If you are an avid reader of my blog or a social media enthusiast then you know how interactivity coincides with forming great communication outlets. Many corporations establish their customer relations because they need to find ways to control the conversations while becoming involved and responsive to customer concerns and possible negativity. Through this need to change, new forms of interactivity and ways to reach customers grow. This gives the companies the ability to gain customer trust and develop a strong reputation.
Some major corporations don’t see the point in developing social media. Are those companies in the right mind set? Are they afraid of the feedback? Do they not accept the current groundswell realization? Or is the company so powerful that their top status and high reputations will survive even as more companies are improving customer communication?
In a recent post I talked about how corporations fear the negative feedback, and how they can handle the situation should it occur. What if there are companies that fear a negative comment so little that they fell social media and interactivity is irrelevant?
It may surprise you that one major company that holds the idea that social media is irrelevant is Apple. That’s right Apple! One of the greatest technology developing companies avoids the social media world. I don’t know about you, but this news shocked me. Surely you would think a company so in touch with how people want to communicate with one another would make it their personal goal to interact with consumers.
According to an interview with Jens Alfke, the primary architect for Apple’s Ichat, realized the companies lack of social media was something he could not handle. He tried to push Apple to realizing the importance of social medial. He explains that other corporations are using their technology to improve communications, but to also create openness for consumers to learn about new products being released.
In years passed Apple has made sure to respond to any negative feedback that would circulate the web, but they have avoided implementing their own forms of social media. They have the technology and capability so why not create the sites?
A blog posted on davefleet.com explains why Apple does not join in the social media networks. The author says that companies like Apple are so certain of their positive feedback and strong company reputation that they don’t feel the need to begin communication themselves. They have now begun to allow customers to control communication with one another. Apple feels they could never do as great a job as their consumers.
Apple is fully aware of the groundswell, and they are such a strong company that they have given total control of interactivity to their consumers. The company has decided to focus on their interactive technology products to provide outlets for interactivity.
If you look at the Apple site, there is no link to blogs or podcasts, but you can find links to other customer blogs that have recently posted about Apple.
What if one day Apple has a problem like Dell and because they lack social media outlets cannot act quick enough? Or has Apple learned enough from their products that they can afford to remain out of the social media limelight?
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March 17, 2009 at 3:23 am
Sarah Lokitis
Wow, I am impressed. At first it sounded like Apple was behind the curve and did not recognize the shift to social media; however Apple may actually be ahead. The groundswell is a huge phenomenon. Apple has established a positive reputation and seems to use the groundswell to its advantage.
I did find that on their website they have several forums on many different topics related to Apple. The Apple Discussions Community (http://discussions.apple.com/index.jspa) covers many topics and the top users are shown on a sidebar. A lot of the support forums have over 1,000 views and some have several responses.
It seems Apple let their audience take over blogging and most social media networks, but Apple still helped create technical support forums for customers.
March 18, 2009 at 1:06 am
Mandy Smoot
Nicole,
I am shocked that Apple has not implemented their own forms of new social media. On one hand, I do find it great that Apple is able to let their consumers take charge and form conversation among themselves. On the other hand, what if something like Dell is to happen? Your same question popped up in my mind as I began reading your post. So far from what I have learned about new social media is that it can only enhance your company’s relationships with stakeholders. Even though Apple feels that their reputation is already at the top, I personally think they could still benefit from new social media. There has to be consumers out there that don’t think highly of Apple. For example, I was a little bummed when I first learned that our major SMAD used Macintosh computers. My friend had one and I always found it frustrating and inconvenient. Of course after I learned the basics I began to love them. But what if I was a blogger at the start of my frustration? What if my negative comment got out and produced a viral effect? What would Apple do? My mom is another perfect example. She has gone through two iPod shuffles since Christmas this year. They randomly stop working and will not hold a charge. She has already voiced her complaints to Wal-Mart and if she could blog, I think she would voice her complaints to other consumers. By not responding and letting other consumers respond, isn’t that showing that Apple doesn’t care? Perhaps my logic is wrong, and Apple did catch on long before the Groundswell. I suppose only time will tell.
March 18, 2009 at 11:11 pm
Heather Thoreson
Nicole,
I was also surprised that Apple does not do any of it’s own blogging or any other social media techniques. It seems to me that a computer technology-based company would be on top of any new social media emerging!
Michael Brito, founder of Conversations Matter, an enterprise social media blog, and a member of the Interim Board of Directors for the Social Media Club, explains in his blog (http://www.britopian.com/2008/10/17/why-do-some-some-companies-choose-to-ignore-social-media/) why some companies choose to overlook social media. He said that only 15% of Fortune 500 companies communicate through blogs! This number is significantly smaller than I expected because, as Brito states, consumers expect companies to be present online and expect to be able to interact with corporations. Companies should seek out these opportunities to gain feedback and embrace the interaction with their consumers.
March 25, 2009 at 5:55 am
Nicole Fiorella
I know can you believe it of all companies, but I think it’s great that the company is so powerful that they can implement their own media that is unique from other companies. Their technology has really taken them places and I can only see it continuing in that direction.