Social Networking in the Car Biz - Times are Changing
June 15th, 2008 | by Paul Rushing Published in social networking
I have always been a proponent of “Social Networking” online it is an awesome way for people to share their experiences, strengths, hopes and problems. Anyone that have been online for any length of time has experienced social networking to some extent via myspace, facebook, twitter, forums, blogs, yelp, napster, linkedin and various other platforms. Web 2.0 encompasses the transfer of ideas among friends, peers and colleagues.
Since my return to the car biz I have met many people across the country. I have made contacts at every level inside of this industry from OEM contacts to salespeople on the ground all via social networking. I have even had people seek out my opinion, kinda scary in a way.
Social networking is about contributing to the communities that you belong to and making contacts. Sometimes it is in a marketing environment sometimes it is to contribute an increased concisenesses regarding issues that concern you and many times it is seeking help. All of which are valid reasons to participate in online communities and discussions.
What you take away from these interactions can enrich you in your family, your relationships and yes even your career. To many times though in the automotive niche social networking platforms are bastardized to become marketing arms for the people who create them and you dare not disagree with their opinion less they try to denigrate your position without adding to the conversation. Then again it is their platform and they can do with it what they wish and elevate their status as an industry pariah in an attempt to market dated products and cookie cutter solutions.
I have even refused to publish comments here that did not contribute to the conversation because a vendor was being caustic in their responses and trying to take pop shots at my opinion without contributing anything more than marketing their services. It is my platform and I can do with it as I will, it is my voice my domain and may have even caused me to lose some traction in the industry at the vendor support level. Then again they are not my audience so it really does not concern me.
The dealer community is not being serviced by the the current social networks in place now, however that paradigm is changing with the launch of DrivingSales.com. I have been in contact with the founder and the primary objective is to give the dealers their space for the transfer of ideas and allow them to hold vendors accountable. We have discussed some of the things that are to be announced in their community and it is exciting and a breath of fresh air after seeing how under served the retail side of the business really is.
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