Julie Minevich

I date. I dig Social Media. And I spend a lot of time thinking about both. Because the problem is, like I always say, that in dating and in social media, it’s the blind leading the blind. Well, now, I think it’s time to pin down some answers. And that is what has inspired “Dating 2.0″ category on this blog. In each post, we tackle dating situations made sticky by this wired world we live in. I ask for your opinion. I give you mine. It’s fun, I promise. And maybe we’ll even set some standards along the way.

So far, we’ve tackled whether or not it is acceptable to getting a potential date’s phone number off Facebook and at what point to Facebook someone you are dating.

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The digital dating dilemma of the day deals with the post-date “thank you” note. I think anyone who dates will agree that the process is almost like an interview at times. And so, the same way a follow-up note is almost mandatory for success during the hiring process, the same can be said for dating. In 1980, the only option to convey the message would have been through a phone call. In 2000, an e-mail might have provided another avenue of communication. But in 2010, with so many options, what’s the best medium to use?

Photo Credit: iain

I was recently interviewed by Alexa Lee of The Daily Universe, Brigham Young University’s student newspaper, for an article she was writing about twentysomethings who are successful at using new media as business ventures. I have provided a sneak peak of the article below.

(Please note: This is the second in a three part series – Read part one and come back next week to read two more questions that I was asked along with my answers.)

What do consumers want from new media?

New media has without a doubt shifted the consumer to corporation relationship. Before the emergence and, now, the continuing widespread adoption of new media, consumers were not empowered to speak about their experiences with different companies and their respective brands. Now, everyone is a journalist, a food critic, a photographer… Consumers want to be, as a whole, more active in their relationships with brands. If they don’t like something, they now expect that the company will listen to their complaint and do something about it.

A recent example of this was AT&T’s pricing structure when the new iPhone 3GS was released. AT&T customers thought the proposed prices were unfair and protested – through Twitter and blog posts. In the end, AT&T relented and modified its structure. That sort of interaction would not have been possible in the pre-new media era. (An example of the Twitter petition I referenced can be found here: http://twitition.com/f96aq.)

How is today’s communications environment different from even a year ago?

A year ago, the general public was becoming increasingly more aware that these new online tools existed, but I think the overall consensus was that it was just for the “youngsters”. There are a number of reasons why new media has exploded recently, but I think that the role of President Obama’s campaign in this revolution cannot be underestimated. The campaign did a great job of leveraging these new tools to create a community of active and vocal supporters. The resulting tangible, quantifiable success forced those working in marketing and PR roles to stop and consider integrating new media into their overall strategy.

Before, an online communications strategy most likely included creating content for a website and sending out periodic e-mails to an organization’s customers or constituents. It was very much just a “push strategy”, the thinking being, “we’re putting out the information we want and we think is valuable”. Now, it’s much more of a two-way street. The organizations that are seeing results from new media are those that are actively engaging their supporters – and even their critics.