Today, I came across 2 different examples of social media being used in very different ways. One of them is a very good use, and the other one is an example of very bad use of social media.
Let me see if you can tell which is which.
First, I present you with this press release from Matt Bacak posted on PRWeb:
Next I present you with this little ditty from Ford CEO Alan Mulally:
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Did you figure it out?
In my opinion, the Bacak press release is very disingenuous. People that are on twitter know that part of twitter success is not so much in how many people follow you, but in how many people you follow. I’m not impressed by the number of followers that he has, but rather by the number of people that he follows. As of this writing, it’s 32. What that tells me, is that he’s not interested in what I have to say, he’s only interested in what he has to say.
This guy, has taken twitter and instead of using it for a two way conversation tool, like the folks over at http://www.twitter.com/thehomedepot are doing and turned it into what is essentially a megaphone.
It’s just an avenue for him to talk to me, and nothing more.
There are other internet marketing people on Twitter with many more followers that are following many more people. Those other internet marketers don’t put out press releases like that. Besides, if you look at the real list of the twitterati, aka the twitterholics, you can see that this Bacak guy is nowhere near the top tier of twitter users.
Another thing, where did Bacak and company get their stats? I see no 3rd party verification of their numbers.
That press release, is nothing more than a load of B.S. Just a cursory check on twitterholic, reveals that there are more than a million twitter users.
Ford, on the other hand, is doing a great job of damage control.
Ford and company looked like a bunch of jackasses after their congressional testimony a few weeks ago when all the automaker company CEOs flew to DC in private jets. Now, Mulally is driving a Ford hybrid SUV and they’ve got a full blown social media campaign going on to soften their image. Ford doesn’t need a bail out, they need a “bridge loan.”
Mulally even went as far as to say that he’ll work for $1 a year if Ford gets money from the fed. Nice symbolic move on his behalf.
What’s the lesson here?
I think the lesson is in the authenticity and genuineness of the person trying to lead the tribe. Bacak’s press release is all about him. Mulally’s video, is all about you and how Ford’s collapse could affect you.
What do you think?
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