There's a lot of kerfuffle about town. The consumer is king, the power is shifting! Business beware! But what does this all mean? Is the rising social media class really something of concern? Is the market really about to get a whole lot more competitive. Perhaps this social media thing's just a fad?
Social media is becoming more mobile. Twitter just released location-based tweets to compete with emerging players like Foursquare. A story to illustrate;
It's an ordinary Wednesday afternoon and you park the car, nudging between to concrete pillions in your local supermarket. The vehicle's central locking "beep" "beeps" as you walk past shopping trolleys towards the double sliding door entry. Glancing down at your mobile, you check out the store map and begin browsing through the latest specials. All of a sudden you notice a green glow on your screen and a moment of curiosity sweeps over. A small store named Joe's Coffee is shining, what's this all about? Prodding your touch screen, you zoom in on the green cloud and notice a coffee store previously unnoticed, tucked away in a corner; Joe says "the service here is fantastic", Jenny says "the coffee is divine", and 700 tweets this week say the same thing. Meanwhile, a red glow radiates from your usual coffee store and a few more finger swipes bring this to your attention. Kenny says, "why doesn't this manger ever smile"? Dan tweets "great, my coffee is warm, not even close to hot", Melissa says "this guy gives me the creeps, and look at this table" "Kate say "my order was wrong and I was refused a refund".
What's all this kerfuffle about social media? Should business owners be concerned about mobile and location-based updating?
Consumer thoughts are going social, and they're here, now.