How The Social Web is Sucking Us Dry: Pinterest, Words With Friends, Facebook, Oh My!

I remember when I first joined Facebook one of my new Facebook friends said to me “welcome to the ultimate time suck.”  He was right. I soon became fascinated with Facebook and all of the long lost friends and acquaintances I was reconnecting with every day. I felt the need and desire to check in and see what everyone else was up to on a regular basis.

I’ve managed to inflict some sense of self-control and am no longer obsessed with Facebook, but I admit I still check it quite frequently. 

Isn’t it funny how social networking has in some ways made it easier to connect with people but in other ways it has made it harder because we feel the need to update our friends with so many details of our daily life?

Pinterest just opened another forum for sharing and exchanging information among people with similar interests and it is exploding in popularity. I admit, I am curious about this new social network. I’ve read a lot about it, heard the buzz from my Facebook friends and have joined the group and started to dabble with it. However, I feel as though I don’t have time for another social network, much less one that is going to distract me with delicious recipes and crafty things a person like me was never meant to attempt to make.

Words with Friends is another example of what appears to be a fun social game, but will also bring out the obsessive compulsive person in you. I had lunch with a good friend the other day who couldn’t stop talking about Words with Friends. I again had heard the buzz but hadn’t taken the bait.  She said it was so much fun and that she would invite me to play with her.  I flat out refused. While it did look like a lot of fun, I told myself I cannot have one more thing distract me from my day to day activities.

As a public relations professional focused primarily in the high tech industry, I feel compelled to keep up with the latest technologies and play around with the newest social tools.  In fact, I use a lot of these tools like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn on a regular basis for my job.

However, with more personal social media tools, there is a line between exploring and jumping in feet first.  For now, I’ll continue to pick and choose where and how much time I spend on social networks and hope that I don’t miss out on a wonderful crème brulee or creating a fabulous new word with my remaining tiles.

Lessons in Leadership

I spent the last year serving as president of the Public Relations Society of America’s Colorado Chapter.  With nearly 500 members, PRSA Colorado is a strong organization focused on providing professional development and networking opportunities for the local public relations community. Leading this organization has been a great opportunity for me to grow both personally and professionally. 

On my desk right now I see at least three books with the word “leadership” in the title and while these have all been valuable resource for me, there is nothing like “on the job” training.  Here are some of my lessons learned from the past year:

Surround Yourself With Good People

There is no way to be a good leader all by your self. You need strong, smart, and reliable people to lead an organization.  I was fortunate to have a board of directors and committee chairs made up of top-notch PR professionals who were committed to making our organization the best it could be.

Delegate, Delegate, Delegate

It is too easy to fall into the trap of “it is quicker if I just do it myself.” You need to empower other people for their own benefit and so that you don’t get so bogged down that you can’t focus on being a good leader.

Be Passionate

Passion is a hard quality to fake. You must be passionate about being a leader and passionate about the organization you are leading. Without it, your role as a leader will feel like work and you will resent the time you devote to it.

Face Challenges Head On

No matter how much you plan ahead and manage deadlines there will be challenges. Don’t be afraid to stand up and take on a challenge. While it might not be fun, the quicker you step up and take control, the quicker you can move on.

Be Flexible

You may start out with a strategic plan outlining how you want the organization to operate and what you want to accomplish.  The reality is that things will never go according to plan. There will be challenges and opportunities that you did not plan for and you need to be flexible enough to change direction or reorient to keep everything moving smoothly.

The Rise and Fall of Netflix

I first heard of Netflix back in 2001 when a client of mine from Silicon Valley mentioned that his wife worked there. He explained to me that Netflix was a company that allowed consumers to order movies online and have them delivered right to their mailbox.  I was intrigued and shortly after that time, I became a member. For many years, I  have loved Netflix for its convenience and great customer service.

A few years ago we started using the company’s streaming service and began depending on that more than the mail for our movies and TV series. Being in the tech industry, I had heard about the trend towards streaming and IPTV for years and as a consumer was beginning to see this become a reality.

Netflix was one of those media darlings, rising up from the ranks of start-ups to become a publicly-traded company with millions in revenue. The company enjoyed great success and brand appeal until they made a classic communications mistake. They significantly underestimated their customers’ reaction to a price increase and division of the company into two entities.

Since making this announcement, Netflix has lost 800,000 customers and its stock price has taken a nose dive.  While Netflix has since reversed its decision to split the companies, only time will tell whether this company can rise above this and win back the hearts and trust of its customers.

So many companies fall into the trap of making business decisions without considering the implications on their brand or without caring about how they will affect their reputation.  Sure, they might be good for their bottom line in the short term, but over time this kind of backlash does far greater damage.