Comments on: The Scoble Comment Controversy Continues

By: Alma

Alma — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 09:34:40 +0000

I use twitter on a regular basis for several reasons including (a) post link to blog posts, (b) chat w/friends, (c) stay updated on my favorite topics, (d) “twitter stock” and (e) vent. Like me many individuals on twitter will post tweets highlighting their frustration with a person, product or service, and ,as with any medium, companies should pay attention to what’s being said about their product/service.

Many companies, including Zappos, Dell and Comcast, have been using twitter to promote their product and enhance customer service. Although I think it’s great, and believe every company should do the same I realize not every company can keep track of what is being said on twitter. To track and monitor conversations requires the following:
- time: the larger the company and network are, the more time it will take to scan conversations
- human resources: Frank Eliason at Comcast has a team of 11 people
- technical resources: several twitter applications need to be used because twitter.com alone isn’t enough

Salesforce’s new add-on for companies to track and group customer complaints on twitter will make twitter a more valuable marketing and branding tool. Starting at $995 a month for five agents Salesforce will track and help answer problems allowing companies who hesitated tracking twitter or were struggling to keep with online conversations.

while I don’t associate Comcast with great customer service, they were one of the first companies using twitter to enhance customer service and can provide Salesforce with training on “twitter etiquette.” Yet, after reading Eliason’s last quote (below) I hope that Salesforce isn’t just working with Eliason’s team to finalize their new add-on.

“Engaging with customers is what works, not PR or marketing or customer-relationship ‘management.’ People respect a company w hen it’s not about the message, it’s about the personal relationship.”

I have to disagree with Eliason. Engaging with customers is customer relationship management are an aspect of PR, and there are many factors that affect a person’s respect towards a company besides “personal relationship.”

By: s jain

s jain — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 21:07:55 +0000

I think fear has been a significant driver in the newspaper industry’s reluctance to adopt and deploy social media tools; doing so would relinquish the power once held by an elite few: those journalists and editors who were at the helm of once prestigious and respected papers, funneling information to readers in an exchange that was primarily one-way. Tools like twitter enable citizen journalism, giving the once passive recipient of data the ability to disseminate stories and control the flow of information to their “followers.” The active participation in the development of news stories may not bode well with the “old dogs” that have maintained a level of power for decades. I do agree with the Gartner report that finds newspapers guilty of failing to leverage what influences internet users to seek online content in the first place and truly engage brand loyal readers; these readers can then turn into brand stewards that influence their followers. The end result would bode well for the currently battered and bruised bottom line. Also, I too believe that papers aren’t doing enough to take advantage of the social power of their readers – tools like a robust search engine within a newspaper site would most certainly engender some ‘paper’ loyalty. For example, though I am a paid subscriber of the WSJ, I am most disheartened by the limited capabilities of its search engine – I can barely find the stories I want using their key word search. What then, is the point of paying such a high subscription rate? Papers need to give us a reason to stay engaged with their online forum – the best way to accomplish this is to provide us with the social media apparatus that is now the “status quo” of the internet.

By: Erinn Dumas

Erinn Dumas — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 21:02:37 +0000

Since the emergence of the Internet, people have been using email for multiple purposes, including pitching stories to news reporters/ journalist. Robert Scobles’ rant about Public Relations professionals emailing pitches, and the PR profession as whole, was unnecessary and over the top. Scobles rant seems like he is stuck in the past and wants to be pampered.

I personally have had pitched ideas to radio stations and newspapers and both have told me to send my information via email. Being that Scoble has made a living from creating a prominent “Tech blog”, his comments seem even more outlandish. Scoble needs to get mad at the persons that have made this common practice rather than the PR professionals.

Another interesting point that was made during the podcast was when Frank, the Comcast employee said that public relations, marketing and CRM are less important than customer service/ interaction. It is clear that Frank is ignorant about the fact that without public relations, marketing and CRM, a company would not have customer service and customer interaction. Customer service is just as vital to company as proper customer service if not more.

By: Raquel Fuentes

Raquel Fuentes — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 20:52:24 +0000

I have read, heard and digested all the comments on Scoble, and I hope this conversation has run its course because I, for one, don’t want to hear any more about Scoble. All of the commentaries were valid. I liked Alice Marshall’s comparison of lame PR emails to a dog with fleas, they’ll always be some around. It’s a little graphic, but she made a point. I also liked Robert French’s comment that Scoble is in his own little tech world, a small bubble in California. Scoble is offbase because he’s commenting based on his narrow exposure to PR. Okay, I can buy that. Even Mark Story’s passionate, yet logical, comments were on point. But at the end of the day it boils down to this, someone with, clearly, no credibility within the public relations field made some comments that are way off base about an industry that he knows nothing about. At this point, we’re just fanning his cewebity status even more and giving him an even bigger platform to do his grandstanding on regarding topics he knows nothing about.

The twitter story really struck a cord with me, and I have to disagree Neville. He said he’d pay $5 a month for a commercial account, but it’s worth much more than that to the average corporation. A tool that serves a company as an early warning system about potential problems and becomes, as Neville called it, a listening tool which enables a company to detect and correct problems before they become prevalent is very powerful. The Comcast example was a good one where people were twitting on a problem at 4am before the calling center opened at 7am. Any company out there will recognize it as such and pay a lot more than $5 for it.

By: Alec Jeffries

Alec Jeffries — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 20:40:25 +0000

Mr. Robert “Squabble” Scoble’s elitist mentality and “crony journalism” practices fit his posh “celweberty” profile nicely. I am rather impressed with his shrewd ability to gain the spotlight and form a heated debate surrounding his provocative comments. In the words of Sir Winston Churchill, “Kites rise highest against the wind, not with it.”

The follow-up discussion on For Immediate Release: The Hobson & Holtz Report episode number 434 displayed Mr. Scoble’s depth in followers, both supporters and skeptics. It seems as though Mr. Scoble has the attention of many well-seasoned public relations practitioners and has thoroughly pissed off a number of outspoken critics.

Mr. Scoble’s political campaign tactics have boosted his blog ratings and solidified his die-hard tech fan base. His comments, while extremely distasteful, have also raised an important question among public relations practitioners regarding the public’s view of public relations tactics.

One supporter, Mr. John Aravosis, articulates his support for Mr. Scoble’s comments by highlighting his junk mail on AMERICAblog (www.americablog.com). What I do not hear from Mr. Aravosis, and other Scoble followers, are the success stories and random pitches that have gained traction.