Social Media | FabianPattberg.com

Category Archives - Social Media

This is a category where I am providing information on the latest trends and developments I have come across in the social media and networking field as well as some other resources all related to the Internet.

Is Facebook mutating into a money-making machine?

February 2, 201212:31 am

2 Comments

I just heard about the upcoming Facebook IPO via mashable and needed to write a quick post about it as I feel that this development has a significant CSR angle to it.

The CSR angle of the Facebook IPO

The big problem I see is that Facebook is getting to powerful and influential due to its extreme high valuation ($15 billion USD+) and the consequential interest of global investors that are after one thing only: Making lots of money.

Facebook’s purpose in my view, is to provide us with a platform to connect with our friends and family. And to me it seems that an IPO will in a way sell our personal information and relationships to the shareholders of Facebook. And this is not right. It is actually very wrong.

As a responsible business Facebook should focus on providing us with the best possible personal global social networking site and not mutate into a global money-making machine out to let us pay for premium features or inundating us with the latest PR exercise of a global car manufacturer for example.

I really like Facebook don’t get me wrong but if Facebook will mutuate into this money-making machine once it is a publicly-listed company, then I am surely leaving it for good as I do not want to be part of this website anyone.

This is my view on this. What is yours?

Twitter is the most popular Sustainability / CSR Social Media channel

January 29, 20124:33 pm

4 Comments

Last week I conducted a poll aimed at identifying the most popular Social Media channel for your Sustainability / CSR topics. The result was unambiguous really.

Twitter is the most popular Social Media channel for Sustainability / CSR topics.

These are the results in numbers:

Twitter with 73% (40 votes)
Facebook with 11% (6 votes)
Google+ with 15% (8 votes)
LinkedIn with 16% (9 votes)
Other with 7% (4 votes)

What does this mean?

Two main messages really.
(1) If you are intending to communicate any kind of Sustainability / CSR message, the Social Media channel you should use as your primary channel is Twitter.
(2) Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+ are alternatives but at this point not really considered as useful as Twitter.

What are your thoughts on this result? All views are welcomed.

Your CSR / Sustainability world in 2012: What could you do different?

December 21, 20113:14 pm

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A strange title I know but the purpose of this post is very simple. What could you do as a CSR / Sustainability professional in 2012 different to 2011?

I have listed three points, which I feel are very important and useful for everyone working the CSR / Sustainability field across the globe.

Point 1 : Why not strive to learn more about CSR / Sustainability?

This is what I have set myself as a goal for 2012. I have been working in the field for a long time now but I find that I also need to read more CSR / Sustainability related literature (books & ebooks) on a regular basis. My daily routine includes reading my favourite blogs via my RSS reader but I noticed that I am not reading enough published CSR / Sustainability literature anymore. This might sound like a very simple thing to do but I have noticed that during the daily routine I usually do not give myself the time to read books that provide me with a more in-depth viewpoint or information background.

I will now brush up on CSR / Sustainability classics such as Simon Zadek’s The Civil Corporation: The New Economy of Corporate Citizenship and John Elkington’s The Chrysalis Economy: How Citizen CEOs and Corporations Can Fuse Values and Value Creation, just to name two very insightful CSR / Sustainability classics.

Point 2: Write more about what you do

I assure you that once you read more about CSR / Sustainability, you would want to write more about it as well. This does not mean that you have to have a full-fledged blog. Easy does it in my view. If you do not want to have a blog then why sart email conversations with friends, colleagues, etc about CSR / Sustainability topics. This is a great way to digest the information you have just read or learned in my experience.

Point 3: Communicate more via Social Media

Communicating using Social Media is an easy thing to say, I know. But why don’t you give yourself 10 minutes each day to tweet via Twitter or post interesting information on your LinkedIn page. It does not have to be more time you spend each day or every other day. If you keep up this routine, I am assuring you that you will have a lot of fun doing this and at the same time will have the opportunity to get to know lots of likeminded people from across the globe reaching out to you and the information you are sharing.
If you are looking to get started in Social Media and do not know where to start, then this posts from a few months ago should help you with that: My current Social Media dilemma.

So what are you waiting for? Start doing something different today to change your life tomorrow for the better.

Consolidation in the CSR Social Media field

July 16, 20119:04 am

1 Comment

This week saw an interesting development in the CSR / Sustainability field. JustMeans was acquired by 3blMedia. This is the link to the press release. I have had several emails and messages on Twitter and Google+ asking me what I thought about this new development. Here is what I make of it.

My View

I think this development is a sign of the current difficult economic times as well as normal consolidation in any kind of business sector. In my view JustMeans was going in no particular direction over the past months and seemed to slowly go away as a player in the CSR / Sustainability Social Media world. Toby Webb wrote about this several months ago and made some very good points.

This new development might kickstart another phase of interesting development for the site. I also hope that this acquisition does not mean that JustMeans will simply be another news outlet for 3blMedia. I am a strong believer in the fact that good content is the key to any websites success. If 3blMedia will focus on this strong content creation and engagement in a “non-marketing” and “honest” way I would expect the site to be a growing community for professionals in the field. This is what JustMeans wanted to be from the start after all. I hope they will succede with this new leadership. Best of luck from my side.

This is my take on the acquisition. What is yours?

The current Social Media Network dilemma & advice

July 7, 201110:55 am

1 Comment

WIth the arrival of Google+ , Google’s answer to Facebook, the choice which Social Media Network to use just got more complicated (Link to the Google+ News)

With so much choice these days we are are clearly left with the dilemma which Social Media Network best fits our needs and wants. Here is what I am doing and would recommend for the time being.

Twitter

This is still my absolute favorite network to share information on. To me it seems that Twitter is also maturing at the moment. Most people I connect with on Twitter know what they are talking about and have been on Twitter for a while now (i.e. know what they want from this Network). This is a good sign for the quality conversations and interaction in my view.

My advice: Use Twitter as your number one Social Media Network. There is no better alternative out there at the moment.

Facebook

I like Facebook and when I started to share more business related information a few months back, the feedback I got was and still is pretty mixed. For me the big question with Facebook is whether I am not annoying all other friends with this business information when they are expecting more of a personal note. Facebook is intended to be more personal after all.

My advice: Use Facebook mainly for personal connections. A way to differentiate networks is not really possible at the moment.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a great site to host your online CV if you want to call it that. But I am not using it other then as an automatic outlet for my Twitter updates. LinkedIn in my view is the classic example of a great Social Network that is not being used enough from my side at the moment unfortunately.

My advice: Use LinkedIn on a limited basis at the moment. It is great for your personal CV, etc but not really for engaging a wider network of people you do not know so far.

Google+

Google+ is the new player in town. I have managed to get in while it is still in the testing phase and must say that I really like it. It is much simpler and “cleaner” in comparison to Facebook. The idea I have once Google+ is open to everyone, is that I will use this Social Media Network as my second CSR / Sustainability information outlet next to Twitter and limit my Facebook updates to purely personal updates.

My advice: Signup with Google+ and start creating your professional so called “Circles”. I am sure Google+ will be successful. Once more people sign up, you will see that it is a Social Media Network which will enable you to share relevant information for the intended networks at a click of a button.