Mid Term Blog 1

Social media is important to businesses as both a form of advertisement and way to communicate with consumers.  Ralph Lauren used their sites as a way to connect consumers with the brand and make itself known to others.  Heather's company, C280, was more of a social media site than a business website, they helped foster not only a connection with the business, but with other people who shared the same passion.  American Airlines does not use social media thoughtfully.  They use the sites from a strictly business perspective.  Southwest Airlines on the other hand got it right, balancing both the (100) business and personal aspects of social media.  The NFL does not allow players or others associated with the league use social media during or near game time.  This creates a disconnect between those involved in playing and those who enjoy watching.  They are not creating interest in the game and by limiting player access creating discord and discontent amongst fans.  Several of the companies we discussed in class used their social media sites, usually Twitter, as a way to allow customers to ask questions and get real time answers.  Even if the company did not respond, other consumers could see the (200) questions and be of potential help.  Most of the companies used their social media sites as two way conversations, however some, like American Airlines, do not use the sites effectively.  They have flaws that could be easily smoothed out, if they would compare their sites to others, like Southwest, who seem to have gotten social media right.  The one thing I noticed that none of the companies discussed in class had was a wiki.  I do not know if they are outdated or just too much, but some of them, like C280, might benefit from having a wiki.

American Airlines (300) uses its name on all of the social media sites it uses.  This has not always been the case, the Twitter account they had was @aairwaves.  This told users little about who they were receiving "tweets" from.  By changing the name to @americanairlines they have increased their Internet presence.  Ralph Lauren uses "Pink Pony" as its online moniker, I can see where this causes confusion amongst those who search for them.  The NFL seems to be afraid of what players might do or say on their personal social media pages.  They are concerned that information might get "leaked" that could be of potential (400) harm to the franchise.  The Internet is public and information spreads like wildfire.  They are probably smart to ban the use of social media before, during, and after the game.  American Airlines does not have a blog.  They are very secretive about what is going on in the company.  By limiting access to them, I feel they are losing out on a potential windfall that social media could bring them.  Googling American Airlines brings up their website as the first link, however I did not find any of their social media sites in the first few pages of results.  They need (500) to improve their Internet presence by improving the social media they use.  Many of the companies used links on their main sites homepage to link to their social media sites.  American Airlines did not use such a strategy.  It is as though they do not want to use social media.  The only way to find their sites was by using their websites internal search bar, even then there were several "hits" that had nothing to do with the social media sites.  If American Airlines own search engine cannot properly find their social media sites, how are big search engines supposed to find them?