Is Social Media for You?

As of last year, Social Media was incorporated into my everyday life 5 days a week for 8 to 10 hours a day.  I am a social media specialists for one of the largest electric suppliers in the world. Prior to this position social media was a casual hobby for me that I joined in 2008, as a way to stay in the loop. Some of my peers pressured me into thinking I was missing out by not being a part of Facebook.  I found this casual usage to be empowering because it allowed me to silently be in competition with those that I had once crossed paths with in my adolescent years onto high school and onto college. My personal life was flourishing with the birth of my children and the start of my career, while my friends journeys were quite opposite. I would describe myself as more of the prowler vs the sharer, just not really fully engaged in exploiting any of my own accomplishments or activities.

Moving into late 2018 was when I gained full exposure to all Social Media to meet the needs of our customers through another outlet as a manner of convenience.  I was overwhelmed with how others chose to use Social Media as a means of communication. I believe in most cases it has become a preferred method. In protecting the “Brand” of companies most of the complaints handled through social media are resolved a lot quicker and favorable to the customer. One that I would consider the ultimate offer of generosity that was publicly posted to Facebook and shared over a thousand times, was last summer when Southwest Airlines had a customer forget her wedding dress and wanted to know if it could be flown on a different flight. Southwest jumped right in and responded with “let’s do it”. This gesture allowed Southwest to be the heroes for the bride to be. In conclusion I would say it made me want to fly Southwest just based on that customer’s experience. Now that I work in Social Media regularly for business, I have now expanded my personal use to provide compliments as well as feedback to companies that I choose to do business with. I have also started using it for reviews prior to making purchases.  I am excited for Social Media’s growth and happy to be a part of this history in the making.