Social media bias is well-known. The whole issue of political “echo chambers” which probably led to the election of Donald Trump and the outcome of the Brexit referendum has been widely debated. Similarly, the notion of echo chambers on Facebook, giving rise to psychological issues within teenagers is well-established. Indeed, this weekend the UK Government has given the web giants just one week – yes, you read that right, one week – to come up with plans that deal with such issues, or legislation will be introduced to regulate social media firms.
Yet, even though many people in businesses are aware of the issues associated with social media they ignore those problems and say that social networks are essential to their online success. Only last week the UK pub chain, Wetherspoon, pulled itself away from all social media activity, suggesting that at least one firm doesn’t agree.
Indeed, some of the world’s leading success “gurus” follow a mantra – when everyone is going in one direction, you are better off going the opposite way.
Most businesses, sheep-like, are going off into the world of social media because everyone else is doing it – and for no other strategic reason, and often with no analytical thought behind it.
Even though these business people watch the news and hear about the problems with social media, they still follow the crowd seeking to justify their decision. They say things like “it has been a real boon to engaging with customers”, or “we discover so much about our marketplace through social media; it’s fantastic market research”.
I just remind people who say that to read the Hans Christian Andersen story, The Emperor’s New Clothes.
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