Social Media - Facebook

If I had to define my social technographic profile, I would belong in the Spectator category. There are 48% of the U.S adult population besides me who fall in this category, while only 18% are actual Creators in groundswell. So, what are my usual habits as a Spectator? I always read reviews for a product online before buying it but never return to add my own feedback about the product after buying it. Going to Wikipedia to learn about a subject is like a second nature to me. However, I have never contributed a single word of literary knowledge to that data base. The closest I have come to creating material via social media is from a medium which I think has the strongest influence in my day to day life – Facebook.

I love to go on Facebook and read updates on my friends' profile. There are so many friends I wish I could stay connected with, but just can't due to time constraint and the physical distance between us. Just like everyone else who uses Facebook, I have numerous acquaintances I have connected with over the years to stay updated on any major changes in their life. What pleasure do I get going on Facebook at least once a day? Having the knowledge about my friends' whereabouts helps me feel connected to them. Also, their status updates keeps me well informed of what they think about a new movie or a new gadget that might have come out. For example, when the movie Avatar came out, I saw numerous updates on people's profile commenting on the 3D-technology used in the movie. From those comments I realized that the best movie watching experience will come from going to a 3D IMAX theatre. I also gauged the comments about the movie experience based on what I knew of the person commenting; having the entire profile of that person in front of me just aided my judgment. I also realized that the technology could cause me a major eye strain due to the imperfect 3D quality of the movie. However, the numerous updates about Avatar added to the already built hype and I vowed to watch the movie in IMAX 3D even if it required a long wait of 1.5 weeks to acquire the tickets. Just like expected, I did leave the theatre with extremely strained eyes and a headache. Despite the uncomfortable viewing experience, I had to agree that the technology used to make the movie was superb and I as well gave it good feedback in my own status update.

Movie makers have a great potential of promoting their film via Facebook. A fan or the PR for the movie itself can create a fan club for the movie on Facebook. As more and more people join the fan club, the awareness of the movie increases even before the movie comes out. Of course, the increase in the number of fans after the movie is released causes even the uninterested customers to get excited about the movie. For example, I never planned on watching the Sex and the City II since I have low expectations of that movie. However, seeing the advertisement about the movie on Facebook and now being aware that the movie will be released in May, I am excited. If I chose, I could have "Like" the fact that the movie is being released. This would have created a chain effect as my friends would have seen my action in Live Feed section of Facebook. I am sure there are SATC fans out there who will ensure every other SATC fan knows that the movie is coming out soon…all via Facebook. The bonding experience a fan club can create only intensifies the connection that is built between the fans and the movie itself. Suppose the name of the fan club is "I can't wait to watch SATC II," then the PR of this movie can benefit greatly by watching the comments closely and enhancing the fans' expectations further by analyzing the ethnographic profile of the fan club. Of course, having Facebook profile of the main characters of the movie makes the connection to the fans more real. All four main characters of SATC have Facebook profiles. If the movie maker chooses, these character profiles can have updated comments made by the characters themselves on the new fashion trends, or events that may happen in their virtual life, aiding the start of the hype associated with this movie. The movie maker can even gauge the initial success of the movie amongst the Facebook users based on the positive or negative feedback. They can add a poll asking what the Facebook members think of the upcoming movie. Does it have a positive expectation or is the movie expected to be a flop? Maybe the feedback from the first movie caused the director to think about making a sequence to that movie. Facebook is just another way of gaining customer insight from the target customers. The potential emerging from creating a profile, fan club, games, or gifts is immense. If exploited correctly, Facebook can help movie industry tremendously.

Wal-Mart – the mega power

Wal-Mart pioneered the data collection from its customers to enhance the Wal-Mart experience of selling everything at everyday low prices. Using the data, Wal-Mart is able to predict the needs of its customers based on their location and demographical information. This definitely makes the mega store more efficient with lean operations compared to its competitors. The one-stop shopping experience and the everyday low prices gives Wal-Mart a competitive advantage over its competitors who are wailing away trying to copy the Wal-Mart way. The ability to respond quickly to customer demands can be very powerful. Everyone wants to go to a store that carries everything they need without worrying about out-of-stock scenarios. Wal-Mart's intense data gathering ensures this never happens. Its ability to recognize changes in customers' habits and take appropriate measure to fulfill their needs makes it unique.

Wal-Mart has not only required its competitors to become more efficient to survive in this economical times, it has also set extremely high standard for its suppliers. Those who do not meet the highest operating efficiency, or the lowest supplier cost, are dropped by Wal-Mart. The suppliers who have betted the success of their company on Wal-Mart by supplying mostly to Wal-Mart end up either pioneering the most efficient production methods or losing the battle against other suppliers and losing Wal-Mart as its customers. If you do become a Wal-Mart supplier, you have no freedom of choice. Wal-Mart will make you keep detailed data of your own inventory and a way to track it efficiently and with depth. Wal-Mart understands the importance of data collection and the amount of information you can derive from it. Hence, Wal-Mart has caused suppliers to become more efficient in data collection and will soon make it a requirement. Wal-Mart is now planning on sharing its burden of collecting massive amount of data with its suppliers. Ultimately, I can see Wal-Mart as being the one who monitors the interaction between the supplier and the consumers with Wal-Mart providing a channel of distribution and the suppliers tracking the needs of the customers directly.

All the data collection ultimately gives useful information only when it can be correlated with customer information and preferences. It is great that Wal-Mart can decipher what the customers want and ensures their needs are met at the lowest price. But, who is watching out for customers' private information? It makes me extremely uncomfortable to know that by cashing my monthly paycheck at Wal-Mart, I will be compromising my identity. They will know everything about me, including my SSN and driver's license. Why do they need to know my SSN? Doesn't the government always state to never reveal our SSN? Then how can Wal-Mart feel entitled to storing these data from its customers who are trusting Wal-Mart to securely verify our identity without storing them? I understand the need for proper identification to ensure the paychecks are cashed by the appropriate person. However, I see no justification in Wal-Mart's choice to store this data, without willing consent of the customers. It is one thing to store data to ensure the next trip to Wal-Mart doesn't take as long due to verification process. It is another thing to store the data for market analysis purposes.

My main concern comes from Wal-Mart's possible failure to securely handle the vast amount of data or to stay true to its belief of not abusing its data to manipulate the happenings in the society in an intangible way. Wal-Mart monitors how efficiently and honestly the suppliers provide the goods to Wal-Mart. Who is watching Wal-Mart to ensure they are not using all this data for an ulterior motive that hasn't been revealed yet. All you need is one stray Wal-Mart CEO whose vision does not align with the company strategy and everything could change. All you need is one security leak or hack on the Wal-Mart's database and millions of customer's identity could be jeopardize. I believe the government should regulate Wal-Mart's effort to secure the data collection and also monitor how the data is being used. If the government could perform an audit on the Wal-Mart methodology of data collection and analysis and ensure the customers that their privacy is not being compromised, I would feel much comfortable. However, knowing how massive Wal-Mart is and the power it holds in certain countries, I doubt the government will have the power to audit the self-proclaimed auditor.