Social Media in a Corporate Context: Risk and Reward or Rightly Ignore?

In my mind there is no doubt about it. The power of social media to engage and bring communities of people together to talk, share and collaborate is undeniable. So why are so many top corporate companies refusing to step out of the dark ages and embrace social media?

Social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and Youtube have the potential, if used correctly, to enhance stakeholder engagement and increase collaboration among customers, employees, investors and others. Indeed, greater engagement among consumers leads to increased customer loyalty and a better bottom line. So with benefits like this, why are corporations choosing not to implement social media initiatives?

Of course, there are many risks associated with using social media in a corporate setting. The fear of hacking, disclosure of confidential information and viruses are just some of the risks involved. But the risks of using social media in the corporate world run deeper than this. When things turn ugly for a company that actively uses social media what are the reputational implications? Can companies continue to communicate openly and honestly with their stakeholders in times of crises?

Does social media always produce positive results? Or should corporate companies steer clear of social media for their own good?

I have created a short survey to accompany my dissertation which looks at social media in the corporate environment. I would really appreciate it if you took the time to fill this in. Here's the link: http://bit.ly/9T6r8h

Thanks for your help!

Social Media in the Corporate Environment: an opportunity or a threat?

On Monday night I asked my followers on twitter "Can anyone tell me how many companies in the FTSE 100 use social media to engage with their key stakeholders. Rather promptly (that's why I love twitter) a follower of mine replied "Not many. Think it is less than 20 percent who use Twitter (saw the stat somewhere), but not sure about social media as a whole". We then debated for hours, over twitter, about the risks associated with using social media in a corporate setting. What surprised me most is that he said "Innovation often happens first outside of big listed businesses". His comment certainly made me think but I wasn't sure if it was valid - can you shed any light on this?

My dissertation is about social media's influence on the corporate environment. The research I have done so far clearly shows that the people in the corporate environment are more reluctant to implement social media initiatives, why is this though? Are they simply sitting back watching other organisations make the mistakes so they can learn from them? Or are the risks of implementing and maintaining a social media strategy too great in the corporate environment?

I would love to hear your thoughts on this. Also, I have created a short survey which is acting as a research tool for my dissertation; I would really appreciate it if you complete it and forward it on to your friends and colleagues. Here's the link: http://bit.ly/9T6r8h

I think it's a really interesting topic of discussion, I hope you can enlighten me with your knowledge and experience!

Social Media Engagement

Social Media Engagement

View more presentations from Vijay Rayapati.

Social Media: A Tool for Engagement

"The important part of social media is SOCIAL. Your goal shouldn’t just be to create something new but also to join and contribute to existing conversations".

Welcome! I have created this blog to explore people's views on the concept of using social media to engage key stakeholders. It will act as a research source in which I hope to gather many opinions and useful information which will work to support the scary dissertation that I have to write for my final year.

I'm currently studying PR and Communications in the South of England. I hope to pursue a career in Corporate Comms/ Internal Comms, so stakeholder engagement is a topic that certainly gets my juices flowing, and probably yours too if your reading this blog!

The last decade has seen the world of communications change drastically and social media has a lot to answer for. Like never before, big companies are having direct, one-to-one conversations with their consumers and are sharing their ideas on product and service development (Windows 7 was my idea).

My aim is to explore what the real benefits are of using social media to engage customers, investors and employees. In turn, I will also determine the risks and challenges associated with using social media to engage key stakeholders.

In your view, does social media add significantly more value than traditional forms of media when it comes to stakeholder engagement?

I look forward to reading your comments...