Looking for someone new to blame the recession on? How about social networking tool Twitter?
A new study by Harvard economist Martin Schmeldon suggests that Twitter, a social utility tool for real time connections with others, has had a significant impact on the downturn in American productivity.
I believe a tool is only as good as the person using it, and in the case of many employees it comes down to personal time management and a good leader. Facebook, Myspace, Twitter and other social media tools can be highly effective, cost-cutting forms of marketing (note: they are rarely a stand-alone marketing solution) and can reach a broad demographic - it is up to managers to ensure these tools are used effectively and appropriately in order to yield results.
It is further compacted by managers switching marketing efforts entirely to one avenue, anticipating rapid and high results. This is a super high risk strategy at the best of times, and again it is a case of decisions by the marketing manager, rather than the impact of a tool created to expedite communications.
Before canning it completely, examine Twitters strengths and weaknesses.
Or perhaps just use it to follow Sockington.
Image courtesy of kaspersorensen.com
