Organisations must embrace social media, says BM chief
The PR Report (Australia)
Publication Date: September/October 2007
By Charlie Pownall, Burson-Marsteller (Asia Pacific)
Social media has been hitting the headlines in Australia, making life awkward for the government, opposition and newspaper editors.
But corporates are also asking questions about the value of social media in the wake of the estimated AU$5bn cost to Australian business of its employees using Facebook and other social networks. Ouch, if accurate. But does it matter?
The answer, surely, is yes, though the important costs are not time-related but principally about reputation. After all, birthdays are routinely celebrated and bosses disparaged both inside the office (the so-called ‘water cooler effect’) and outside it. Online social networks are merely another channel for sharing this information, albeit faster and more broadly.