each others phone numbers.

Learning Expectation:

The Web is a really beautiful technology in which I cannot imagine living without because

it did not only enabled me to have access to almost everything and everyone, it also allowed me

to have my own voice as a human being that compose a market but also, soon, as a business

person.

The two way Media.

Todays Marketers always mention that it is now a two-way channel. The company promotes, consumers

respond. Microsoft Student Partner Abram Limpin wrote in his Vertsol Reader on how mass media and

Internet had separate paths. He insists that the World-wide web has something much more to offer than

Mass media. Compared to Mass media who focused on Advertisement, the web honed a and nurtured a

character where everyone is one click away from anyone. It mobilized an army of netizens interested to

listen on the real conversations.

The People Power Revolution.

It's self-organizing. People by the millions are discovering how to negotiate, cooperate, collaborate -- to

create, to explore, to enjoy themselves.


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Mass media were created in such a way that people would think of earning and gaining profit.

Abram Limpin.

A different ride.

Do you remember a situation where you are to submit your homework tomorrow and you just cant sit on

that chair and start typing. Out of some reasons, we all come to a time where we just want to rest and we

need motivation.

Speaking of such, as of this writing,

Is location-based Marketing just a LB Fad?

June 25, 2011. I checked in at Bos Coffee do some overnight thesis since our school cancelled class due to

Typhoon Falcon and some places are still waist-level deep flooded. And by the way, since our School is

one good case of Organizations experiencing #TheCluetrainManifestoEffect and havent really started

some genuine conversation, the announcement was made viral by Campus Leaders(those part of the

hierarchical organization) who got a message from the School Deans. Since their Epic SMS feature

doesnt work well, leaders posted the announcement on you-know-where. So people outside the

organization, due to severe weather conditions and hierarchy, was then able to hear their voice and start a

new(and better) conversation outside the company.

LMG location-based FY

As per our most-loved yet commonly most misunderstood wiki, LBS or Location Based-Service is an

information or entertainment service. It catered a Tribe who wanted to add integrity to their tweets. A

longitude and latitude coordinates seemed to answer the What are you really doing? paranioa.

Roger, roger, where are you Roger?

The geographic latitude (abbreviation: Lat., , or phi) of a point on the Earth's surface is the angle

between the equatorial plane and a line that passes through that point and is normal to the surface of a

reference ellipsoid which approximates the shape of the Earth.

If you have long forgotten your Geometry subject and all the Math-related subjects youve hardly survived,

take it as the very important coordinates or exact number of your location that is universally accepted. If

some super-power Country decides to stop the I own China and the World drama, he can send a missile

to


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Markets are conversations.

If you have been a free-ware fanatic and you have wordweb dictionary in your laptop, hold Ctrl button

from your keyboard and press right click from your mouse. Type a word and the definition follows.

Market (pronounced as maar-kit) as a noun the world of commercial activity where goods and services are

bought and sold. Conversations on the other hand is used here as a term that signifies the most important

thing for a company to listen (and not just hear).

It was a daily morning at the new Center for Social Action Office, an organization in our school where i

belong. What i love about the said organization is the difference it brings from other organizations. It

catered students to volunteer and support our Schools Social Action Programs. As i was typing , i asked

Michelle, a BS-Business Management Student and fellow Volunteer at CSA with her side with the first

thesis.

She shares that just like Communication, it can be verbal or non-verbal. Pictures with no subtitles, no one

to discuss the meaning or interpretation is a form of communication. It is about telling something in

different channels.

She then shared the example of a sales lady promoting make up. We always see them while walking inside

the deparment store finding something to buy. They will great you Hi Mam! Would you to try our make-

up?. At times we just respond with a smile and keep walking, but there are times that you just pause for a

while and give it some time.


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What did just happen? A conversation began. We get instant answers for questions that we have. We get a

look and feel about the product.

Markets consist of human beings, not demographic sectors.

The glass door then opened and another familiar friend entered the room. Emil Gutierrez, Marketing

Student, sat on the hot-seat and answered my questions. He told me to Google the meaning of

Demography.

It is the branch of Sociology that studies the characteristics of human population. It Google. Demographic

Sectors. Criteria may include education, Age, gender, culture, nationality, religion, ethnicity and more.

When i first tried Google Plus, what it boasts to be different is the ability to create circles. In real life, we

all have friends. High-School Batch mates, Basket-ball friends, common friends, people youve met in an

event, a party or strange people you just bumped in out of some circumstance.

I think what this thesis tries to say is that companies should start to realize that we human beings are

different with each other. They must understand that we human beings have human voices to be

expressed and to be shared with everyone. Companies must start to connect with the whole community.

Through interaction, they will be likely more developed and people-driven.

Someone entered the room and was returning a shirt they got from the office. She looked interested with

out discussion and ive learned that she was the DEAN for the School of the Deaf and Applied Studies

(SDEAS) a school that our College offered.

