Groundswell Ch. 4-6

I used to hate the word "research".

Every time I hear it, I think of long essays, boredom, and tedious work.

However, like almost everything else, things change and the word "research" now doesn't make me think of nothing but negative things.

Companies and their presence on the internet is crucial now more than ever. If your company doesn't have a website, chances are, it's not as successful as a company with a website. Interesting how the success of a company can come from whether or not they have a website, but there is one reason that leads this accusation to be true.
When I am looking to make a purchase, especially if it is a rather expensive one, I go online to the website of the product, and read all the reviews on the product.
It is very rare that I find a company that doesn't have a website or even a review section for their product. With how the economy has been, to me, it is crucial that my money gets its worth.
For example, I bought a CHI straightener a couple of years back because that's what my best friend used. It lasted me about 6 years before it finally couldn't fire up anymore. I wasn't sure if I wanted to continue with using the same brand or try something new so it led to me doing some research. ULTA, Sally's Beauty Supply, Target, and just about any store that carried hair straightening tools, I read review after review on all brands of straighteners.
Of course, it only led me to be brand loyal, and stick with the CHI line.

People look to other people when they don't know the answer to something; it's just a part of our human nature. Reviews on companies' websites can be a good or bad thing for them, but it definitely does nothing but benefit us and provide us with more knowledge.

Power to the People [of the internet]

After reading the first chapter of Groundswell, there was a part that will forever be engraved in my head because of the powerful message behind it; the people of internet have power.

As explained in Groundswell, blogger Jennifer Laycock created shirts with the slogan, “Breast Milk: The Other White Milk” to raise money for her breast-feeding charity. Before Laycock even began to “make her fortune” for the charity off the shirts, the National Pork Board sent her a letter saying she was tarnishing their slogan “The Other White Meat” with her own version and demanded she stop the making and selling of the shirts.

Laycock’s background in Internet Marketing lead her to document the entire ordeal on her blog, causing over two-hundred other blogs to link their blogs to her story, and gave the National Pork Board a PR disaster. The Board immediately jumped in to a settlement with Laycock and even took up a collection among its employees to help donate money for the charity.

The people of the internet have power and are able to do as they please with it. Situations can get out-of-hand quick because of word-of-mouth and is true now more than ever in the internet world. Social media websites allow for people to be able to express themselves as well as their feelings towards just about anything. Whether it’s in a good or bad way, the peoples’ voices have the ability to possibly influence major business decisions.

So let’s get this straight…

The people of the internet can be > not = to big companies with big legal teams?

That’s one equation I’ll be happy to remember for the rest of my life.