Engaging and Support Yourself

Chapters 7  and 8 of Groundswell discussed how to energize and help the Groundswell support itself. Both of these chapters went into examples of how the people using your product can energize your product through the Groundswell for you and in addition how simply setting up networks for people to communicate in can establish ways for for the Groundswell to support itself.

Let's first look into energizing the Groundswell. The example the chapter gave an example of how a customer of eBags who would talk endlessly about how great the product is to anyone who was willing to listen. In this case, energizing the Groundswell is representative of people talking about the products and through this the companies do not have to spend any money to get their message across.

As for the helping the Groundswell to support itself, the chapter set up an example of how hospitals have Care Pages which allow for patients to communicate with their loved ones and get support without having to be overwhelmed by constant phone calls or visits. By setting up pages or forums for people to communicate with each other allows for the Groundswell to take off.

In my opinion many companies are helping the Groundswell by setting up User Reviews on their websites. I know I for one am always looking at the reviews for clothes and other items before purchasing and these reviews sort of set up a little community of people looking for good quality products. I have a tendency to Online shop and these reviews really get me to interact with others about certain products that I'm looking to purchase. Granted, this is n't necessarily the best example but I think it gives a basic outlook on how companies are helping the Groundswell to support itself.

Shhhh...

Just as we had to learn growing up that when someone is talking we in turn need to be quiet and listen attentively before talking, this lesson is a crucial one for "tapping into the Groundswell". 

Chapters 4-6 describe why and how companies need to interact with the Groundswell. A major point that I particularly reflected on was that listening is key to understanding and effectively participating in the Groundswell. Listening is so important because in order to be strategic about moving your company into the Groundswell, you have to be aware about what people are talking about and how they are reacting to your products or service. If you're product is getting bad reviews the thing to do is probably not to jump into the Groundswell full force because it will end up amplifying the negative. Listening is a huge strategy because it shows you when to act and when not to. Not to mention when you listen you will only be better equipped to respond and talk within it.

That moves us to the next point, talking too plays a major role in the Groundswell. After listening to what's going on in the Groundswell the next step is to interact and talk. This step is extremely important because it is key to spreading your message. 

Combining these things helps to effectively place yourself or your company within the Groundswell.

New Opportunities

The reading this week out of Groundswell: winning in a world transformed by social technologies discussed the importance of companies being actively involved on the internet and with the Groundswell. Particularly with what companies should hone in on when creating and maintaining social media in regards to the Groundswell. I found this interesting because my parents own a small advertising company in San Antonio named Allied Advertising and the only thing I could think of while reading this chapter is how not involved they are in the Groundswell or even really online for that matter. They could definitely benefit for POST- people, objectives, strategy, and technology. POST is used in building one's groundswell. For the first time I found myself interested in possibly working for my parents which prior to this reading was always a bit of a joke among my family. Every time my parents asked me to work for them I would flat out answer "NO," but it's looking a little more appealing now that I know of something specific that I could do other than screen print (for which I am completely unqualified...for now at least). The Groundswell is opening up opportunities for people to infiltrate the workforce in a completely new and interactive way.

Being active in the Groundswell is crucial for any company that wants to be successful because the social networking sites and blogs can provide ample insight into the strengths and weaknesses of a company as seen by the customers.

Social Trends in a New Realm

Today is Super Bowl Sunday and I can already count nine Facebook statuses that in someway mention this phenomena. I thought the Super Bowl would be an interactive way of explaining how the Groundswell Effect comes into play in everyday circumstances. The Groundswell Effect describes "A social change in which people use technologies to get the things they need from each other, rather than from traditional institutions like corporations" (Li, Bernoff 9). In a nutshell, I took the Groundswell to be the exchange of information that takes place between people through the Internet. The most pertinent part of this is that word on the Internet can travel so quickly that it is impossible to control. Referencing back to the Super Bowl, this effect is bound to take place. As soon as the winner comes out it is going to be everywhere and people with no interest in football are inevitably going to be exposed to the results. Social networking sites play a heavy role in this because sites like Facebook and Twitter are convenient and accessible for people to update and produce information that will be exposed on the web. The Groundswell puts the power of imaging and communication into the hands of the community rather than PR professionals which makes it necessary for them to work differently. Josh Bernoff, co-author of Groundswell, explains how this might be achieved through starting a community


Josh Bernoff of Forrester on Groundswell
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People collaborating both actively and passively greatly contribute to the Groundswell. Those that create, comment, and read all play vital roles in the efficiency of the Groundswell. People use the Internet as a medium for communication and in order for a message to be heard (or in this case read) and in order for that to happen people need to understand how to use the technologies. For instance, my dad has a Facebook that was set up by an employee for him and a few weeks ago I went to his page to find that he had responded to someones comment with "I don't understand how other people can change your page". By this you can see he doesn't understand how Facebook works because in his opinion someone commenting on his page was throwing him out of control of his own page. Understanding the technologies is essential and this also applies towards PR firms who need to work with the Groundswell rather than staying stagnate in old ways of communicating image. GM along with many other companies have created blogs to aide them in forming a positive image for themselves by understanding and working with the Groundswell GM Blog.

Individuals are processing information that spreads across the web and companies must work with this in order to dispel any negative effects of the Groundswell and to magnify any good ones. Basically in this day in age as we watch the Internet and technologies involve the power of communication is more readily accessible to everyday people and we have a greater ability to shape the world around us.