Leaving politics aside, we learned a very valuable lesson from last night’s Presidential address and it had nothing to do with health care.
What we learned is that despite the medium, people converge online. Minutes after Congressman Wilson’s actions (whether you agree or disagree), the Internet was bombarded with comments. Congressman Wilson’s Web site crashed, he quickly became a trending topic on Twitter and a bunch of blog posts were created.
So what’s the significance of this? It shows you the power of social media. Whether it be television, print or radio, we go online to share and carry conversations.
But what if you weren’t monitoring online conversations about your brand? Granted, this was a unique situation. This happened in front of millions of people. Even if you aren’t a large brand, can you afford not to be listening and participating in online conversations? What do you think the damage would have been had this been a smaller organization that didn’t have a social media action plan in place? Better yet, if you aren’t online, how do you know this isn’t happening with your brand right now?
This also goes to show you how quickly news spreads online. Within seconds of Wilson’s remarks, tweets were being sent. How do you manage this? What’s your action plan if this were to happen? This isn’t to say the outburst could have been averted, but it’s definitely a situation that can’t be ignored.
Most importantly, from here on out, I’m anxious to see how Congressman Wilson’s team handles this situation. He publicly apologized, but will his team tackled the online crisis? Clearly, social tools need to be utilized to help contain the situation.
Remember folks, it doesn’t matter the medium – you can’t ignore the social space. It’s here, so don’t try to avoid it. Get a plan in place NOW. Start utilizing the space NOW. Evolve or die suffer.
