CEO’s want work – youngsters want Facebook

Last week, more or less every Danish media told the story that more than one out of three Danish companies ban the use of social media like Facebook during work hours. The stories were based on a survey from the Danish organisation for directors, ”Lederne”.

Read more about the survey from “Lederne”

There are plenty of reasons to restrict or maybe even ban the use of social media during work hours. But there are also many positive things to be said about the use of social media. Maybe your company doesn´t see the advantages of allowing the use of social media today, but they ought to consider the consequences of banning social media today.

The target groups prevail after the perfect storm

Finally, I found time to read Peter Svarre’s book ”Den Perfekte Storm” (read: ”The Perfect Storm”). It is excellent. Pragmatically, well written and it sharply delivers the tools at a systemic level, to take on the chaotic social medias that have created disorder in the good old structured and calm media universe. And as Timme Bisgaard Munk from the Danish network of professional communicators ”Kommunikationsforum” sums it up, you will consume this book like a crime novel. I did too.

Just a cautionary note

Peter Svarre has a pool of social media friends that have helped him with the book. But the book suffers from it – because it is seen through the eyes of a group of social media first movers (critics would say digital high brow inbreeds). Give me segments: Blue, green, blurry, faithless, postmodern target groups that speak with many voices. Just to mention a few parameters I miss. Has he totally rejected conventional communications tools as old school and out dated?

The ambiguous segment

Communication professionals consider segments before anything else. We can’t help it. When we begin a new project, conduct an analysis or gather for lunch – yes, it’s almost that extreme – we immediately think of our target audiences.

But something has caught my attention lately: the fashion-culture-eco-music-literature-café-blog-people obviously belong to a certain segment. But their blog behaviour says otherwise.

Follow me:

Community minded, egocentric or something else?

Culture, ecology and literature are the characteristics of one segment. In Denmark, we call these people “spelt people”. They are the community minded, those who value solidarity and fellowship more than the individual.

But I have noticed them posting pictures of themselves reading books, eating ice cream and promoting their personal, organic beauty products or their new dress. So my question is: are you really community minded when you – in a café with your ‘spelt friends’ – take pictures of the ecological elder flower juice on the table instead of your friends? To me, it tastes a little more like individualism and materialism…