I was interested to know her insight as a hearing, a word that reffers to a person with normal hearing

perception who represents a School for Students who utilizes sign language as a promary means to

communicate. She strongly responed DEAF individuals are different one from the other. You cant just

consider them in one demographic category. You cant take it a lump sum. They have differences of Ages,

communication, education, community and family experiences,

The way we should be treating people with disabilities, business should get to know more details about

consumers. Get to know the culture. Learn the language.


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Conversations among human beings sound human. They are conducted in a human voice.

To know more about our product, press 1, to know your outstanding balance press 2, press 3, press four.

Before, ifyou want to inquire for a product or service, you have to go to the nearest service center. Youll

get a number, sit for a while and wait until you are called. For a typical shopping Mall, 15-40 minutes of

waiting time would be average. Welcome to the 21st Century Customer Service. Because of technology,

consumers who want to inquire for something can talk to the right subject matter expert and instead of

hearing the phrase sorry let me direct your to the other line.

After talking to a technical support representative regarding the APN settings of my Androids Mobile

Internet, i asked the person on the line regarding the promos. He directed me to a Sales Representative

and got the information i need after 5 minutes. As i was expecting the Thank you for calling is there

anything else we could hep you? statement, she asked something. She asked if i have a few minutes for

the offer. She asked my weekly load consumption, Internet usage and i was offered with a post-paid plan.

I got interested and began asking for more options, more freebies, more plans. I realized i was being

impulsive again. I almost got into a transaction and decided to hold for a while. I successfully got out of

the transaction after the work-around she gave me like my Sisters account since i do not have my

personal source of income and all. When i check my watch it has been 45 minutes, for them it could be a

failed transaction but for me it was a valuable talk.

For the company, it could be a wonderful solution. If they just want to inquire for the latest promos and

products, they can just listen to an interactive recorded version. Though this efforts are innovative, theres

nothing compared to a genuine voice entertaining consumer needs.

Whether delivering information, opinions, perspectives, dissenting

arguments or humorous asides, the human voice is typically open, natural,

uncontrived.

It is now much free and uncontrived than ever. People talk about each one in an uncensored way.

Professional Heckler won the word-slayer in a Blogger Awards last August 2011. His website

professionalheckler.wordpress.com is not hosted but it reaches thousands of viewers everyday. People likethe way he comments on News and Public affairs in a humorous way. It is what they call their own

freedom of expression. He entertains others and informing them as well. Sometimes, longer than his post

are the comment and threads in his comment box. People engage, they give their two cents to release their

brain juice and satisfy their desire to be heard. Since the web is typically known for anonymity or people

hiding their identity for some reasons, you will often see weird names but meaningful comments and

ideas. People are afraid to show who they are but unafraid to be heard.


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It is good to have democracy with people telling them what they feel about the government. Imagine a

nation where people think the same way. Even if the boat is sinking, since they think exactly the same,

they dont doubt continuing in a sinking path. Things do happen and people need to throw their ideas.

Others would have to absorb and process it.

Even though it is open, it didnt assure genuine identity. It catered conversations that were simply not

possible before. This new language is not learned from any seminar or conference, it is learned in the

streets and hands-on in the market. It requires listening and responding. This free market is much better

and more susceptible to improvement.

People recognize each other as such from the sound of this voice.

You know if people are speaking in a genuine voice. The recorded sound generates unnecessary noises

that distracts you. You know if people are speaking in a marketing tone. You know if it is about advocacy

or good will. You know if it is just about leveraging on you. Customers have an ultra-sensitive ears that

discern which are which. Advertisements are to be blamed for this. Some people are furious are

becoming angry because they feel like companies are fooling them. They speak the same language that are

used outside your company. This voice is what people believe in and no longer then 30-second

commercials. People gain a level of influence, a social capital that people believe in when they have

questions or when the post an update in their social networking sites.

They feel like a squirrel riding back and forth on the same cylinder. They no longer want to run for

nothing. People now know who are talking to them, what they really want and how to respond to them.

This voice is enabling a discourse that is the life of the market. In fact, the discourse is the market. It is the

life of the commerce.

With a market with companies who does not speak with your language, it became a market with no

strangers. This voice became connection strings that unites these market. It channeled messages the way

strings transfer sound waves to the other plastic glass that we used to play with when we were kids.

Fascinating enough, it does transceiver messages from the other side.

The Internet is enabling conversations among human beings that were

simply not possible in the era of mass media.

Social Media gave way for communications that formerly possible with a life and death situation. You can

now send a personal message to your favorite author who is online on the other side of the planet. With

websites, sales and marketing wasnt personal.You cant see the person speaking. All you have to trust are


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those paid artist endorsing their product. They have their signature on it for whatsoever reason. Maybe so

they can prove that this artist like their product? It is insensitive. Some of them are not real. Purely act

and no real intention of care. It shouldnt be the case like the era of mass media. The people who hold the

super powers and influence has the power to change the news and drive the sales. People are capitalizing

on the News to put a spot light in their company. All about them, them and them alone.

