Why Many Companies Just Don’t Get the Web

Times, they are a changin’. Social networks are on the rise, Wikipedia is growing, and web startups are forming out the wazoo. Pre-existing companies are struggling to keep up, and when they do try to stay ahead, they end up looking like they’re trying too hard. For the most part, companies are trying to adapt to the new Internet-driven world, and in the process are making themselves look like dicks to anyone under 35. This is not a rant about the older generations, nor is it a rant about how “those old people just don’t get us”. This is about companies trying too hard to appeal to hype that just isn’t there.

Since the popularization of Twitter, the general non-internet crowd have been licking their chops to get in on the fun of the internet. For some reason, companies all around the world suddenly thought “hey, let’s try to reach out to the younger kids. They go crazy for that Twitter thing!” Microsoft, CNN, Fox News, Chevrolet, Ford, GM, Jet Blue, Mariott Hotel, Kodak, and countless other companies are touting their Twitters as the best thing since sliced bread. There’s nothing wrong with having a Twitter, in fact, I think it’s very beneficial in some cases. What really hits a nerve is when companies begin integrating it into their company work. For example, CNN, the notorious Twitter abusers, constantly refer to what people are saying on Twitter. We get it, the Iran Election ball was dropped and Twitter picked it back up again, but that doesn’t mean I will suddenly care about what @alexman3204 has to say about the state of the economy. They exclaim “it’s real-time news coverage!”. You mean… like cnn.com? There is nothing that @cnn has over cnn.com, and yet, they market it as this revolutionary new advance in news technology. There was nothing wrong with the “old” news reporting systems they had going, and they’re merely tarnishing an already questionable industry of news reporting. Want to do something revolutionary? Provide everyone with free online streaming of CNN for live news.

Companies created during the “internet age” tend to know exactly how to integrate themselves with the latest web trends. They don’t market it as something that it’s not, and provide useful information to boot. A good example of someone who knows what they’re doing is Google. They barely publicized the launch of their @google on Twitter, and yet, they have 1.8 million followers. They understood the concept that if they provide quality content that people will actually care about, the web will publicize it for them.

A few days ago, a company called SwissRe visited my school. They’re an insurance company founded ~140 years ago. Naturally, they are a very conventional company, and with the advent of social networking, they decided to jump on the bandwagon. A representative stood on the stage and droned on about potential opportunities for us in the future, and generally trying to sell the company to us. Near the end, he brings up that they’re investing time in “a social networking platform aimed at the web-two-oh generation”. Right after he said that, I cringed. I knew that this presentation would quickly turn into a man in his 40s telling high school kids how great the web is and how appealing they will now be to us because they’re on Facebook. Bam, right on the money. He said that they recently got Twitter and have created a Facebook group for people to join. Immediately, he spewed out  stuff like “networking possibilities”, “appealing to the connected generation”, and “revolutionizing through the internet”. I think that it’s safe to say that not many people will want to follow an insurance company’s Twitter, let alone join a Facebook group. This is a prime example of abusing technology just because it’s there; companies should only use the web if it truly benefits them as well as their users, or else they risk looking like the assholes who want to be hip.

There are plenty of companies who aren’t necessarily seen as the most trendy or up-to-date with technology who succeed on the web. The reason we see this boom of older companies getting into the social networking scene is because they’re hoping to get a free ride that others have had before. Companies are inventing all of these new words for the web that are supposed to sound great, but in practice, make them seem like they’re trying too hard. There isn’t much that can be done about this. As long as free publicity is around, old business men won’t be too far behind. If someone who is responsible for creating a company Twitter, Facebook group, or anything of the sort is reading this, make sure to take away just one thing: despite what you may think, we aren’t pissing our pants in excitement over your “revolutionary social networking platforms” like you think we are.