Groundswell, written by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff, posits that new means of communication on the internet are changing the way that people communicate with each other, and can be used by companies to change the way that they communicate within their own company, and with customers. Li and Bernoff provide a copious amount of examples such as Dell listening to the online feedback of its customers and accordingly changed how it operated, or how Ernst and Young used social networking as a means of recruiting and staying in touch with former colleagues.
For the most part, the book is convincing; there are a number of communication tools that have arisen on the internet to become almost standard, especially among people in our age group (This blog itself is a great example). However I'm still left with a feeling of lingering doubt. I can't recall how many times I've been trolling a tech support site's forums, unable to find an answer to my question, and simply wanting to ask a simple question. These tools will be important in the future of business, but companies should be careful not to depersonalize their relationships with people too much. Ultimately there is no replacement for speaking to an actual person.
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