So did Social Media create a new conversation? Yes it did. To the point the some countries are banning

their citizens to access such mediums to organize rallies and movements. They cannot publish thoughts

that were uncensored. It made News a very accessible commodity. Everyone then had the chance to write

and be a journalist that could be featured in the international news. A Facebook status to help kids in poor

areas who are swimming on their way to school. Everyone hopes that this right will be used with

responsibility with the idea of the repercussions in mind. People felt the feeling of relief and liberty. It is a

new age, a new era, an era of social Media ruled by people, real ones.

Hyperlinks subvert hierarchy.

Heirarchy according to the book is a structure that separates the elite and normal people. Lets give a

hypothetical situation.

Techy Juan, an Active Student Blogger from a College in the Philippines, was walking inside the campus

corridors and saw a poster inviting students to be part of the yearly awards night for School Leaders. In

rang a bell in him. Took a photo and uploaded it in his photo stream with the status: Cool. Im excited for

this one.

As an active Community Manager of a tribe he started online to make a better image of his School, he

wanted to inspire more Students by applying and being recognized.

Deadline was soon coming and he did apply. He checked-in at the Office handing the qualifications and

whispered Im Excited for this one.

Unfortunately, he was not an active member of an Organization inside the hierarchy of the School. Due to

local politics, fee on memberships and his commitment to make an impact in his school in simple ways, he

wasnt as qualified compared to the elite students of the School.

To his surprise, he wasnt qualified for two reasons. One, he failed his Algebra subject because of a failure

and mistake he did before starting to take a better path in his college life, his entire life. Second, is because

he is not an part of any established Organizations Executive Management Board.


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We are just trying to be objective here. Organization is one way of measuring your communication,

interpersonal and leadership skill. You just arent qualified. How about trying next year? the office

representative said.

But the community i am handling has more than 600 members already. Isnt that one a proof of my

project? the disappointed boy responds.

You know that we are just following the rules. Rules are rules dear boy. If i can just do anything... he

said in unison of his head moving from right to left, back and forth.

Ken Blanchards book: Leadership Smarts tackles a very important issue. Members should know how to

switch. They should be flexible enough to learn to think less of the organizational chart, decentralization

and think more of the common good of the organization.

Heirarchies were built to organize organizations. But sometimes it lets the great ideas out of the fence.

Because of the open, out-spoken and free culture of the Internet, positions were not considered. Only the

value of the voice that you let people hear.

It took me time to realize grasp the concept of this thesis. Hyperlinks in my generation means a text with

underline and an html tag that leads you to another page upon clicking.

As what Ellen shares, A big company cannot function without people behind running it. Those people are

not the ones in management level but instead, those who are doing the clerical works. Without them, how

could a company produce whatever product they want to have? - they can't.

Hyperlinks are ideas that never end at a certain point. A keyword hyperlinked refers to a resource person

or article who has better understanding.

A Collection of voice as ellen puts it.

The Internet gave a bigger span than the intranet bounded and moderated inside the four corners of the

corporation. The Web is something much much bigger.

In both internetworked markets and among intranetworked employees, people are

speaking to each other in a powerful new way.

These networked conversations are enabling powerful new forms of social organization and knowledge


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exchange to emerge.

Weve all been there. A friend request notification pops a red number in your homepage. We check the

request, view the user and see if we know them. When the primary photo seems unfamiliar we look at the

right side corner of the page and see our mutual friends.

And since almost half of your friends are unfamiliar to you or you do not know them personally, you check

the information page and click on the links. Check the twitter account, view some photos, and if it rings

any bell, you click the accept button.

In one day or the other, he or she will be part of your stream. As i was editing my Facebook wall settings, i

saw two options. One is Friends and pages your interact with the most and the other one is All of your

friends and pages. Since the start, i was thinking that i have been hearing all of those posts but i was

wrong. I selected the second option to add everyone in my wall stream.

Because of your about description, primary photo, mutual friends, background education, we find more

and more intersections between people that we havent met or dont even know. A mutual friends mean in

one way or the other he knows a friend of yours or a friend of your cousins friend whom you have met in a

team building or party last year.

Whatever reason you have know each one, the point is there is now a medium for you to connect. With

one like, one personal message, one post on the wall or tag, people are talking in a fast, public and

powerful new way.

As a result, markets are getting smarter, more informed, more organized. Participation in

a networked market changes people fundamentally.

Every tweet counts. In one of our Vertsol class with Sir Paul, he narrated how a consumer can affect a

companys image with the power of Social media. Lets say you are very dismayed with a service of a retail

company.

If you are a good person, you will just shut up and wont just return. But if you are not, you wont say

Anything about the company. You didnt do a thing. You just tweeted, you blogged, you facebooked, you

foursquared and everything else online.

In 2011, the Metro Manila Development Authority figured out that the best way to serve the public with


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the concern of public transportation and safety is to bring the news to them. Not every 30 minutes on a

live tv show but every minute and every time someone asks for help.

They are one of the first agency to tap Social Media as a medium for information dissemination.

Carlo Ople, EIC of New Media Philippines, wrote that such effort only shows how technology can change

a nation for the better. Transparency.

