In this article contributed by David Kirkpatrick, Kirkpatrick talks about we have “entered the age of empowered individuals, who use potent new technologies and harness social media to organize themselves.”  By this, he means that ordinary people are now utilize social media to “force you to listen to what they care about and to demand respect.”  Moreover, these individuals, and a business’ employees and customer this “burgeoning social media multitude” to create statements that “you better get out of their way—or learn to embrace them.”

The reason for the fear is because this burgeoning social media multitude attitude that people are having is leading to a change in social power.  This change includes the fact that company leaders will have to show “authenticity, fairness, transparency, and good faith” towards their customers, consumers, and employees because they may come to distrust these leaders and their companies which can lead to a disastrous effect on their company.  “The elites—or managers in companies—no longer control the conversation,” says Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce.com, Inc.

This means that if customers and employees do not like a company’s product, these individuals can quickly take to social media to broadcast their dislike.  With the Internet and social media the way that it is, anyone can have access about a company, its environment, and product.  Thus, prospective employees can find out how the company and its leaders work, and if past company employees vent online about how terrible the company is, prospective employees may not feel inclined to apply.  Moreover, what is even worse is if past customers write reviews and vent online about how bad the company’s products are, new customers are likely to trust reviews online and not buy their products.

The article continues by including examples of companies that have struggled after bad reviews went viral.  For example, the Adidas company found itself under fire in New Zealand when fans of the national rugby team found out that the Adidas team jerseys were sold for a higher place than any other place in the word.  Hence, fans took to the Internet to blast the company and complain about the high product prices of the jerseys in New Zealand compared to that of the United States.

Moreover, the article continues to include other sources that talk about the power shift from the company to its customers, all thanks to the Inter.  In the article, they quote Shoshana Zuboff, a Harvard Business School professor and historian co-wrote The Support Economy: Why Corporations are Failing Individuals and the Next Episode of Capitalism.  She stated that this shift, which she saw coming since 2002, and now argues that all business conducted should be rethought with the mindset that there are no secrets anymore, one customer can influence the masses.

While reflecting back on this article, I thought about how social media has affected companies and their products.  Realizing it now, it is definitely true—social media has a huge effect on the success of one’s company.  For example, if I saw a Facebook post that talked about the horrible service and disgusting food at a restaurant, I would more likely not want to eat there.  Even sites such as Yelp!, I personally use before I go out to eat a restaurant because I want to know if their food and service are good.  If most of the reviews are bad, I am more likely not to want to eat there.  After realizing that I too base my references off of past customer reviews online, I realized the power of social media, and how social media can determine whether or not a company rises above or sinks in the industry.

Here is a link to the article: http://www.forbes.com/sites/techonomy/2011/09/07/social-power-and-the-coming-corporate-revolution/