A captain of industry in Britain has done something both smart and courageous.
He has decided to shutter the company's social media accounts for all of its hundreds of outlets. It is something that other business leaders should consider doing too!
I write of Tim Martin, chairman of JD Whetherspoon, the British chain of 900 pubs.
Why did Martin make such a move? Because monitoring social media and the associated activities is a "distraction" for the staff, he says, as reported by The Guardian newspaper. He also thinks it has become an impediment to healthy interactions, the sort of thing you might have, say, in one of his multitude of pubs.
The people who aren’t on social media wish that their friends weren’t either, because they seem to be obsessed by it. And people who are on it feel they can’t get off it because they are addicted.
I think Martin is onto something here.
Rather like alcohol, some is beneficial, too much is destructive.
Because some people get addicted to social media, they can't stop themselves, and so they get too much of it. Those addicted to continually checking digital updates are probably finding that their obsession gets in the way of in-person social interactions.
That's a personal and social problem. However, there are also matters of commerce.
What's most important to the business?
For businesses like JD Whetherspoon -- those in the hospitality business -- it isn't entirely clear how social media is a core part of the business. Sure you want people to know your pub is open and ready to serve you a drink (or two) and some food.
But when you have 900 pubs, it's actually hard to not know that JD Whetherspoon is open for business, at least in the United Kingdom. For comparison, McDonald's has around 1200 outlets in the U.K., according to the company website, and Britons know that the famed burger restaurant is open and ready with a jumbo fries.
Social media also has some use in collecting constructive criticism to help the company improve its operations. That is the sort of thing that matters to customer-facing businesses.
However, if the people running such a business get so bogged down in social media that they forget to do the core job of actually running the company, then you have big problems. Typically, the issues that arise won't be easily fixed by a major social media push or marketing campaign. If the food is awful, for instance, the only way to deal with it is to make sure it doesn't happen again. It isn't fixed with a tweet. The fix of the operations comes first, then you let everyone know you made improvements.
Social media versus quality service?
If you are in any doubt about where social media stands in the pecking order of importance, then consider the following. Would a significant social media presence make up for lousy service or a faulty product? Probably it wouldn't. If a company has 5 million followers on a platform, then that won't help fix your flawed new suit that fell to bits on its first outing.
Getting the core job done must always be of paramount importance. Only when that is done should publicising the benefits of the product and "getting the word out" even be considered.
We've all seen expensive and appealing TV advertisements for companies only to run headlong into an alternative reality when actually dealing with the company itself. It can sometimes be a disappointing experience, one in which we, the customers, wonder, wouldn't it have been better to spend the money for the media on improving the service? The answer is far too often, yes.
That is where JD Whetherspoon's Martin has it right for businesses everywhere. Focus on the running the firm's operations and when that runs right, only then get the message out, probably with social media.
Of course, it is worth mentioning that social media has helped connect people in ways that heretofore weren't possible. And that is undoubtedly a good thing. It allows us to keep up with our relatives and friends around the world. That I'm all in favor of keeping, just not to the extent that it gets in the way of life.