Imagine if MMDA creates a central real time database repository for traffic updates. Private companies

and developers can create numerous mobile and web applications which will make life easier for

motorists. A live view of traffic cameras or a mobile push traffic information application which will alert

you of major accidents and traffic jams. Carlo Ople.

Today, people dont just accept any news or promos. They take their right to be heard one step forward.

They dont just whisper their ideas, they shout.

People in networked markets have figured out that they get far better information and

support from one another than from vendors. So much for corporate rhetoric about

adding value to commoditized products.

The search for genuine voice. You have seen and have been disturbed by those facebook photos being

randomly tagged just to market a slimming tablet. Check the album of the photo and youll see a whole

album of redundant and un-pleasing photos of people who are claimed to have lost pounds and pounds

after using the product. You dont want to comment because thousands of people are tagged in the album

and you dont want them to get bothered and notified with the line Mr You know Who commented on an

album you were in.

Marketers only succeed when they tell a story that the world sees as something true, something that is not

less than rhetoric or corporate speak.

Seth Godin once wrote that Successful marketers dont tell the truth. They dont talk about features or

even benefits. Instead, theytell a story. A story we want to believe.


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Thats not that visible as of these days. We have always seen the impossible be possible on public

television. Mike, a Senior programmer in a Startup Team was having a hard time finishing his stuff for the

module 3. He had no choice but to ask for help. He posted on the wall PHP. People Helping People.

Sometimes we get disappointed by the quality of service we get from customer representatives or 24/7

trunk lines. a 10 minute google and checking forums seem to be much better. If companies wont improve

their way of showing genuine concern to their customers, customers will find a way to get their problems

fixed. Sometimes, in a way that does not improve the company image. Something your company does not

want.

There are no secrets. The networked market knows more than companies do about their

own products. And whether the news is good or bad, they tell everyone.

I was looking for an Android Phone way back in December 2010 and i was so clueless with what to buy. I

have tried googling keywords such as:

1. What Android Phone to Buy?2. Should i buy an Android Phone3. Android Phones in the Philippines4. Top Android Phone5. Cheapest Android Phone to buy6. Android Phone X vs Android Phone X

And many more. of course, with the help of google indexing, every query or google search displays

different ideas and opinions regarding the new operating system.

Tadaaa. I bought an HTC Desire, nominated as Android Phone of 2010, after almost a month of reading

reviews, comparing plans, asking people who have Android Handsets, thinking, wondering, and

canvassing.

The moment i got my hands on it, i quickly went to our Schools Information Technology Center to set-up

the proxy settings of my hand-set. The bad news came. We have do not have settings for your Android

device, the Tech Assistant responded with my smile.


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So i went out disappointed and googled. Ive felt a bit of comfort. Not because ive seen a remedy but

because i am part of a niche of frustrated users.

Without the wifi proxy, I cannot access my company network and it is at least annoying not to say

absurd. When I bought a smartphone running android Froyo I thought it would be better than black

berry or at least as good as an iPhone but now it seems not. If Google thinks Android platform will be

used in a corporate environment wifi proxy setting should be part of the Android platform as soon as

possible. commented an Android User who was the 1,715th one to post a message on Issue 1273, also

known as Androids Proxy Setting issue.

Yes, that thread was a lengthy bad problem, and Google surely have seen it.

What's happening to markets is also happening among employees. A metaphysical

construct called "The Company" is the only thing standing between the two.

One of easiest way to kill an artists desire for art is get rid of all his paint brush, pencil, sketch-pad and

other materials. At first he will us objects at hand to express the way he feels. He might start scratching

the walls as he counts every year of misery. An artist will always be an artist. But when you take away all

the resources from an artist, he will starve. He will have no option but to prioritize his physical needs. The

need for food, shelter, clothing and affection.

The nature of Job today is do something that has been told to you. He have Subject Matter Experts (SME)

for that case so dont mind that issue. Back-off and keep quiet. That is not the scope of your job

description. We have been discussing on why the company needs to hear the voice of consumers. So

with the voice of employees. As we all know, your employees, regarding how much your payroll serves

them could and usually are your markets as well. Due to loyalty they have with the product that they give

their effort unto, they also use it.

Not listening to an employee is not much different from taking a paint brush from an artist. You take away

his freedom. A passion to contribute through a medium that he freely loves and enjoys expressing.

That corporation is just something they work for, something they chose to live with to sustain life and

satisfy their professional needs but it doesnt mean they have to take in its unnatural ways. Riela Antonio.

Corporations do not speak in the same voice as these new networked conversations. To


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their intended online audiences, companies sound hollow, flat, literally inhuman.

Press one, press three, press four, press zero. Companies now have an interactive way to talk to

customers. To lessen the cost, they generate an algorithm that will talk to their customers. I mean to tell

customers the things that they want to tell. Does this make the process faster? Yes. Does this make them

sound more sincere? That could be subjective. For me, it could be a yes. Improvement of process would

result to more productivity. But improvement of process to answer rants will not improve the quality of

products they are providing. Find a way in. Review your recipe, double check the ingredients, what could

be wrong? Always think. You dont need to sound hollow, flat, or something completely inhuman. Just

learn to listen and admit your are wrong. We know you commit mistakes, we just want you to act less

arrogant and pretend less that we cant live without you.

