Comments on: If You Don’t Embrace The Web, It Shows You Don’t Care

By: Susan

Susan — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 19:15:00 +0000

Adam, I totally agree and to those who do not, I’m puzzled. When we are moving closer and closer to a society that spends 8-10 of our waking hours plugged in (new research shows kids aged 8-18 spend this much time using tech) if we are not in the space where people hang out, we either don’t care or are arrogant. In a few short years those kids are our clients. No matter what industry we are in.

I’m a medical professional and rail at other professionals who refuse to be online. Over 60% of Americans look for medical info online. If I’m not there, I don’t care about 60% of my patients. Personally I search restaurants, doctors, gym memberships, after school activities/camps, grocery shopping, etc online and if I try to find a business or a professional online I don’t trust them and won’t give them my business.
When it costs close to free and takes less than an hour to throw up a blog, I see no reason why a serious business or freelancer would refuse to go online.

By: Craig McGill

Craig McGill — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 03:24:55 +0000

I think it’s harsh to say that you don’t care if you don’t embrace online. It just may be that they don’t have a reason to be there.

Adam, I think that there will be companies who will go anywhere that helps them make a buck without looking to add value to the online experience – budget airlines come to mind – but let’s also be quite fair here: Apple don’t do much either…

Not everyone needs – or wants to be online and I think trying to get everyone to be online can lead to false hopes and many disappointments. Yes, some people will miss out by not embracing online, but some companies and people always miss out on opportunities by not doing something.

Happy New Year and all the best for 2010 BTW.

By: Laurel Miltner

Laurel Miltner — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 14:51:58 +0000

The money statement in here, to me, is “But there will be less and less patience, hand-holding and opportunity for organizations, politicians and even professionals who don’t learn to function proficiently in an internet-literate society.”

I think you make a valid point that in the communications industry, it has become vital to interact online. To expand upon the thought I called out above, though, it’s also becoming extremely important to do it well.

For a time I think many people gave organizations, especially smaller/local ones, a lot of leeway in their Web interactions, accepting that they were new to the medium and hoping that they would learn from the community. However, I think that patience will continue to fade this year as more and more companies jump online solely to market and sell, without making valid contributions or embracing their communities.

Thanks for sharing,
Laurel (@laurelmackenzie)

By: Adam Singer

Adam Singer — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 04:09:37 +0000

Hey Ari – I don’t disagree with you. However this post is speaking to those in the communications industry. And those in that industry who don’t embrace the web – I stand by that they don’t care.

By: Ari Herzog@Social Media Strategies

Ari Herzog@Social Media Strategies — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 17:47:26 +0000

Oh please, Adam. There are plenty of good reasons why an organization MAY NOT WANT TO embrace the web and it may have nothing to do with lack of care or ignorance.

The pharmaceutical industry, for instance, thrives on this concept called competitiveness and another called trade secrets, whereby networking outside of the office and associational meetings may be construed as bad, let alone poor judgment by the FDA.

The real estate industry is dominated by old men and old women who consider the fax machine and the pen, not the cell phone and computer, the best tools to conduct business.

Auto repair shops and non-chain restaurants who receive business and annual profits from word of mouth may have zero footprints online other than Yelp and Citysearch reviews. Are they caring any less?

I know what you mean, but you can’t make a blanket statement.