Hey, where'd y'all go?

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For our society being as rooted in the digital space as it is, far too often I come across inactive social media accounts of businesses - both profitable businesses and nonprofits or government organizations. Sometimes, the account is new or "fresh" with no content ever posted, which leads me to believe that the business created the account merely to snag their name or "handle" on that platform to ensure no one else could. However, many of these instances consist of me finding an account that has had zero activity from the company in weeks, over a month, or as long as 3 years or even 8 years. At a certain point, I wonder if anyone who matters in the company ever checks outside interaction with these accounts and posts. Should I bother following them? Is any of the information about the company on that social media platform still relevant? Would I have a better experience bringing my time and/or money to another company who invests more time with their online community? Is this company even still open? If they're not using this account anymore, what happened and does that translate to anything that would affect me as a customer, patron, or guest online or when visiting their physical establishment? What social media platforms do they actually utilize that I should be checking out and messaging them on? So many questions pop into my mind, when finding inactive company social media accounts. In just the past couple weeks I have found a handful accounts like these from local libraries, area nonprofits, and more, and I do not know why. My wonder after the experience is... do these organizations not realize the impact of having inactive social media accounts can have on existing or potential users of said organization? 

Ketchum has a great article from September of 2019 that is still relevant to the issue. Inactivity: the silent social media killer discusses how companies create social media accounts on emerging platforms and then later abandon those accounts including the impacts of this practice to the businesses as a whole. Potentially very helpful to organizations large or small four tips that Ketchum provides for these inactive social media accounts. If more businesses applied these strategies to their various social accounts, then maybe we as consumers would not come across virtual dead-ends so frequently. 

How do you feel when you find inactive company social media accounts? What questions do you think of when this happens? How might the inactivity of social media impact you interacting with the organization? 

Comments

  1. Anna V.November 7, 2023 at 7:58 PM

    When this happens, it's a bit disappointing. It makes me feel like I've invested this time into this brand that I really like. Meanwhile, I'm still a fan and still purchasing their products, and there is nothing new from them. It does make me wonder, like you say in your post, if I should go with a company that invests more time with their online community.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Samantha MatherneNovember 7, 2023 at 8:07 PM

      I like how your thought process causes me to think about many of these companies still being open, despite one or more inactive social media accounts, but are they still worth our time? I know B&N is always there for my book needs, but on TikTok I can send my local indie bookstore a quick, encouraging message on a huge book release day and actually get a reaction or response soon after. That sense of community between organizations and us matters.

      Delete
  2. Ellen DooleyNovember 7, 2023 at 8:35 PM

    While I've heard of domain names being snagged and bartered for, I hadn't thought of that as it could apply to social media sites. It is annoying when some companies or organizations hat seem like they would have a more active presence don't, but I think the questions you posed show how varied the situation might be and that the questions are hard to answer -much probably has to do with staffing/funding, but the advice at the end of the Ketchum piece is spot-on: "Don’t be afraid to shutdown and consolidate social media accounts. It’s better to have a great presence in a few places than a poor presence across multiple platforms". It doesn't take much disable or suspend them and, if they didn't have a solid plan in the first place (another piece of advice from the Ketchum author), they should rethink their approach.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Samantha MatherneNovember 8, 2023 at 6:56 AM

      I echo your sentiments exactly. Social media is a great asset to any organization, but only if the accounts are actually used.

      Delete

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