Networked conversations today are those threads of comments from people who wanted to say

something. Companies on the other hand are afraid that they will fail so they just act as if they havent

seen a thing. They let their Social Media team do the talking and manage the issues. None of your fancy

commercials or sizzling hot models will ever remove the negative comments that were posted on online

chat rooms or forums. It will always be search, read and shared by people who want some real change.

If you want sincere customers that will go back to your products, you need to be sincere in listening with

what they need. What they want. What they are concerned with.

In just a few more years, the current homogenized "voice" of businessthe sound of

mission statements and brochureswill seem as contrived and artificial as the language of

the 18th century French court.

Homogenize means to mix or combine. Birds of the same feather are the same birds. If they are together,

they fly together and chirp together. They form flocks to strengthen their alliances and formation. They

get as many as they can because with number comes power.

After more than a decade, are companies now listening to the customers? Just a walk to your school and

you will encounter people who gives out fliers and brochures. Weve had history of the Philippines in High

School so i do not know what the 18th Century French Court was about. Before i google, let me guess. Thejustice system of the french court was linear. You enter a court is through your boots of doubt that you will

actually get what you want. As if people in position are walking through the alleys of scripted messages

that show less than concern to people who deserve justice.

Is that how companies speak nowadays? Are they giving out fliers that talk nothing else but them? The

French court as i have read are for aristocrats. People who are superior than everyone. They want


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dominion over everything, everyone. Since its all about us, do something that would benefit us. Never

mind those peasants, farmers, blacksmiths, they are nothing to hinder the fortune, money that they can

get.

If you are a company and you want customers, start getting close with your market. Step down for a while,

bend so you can hear those precious words. Even if it means losing an hear to learn what really is really

happening inside those statistics and diagrams.

Already, companies that speak in the language of the pitch, the dog-and-pony show, are no

longer speaking to anyone.

Blah Blah Blah. The script goes again from the start. The man in company uniform starts promoting his

all-in-one-youll-never-find-another product to customers. Interested customers walk near his booth. He

the same routine. Ask questions the these spectators usually experience. As if he just live inside their

homes and sees what is happening.

He focused with what he is doing. Ironing the crumpled polo shirt back and forth. The steam of his hand

iron belches over his face like a smoke from a public bus in Edsa. We saw it a couple of times. Why wont

you change that strategy? Put some life into it. We didnt mean a more entertaining agent who can dance

and sing while showing your product. We want someone we can talk to without their headset on.

Companies that assume online markets are the same markets that used to watch their ads

on television are kidding themselves.

Try segmenting online markets. They are increasing as i type every letter of this sentence. More content

are being uploaded in the cloud. Why are the traditional and online markets different? Reasons include:

positioning and reason.

Positioning. Those traditional markets are those who go to your store because it could be their only optionor your promo worked. They come in, check your shelves, put some products in their cart and proceed to

the counter. If they don't like a product, they just place it somewhere where the bar code will not pass

through the red laser and trigger the beeping sound that adds more numbers to your receipt. They pay

with their credit card or cash and they step out.

Online Markets shop at the convenience of their computer table with their feet in front of the desk. They


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Google a product, check the prices, proceed to other online selling shops, check the comments and add

the product to the cart. If they are not sure with a product, they highlight the product name, paste it in the

search bar and fire up the search with an enter button. If a positive comment impresses you, you hit the

add to cart and press check out. You then call your credit card provider to verify your last transaction.

Second is reason. People go to Shopping Malls because that is the convenient medium for them. People

use credit card for online shopping because they want to get the latest product at the best price. If you try

to sell products that suck online, they will get it offline. And most likely, consumers will not put much

time to send back the product. Instead, they will put you on the hate-list and tell to their friends. You will

get negative feedbacks and your image becomes corrupted.

Companies that don't realize their markets are now networked person-to-person, getting

smarter as a result and deeply joined in conversation are missing their best opportunity.

A Major Telecommunication Company launched an Awards Night recognizing people online who provide

relevant information and efforts in technology through blogging. What do you expect? These bloggers

write about their nomination and ask people to vote for them by clicking the link in their post. This gives

them more hits and popularity. More span for people to visit their page, like them on facebook and follow

them on twitter. They wanted to start a relationship.

An avid reader clicks the link and votes. He approves the connection to his social networking accounts.

Vote was casted. A badge appears on his wall. I voted for Mr X for this Category. Friends on his stream

wondered what that was and also clicked the link. Guess what happened next?

The project spread virally. What did the Telcom do? They know that these markets are linked person-to-

person. Each has a level of influence that no matter what they post, someone will be able to read their

status update. Like circuits inside a mother-board. One person is connected to a person mutually. They

have certain characteristics that meet in one point.

The good thing for consumers is that our real life is affected by the activities we do online. They are notjust like a mob who talks to each one, they are also getting smarter. With influential people molding the

way they make decisions, which gadget to buy, what store to visit, what month to go, we are being directed

by people of influence.

