A storm erupted on Facebook last week after Woolworths announced that it would be removing Christian magazines from its shelves.
Angry Christian customers called Woolies “anti-Christian” and “hypocritical”, with some helpfully pointing out that Woolies had better make sure it repents before Judgement Day.
Woolies backed down a few hours later. The reversal of its initial decision was heralded, in some circles, as a triumph of social media, as an indication that the consumer, through forums such as Facebook and Twitter, finally has a voice that big business cannot ignore.
But is this really the case? Do South African consumers know how to use social media channels to their advantage, and do companies know how to deal with it?
Social media expert Melissa Attree told the Mail & Guardian: “In this country, it is still so new. Woolworths is one of the big ones, but even then, it took something like this to make people realise that they are active in the space.”
Although, thus far, there haven’t been that many cases where online opinion has influenced big business, the number of people who have discovered the power of an online audience, and online allies, is increasing.
‘Abusing social media’
Attree is worried about the fact that consumers are slowly coming around to the idea that these forums are a place for them to make their complaints heard, without any obligation to engage with the business in question and start a dialogue that would lead to improvements. “Customers are abusing social media. There is a mob mentality and companies are being held to ransom. Companies will see these complaints, but, until the customer gives over their details, which many are not interested in doing, it is difficult for the company to create a dialogue.”
So should the companies bother with social media at all? Attree agrees that in the case of the Woolworths debacle, the “power” of the consumers who used Facebook as a forum was overestimated, and thinks that traditional customer service methods need to be embraced.
“People don’t really have any need to interact with a brand. People might want to talk to ‘cool’ brands, if they think they are going to get something out of it, but when it comes to service brands, the only reason to speak to them is to complain. Is it really worth the resources? The bottom line is, if you don’t have the facilities to manage these forums properly, and if the channels are not in place to deal with it, it is useless.
“Rather concentrate on call centres, traditional channels. And use tools on Twitter, and Google Alerts, to see how often you are mentioned, and make your decisions based on that.”