Companies can now communicate with their markets directly. If they blow it, it could be

their last chance.


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In July 2011, an issue arise when the case of Butuan Bishops came up. They received luxury sports utility

vehicles from Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office. A hate page came up to show how they attest such

action by the institution. People liked because that is what they believed. They want the Government to

wake up and realized that they are tired of just waiting but they want their voice to be heard. They want

their officials to serve them accordingly.

Just like such concern, companies have to walk their talk and talk their walk. Credibility is one measure of

genuine voice. When you blow your credibility, it is not easy to regain it. For some, it may be suicidal for

company representatives to face the real customers and answer the obvious flaws of the company.

With the Internet and Social media, customers can now reach the companies and talk to them live. No

more mails with auto responders that really dont respond. Why is it hard for Companies to talk to

consumers? Maybe they dont have enough time. Their time is too valuable for attending meetings,

signing business contracts and attending press release? How about the mails in their box that request for

a better product? Isnt that one way of showing some real intention to provide quality service to

consumers?

You can be given a chance to be heard. But once you just let the opportunity pass, its hard to regain. You

might want to try again next time.

Companies need to realize their markets are often laughing. At them.

I was updating my twitter status when i saw Facebuko.com, a parody version of facebook, founder tweeted

that he was not enjoying the service of a telecom provider. Ive seen him speak in a Blogging Conference

we attended last October 2010. He also tagged the twitter account of the provider. Did the Social Media

team of the company receive it? Of couse they did. And people did. Well, most of the time it is the third-

party company who provides the Social Media Management Service that sees it. Compiles it in a mail that

the Company owners dont bother checking.

I saw his tweet and i humorously replied that i think they should also create an account with the word

rant where people can do what they love to when they get disappointed. So when people just want toshow how angry they are, they will tweet to the right user. Rant. Shout. Share. Release their anger online.

It is a platform with no censorship. No blurred image to cover the sensitive parts. No happy face to cover

the mouth the utters that unpleasant words. No beeping sound to compliment the happy face. Can you

really not hear them laugh? It is not always about you.

We cannot please everyone. But we should at-least try our best to please our customers with our service


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or products. Do not let people wait in vain. Dont make them feel like a College Student waiting for their

allowance while they are tired of finishing their homeworks and wanted to take a break. The best way to

market is through word of mouth. It is the most viral, most influential, cheapest.

Companies need to lighten up and take themselves less seriously. They need to get a sense

of humor.

You probably are not joker with a very not so good experience with his father. He might be smiling outside

but deep inside, hes dying to feel love. Why so serious? Humor is a universal language that everyone just

gets laughing at. Some companies are just to serious. Joker from the Batman would surely ask them his

favorite line.

Technicality and formality sometimes get rid of the conversation. We are afraid that we will just get

disregarded from sharing something. Due to the pressure, your boss wont really care about People

become conscious with your posts. If its too linear as if you just want to say something, no comments

allowed, just like, people will be less likely to comment.

Cracking a joke sometimes relieves the stress. A journal from a Software Engineer shares that her stress

reliever after Ctrl + Alt + Delte, Plug earphones, busy status, water break, mood swings, back on the desk,

work, is when someone cracks a joke and you just ride on it.

Too much seriousness isnt that good for everyone.Walking along the aisle with a straight face. Not even a

clue of letting people greet your and receive a positive response. Laughter is what we need when life is

pressing us with stress. Go get some time to unwind. Put the out for vacation sign and take your team

outside of that corporate wall. Talk to each other. Ask them how they are doing. We have to lighten up a

bit and indirectly tell people that you are really willing to listen to them and get in a conversation.

Getting a sense of humor does not mean putting some jokes on the corporate web site.

Rather, it requires big values, a little humility, straight talk, and a genuine point of view.

Be warned. Philosophers inside the company could have said, you want some humor, then here you go.We dont need those snippets of jokes to make us smile. We want something much better. Customers,

employees, companies should work hand in hand. I always remember the story of the King and the united

sticks. He called all of his son in his death bed and asked him to stay united. Just so that his son will

remember what he said, he asked for a piecec of stick. Held it from both ends and tried to break it. It

broke in to pieces. As the King asked for more sticks, it becomes stronger. It will come to a point that the

stick would be so compressed that it would be already a challenge to even bend it 40 degrees. It is a story


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of unity and strength. Power comes in numbers. A winner will be declared by the number of votes.

People ask you to crack a joke. They are expectingyou to give them a good laugh. You cant remember the

joke that always hits their funny bone when you were in high school. You gave it a try. It was a corny one.

But because it was so corny, they also laughed so hard on how foolish you look like that moment. Even if

you have established your identity as the joker in class, people still want the serious side of yours. People

want balance in everything. Flexibility to adjust on different situations. Jokes to kill the boredome and

commitment to stay focused when finishing something. We all need that.

Companies attempting to "position" themselves need to take a position. Optimally, it

should relate to something their market actually cares about.

If you are a company taking a position. Put yourself into the position of your consumers. Put you situation

from their stand point, their point of view. Most of the time we provide ideas that will give you fortunes.

But when you start writing the merchandising plan, you begin to ask who will actually have a smile in

their face as they wait till your product launch?

There are times that it is hard to consider what the customer needs due to cost. The expense will increase

by 20 percent. What does that mean for the Company? 20 percent less income. Less money to pay our

bills. That could already shoulder our expense for electricity. Do we really have to do it? Your boss asks

you in the face while holding the expense list and breakdown of your income. What to do? What to do?

You ask yourself. You suddenly woke up and realized it was a dream. A dream that your were bold enough

to challenge the status quo. To think on a different angle. Different from those typical mindset that your

company nurtures.

Sometimes, even if the computations are right, the decision wasnt the best. You have to look farther,

longer than what the horizon displays. Those who consider the customers, the customers will consider.

Imagine a bunch of loyal customers who trust your product for quality and assurance. Whatever might

come out in the market will get patronage. Because you know what they want. Your products are not just

based on rocket-science research but by a genuine concern to provide services or products that customerneed.

Bombastic boasts"We are positioned to become the preeminent provider of XYZ"do not

constitute a position.

Are you the Big Fat Liar? You told us something that made us glad to wait for your product. We tuned in a


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television channel to wait for commercials. We start saving so we can afford to buy that luxury product of

yours. We didnt take our favorite lunch just so we can buy it. We go to the bank to deposit our weekly

savings. Now what did you tell us again? 6 months warranty for your product? Just bring a receipt and

well get a return?

Sour glorious day came. We swiped our card to withdrew the cash. Went straight to your shop to buy it. I

got a cue card so i can get served properly. Tadaah. A sales representative showed up with a not-so-jolly

face. I disregarded it because i was overjoyed by the fulfillment of finally buying that product. We tested it

and i cant get my hands on it.

We went home. Less than a month have passed and it broke. What went wrong? Your technical support

told me to travel all the way to your office to inspect it. He asked me to return the next week. Then the

next week again. Thats my allowance getting drained returning for the same response we are getting and

the service quality keeps going down.

What did just happened? What about the quality assurance we expected?

Companies need to be more honest with what they can and cant. An increased sales would not be

repeated with a product that wont even last half of your warranty period. Just tell us so so we wont

expect.

Is that a similar letter from your customers? If yes, go wake up. Its time to change.

Companies need to come down from their Ivory Towers and talk to the people with whom

they hope to create relationships.

When King Leonidas wanted to consult the elders with his attempt to Battle against King Xerxes in the

movie 300, he had to climb uphill. They had no twitter, a skype account or land-line to phone the elders.

It was so high and steep that he had to use his bare hands just to grab one boulder and another. When he

reached the elders, the response was no good. He was asked to leave and not pursue the fight.

It must be a terrible answer for a King who went all his way up just to talk to the elders and do not get the

result he wanted. But it also happens in real life. Managers who work hard dont get the right salary. Theywork over-time but they receive under the minimum wage. Aside from genuine desire, people should

learn how to step down from the comfort zone and fight the battle from the field. They should listen to the

customers in a distance not to far. Your ivory tower could have been made from the tusks of those wild

animals but i thought you wanted to listen to us?

We are not used with that tower but we use your product. So even if you are not use to our environment, if


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you want us to really talk to you, step down for a while and lets have some talk. If you are dedicated, you

are willing to get your feet wet and listen to us. That is if you really are concerned and that is not just part

of your corporate social responsibility so that youd get tax deductions.

Public Relations does not relate to the public. Companies are deeply afraid of their

markets.

When the public relations no longer relate to the public, that is when the manifesto takes in. As far as i

know, PR is not only for Press Release or having media men piling up microphones in front of you and

boom mics hanging in front waiting to listen to every word you would like to say. Spotlight on. That is not

what is supposed to be. It, they should relate to the public. Relate meaning be with them in knowing their

concerns. It should create and nurture a relationship between consumers and company.

What else can people expect? You are not paying Millions for commercials that we dont actually care

about. My favorite actress might be on that commercial but it still does not improve the product. So what

if she endorses or uses it? Is that for free? I bet not. The fear of companies might be from with in. The fear

of showing what is really happening from inside. The stuffs they have been long hiding from the public.

Those folders marked as Censored, confidential. If fear of letting customers know your lapses is greater

than the desire of serving them with joy and enthusiasm, you have a problem. Markets are about their

concerns being addressed.

By speaking in language that is distant, uninviting, arrogant, they build walls to keep

markets at bay.

They did it. Because of the monotone sound of your trunk line we decided to hang up. Because you didnt

show enough concern, we transferred to the other camp. We told you we will be back, maybe someday.

You voice was so uninviting that we just respond with an okay to end the conversation. We regret that we

even start asking. It was distant. You were busy cutting your nails while you are talking. Maybe you are

too rich that a sale wouldnt be that beneficial for your company. You were arrogant as if i my looks would

reflect my bank account. You have built walls for us to stay away from whatever you will offer. That is why

we told our friends not to buy from your stall.

When will everyone learn? When will companies realized that we are not just people stepping inside your

store with credit cards and cash. We also have feelings. We have needs. We want a service that wouldnt

just take away money from our pockets but would make us come back. A service that would make us feel

full-filled after months of hard work. Unfortunately, we rarely find those shops. Unless your income was

tripled.


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It is because of that mind set and attitude that we sailed across the river. At our own expense, just because

your service was to poor no matter how much we love your product. How could those walls be taken

down? By having some sincere service. Take away those agents that couldnt wait for your stall to close

and spend their earnings. Find someone else, or else we will find someone else.

Most marketing programs are based on the fear that the market might see what's really

going on inside the company.

Never regret anything in your life. We always keep this mindset to turn stumbling blocks to stepping

stones. But what if your smile of confidence is really a mask trying to hide the fear from inside. When we

talk about the truth, the truth that all those times, your efforts were based on fear. Fear that the market

will be able to see what is happening from behind those high-rising walls.

Strategies feeding the public with what you offer are counter-attacks to deodorize the problem that was

brought by a not so good customer-service or product.

What are the market interested in knowing from the Company? Imagine for the case of a seasoning. We

use them every day. We bay less than pesos to season our daily meals. We have the fear of having

breakfast that our family would not enjoy because we dont have enough time to go to the market and buy

fresh vegetables and seasoning. We fear that it would taste less.

Sometimes, it is also us who fear. What do we want from these company? If they give reasonable prices,

products that actually fulfill our needs? What? Dont play it safe by dictating what the customers will say.

Let it be and respond accordingly on what the market wants.

If you you do not have any wrong intentions or anything to hide from the customers, you should have no

problem having customers see what are happening aside from those big machines, people working over-

time. Are you confident to let people know whats happening?

Elvis said it best: "We can't go on together with suspicious minds."

Who cant go together? Negative plus negative is positive. Positive plus Negative is still Negative.

Suspicion is tantamount to doubt.Not trusting a person with what he says or dos. It is what keeps you

sleepless at night no matter how many sheep you count or number of pills you take. The fear that someone

is behind that windy window blowing the curtain. That someone will stab you in the back while brushing

your teeth. Suspision without peace of mind and clear conscience leads to paranoia.


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Every action is driven by a motive. A motive to revenge, to make things better, to start form the beginning,

to be different. A reggae song that was popularized by Brown Man Revival during our high school days

prove that Suspicion leads to death of many people. They also shared that you dont have to slowdown if

you know you are doing the right thing as long as you dont forget to think twice if you are not sure with

the outcome of something.

Remembering the Movie Unknown with Liam Nelson, it shows that suspicious minds even with amnesia

dont meet to well with other suspicious minds. Bit by bit, you will remember parts of your past. You are

just not sure with how each one connects. It always resolve to conflicts. To an action-packed battle with

one winner. So who should that be? What should be the remedy for this ailment? It is remembering the

past and doing everything to regain trust and make the future better. Maybe you cant go on together.

That is while you have suspicious minds. Change that. Trust.

Brand loyalty is the corporate version of going steady, but the breakup is inevitableand

coming fast. Because they are networked, smart markets are able to renegotiate

relationships with blinding speed.

Brand loyalty. Every Company dreams of that. Consumers feeling proud wearing the company shirt even

though it does not fit well with the color of their shoes. Even if its too dark to wear black in the middle of

the scorching sun. Are you going steady with your customers? Are they still returning to your shop? You

got to lax. You didnt answer those mails, you didnt listen to your adviser. You egoistic nature surpassed

all the voices you have been hearing. Now customers were decreased. You tried to please them will all thos

irritating mails and promos. Some tried walking in but remembered the past and stepped out. You call it

the break-up. It is now as cold as your meat in the freezer. They wont talk back even if you call them or

give them Christmas cards in Novemeber.

One thing leads to another. If you wont treat one customer the same way you did with the other. They will

use their network to bring you down. It will now be harder for your to regain their trust. You will branded

as biased and uninviting. Yes, just like the return of the planet of the apes, they came out smarter. Thosewhom your throw Bananas are now in to the wild getting whatever they want. They have become fierce.

The blinding speed of information to flow is the same speed that could bring your company down. Aow.

That is bad news for you. Only if you will not nurture the relationship you started. If you dont value

communication in that relationship. Dont just tell it, do it. Show it.


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Networked markets can change suppliers overnight. Networked knowledge workers can

change employers over lunch. Your own "downsizing initiatives" taught us to ask the

question: "Loyalty? What's that?"

Mass production was said to lead to de-skilling. Imagine for the case of making a bike. To lessen the cost,

we have to mass produce the product and to should the fix cost. Add some design and bike a is now

different from Bike B. So whats wrong with that? Deskilling then happened that since quantity matters, a

person will be assigned only in a specific task. Lets say adding the arm bar. For the rest of the production,

he will do nothing else but that.

Why not train him to

The Social Media Effect by Dominique De Leon

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