Social Media, or Business Necessity?

It was Memorial weekend last summer when, while vacationing in mid-Michigan, I came upon a quaint little bakery called “Cops and Doughnuts.” The shop was once the Claire City bakery and, when the more than 100 year old establishment announced that it could no longer afford to stay in business, nine Claire police officers teamed up to save the historic shop.
Once they took ownership, the cops decided to have a little fun with the situation—“Cops and Doughnuts” was born. They redecorated the inside of the shop to look like a prison cell, the outside was adorned with a bright red siren light, and they renamed some of the more popular pastries with cop-themes, like the “Tazer” Lemon Cruller. They even added some apparel products to their shop, like t-shirts sporting fun tag lines like “You Have the Right to Remain Glazed.”
The shop is surely charming, but the fact remains that it sits rural Claire, MI; a location which doesn’t yield an impressive amount of business traffic. Yet, employees at “Cops and Doughnuts” were glad to tell me how great they were doing. Sales were booming, they were getting calls from around the world for their snarky apparel, and they had even been featured on ESPN. The small town bakery was quickly becoming an international phenomenon… but how? The clerk behind the counter had a one word explanation to give me—Facebook.

Thanks to the social networking site, “Cops and Doughnuts” was able to expand their marketing beyond their small town borders. They had a good idea, sure, but spreading the word was the key to their success. By creating a fansite on Facebook, they were able to quickly and, more importantly, cheaply expand their advertising base. To those who came across “Cops and Doughnuts” on Facebook, it was no doubt just a novelty to have a good laugh at. But, then, the orders started rolling in… and now the nine police officers are laughing all the way to the bank.

Sites like Facebook, Twitter, Myspace and Google Buzz are going above and beyond their call of duty to network strangers and keep friends linked with status updates and photos. In an attempt to better serve their users (or, perhaps, just trying to stay relevant) these sites are constantly adding features, both for entertainment and practical use. Fan sites, like the one that “Cops and Doughnuts” utilized are just the beginning of how individual users and businesses alike can expand their industry connections.
Once a business is up and running, social media doesn’t fall by the wayside. Applications like TwitJobSearch and Facebook Marketplace could turn into what the New York Times is calling “the unemployed’s best friend.” These job search engines make employment openings available to not only a wider range of prospective applicants, but also people who is looking for employment but are better versed in electronic media and wouldn’t check print classifieds.
Just like the Long Tail theory we’ve been discussing so far in the course, social networking has brought less obtainable markets to consumers, and even job hunters. Businesses are certainly seeing gains from making use of these sites. It was only a matter of time before those in the business of doing good jumped on the bandwagon. Non-profits are able to create pages on social media sites similar to the way a business might. The benefit? According to the Wall Street Journal, non-profits can avoid potential “copy-cats” who try to scam their efforts. Reputable organizations of all sizes can gain exposure for their causes just like a business might. Take, for instance, the small awareness group started by a UMD student, called “TweetfCams.” Jennifer Cleary, a senior of communications, started the group to honor her brother Cameron who’s afflicted with Infantile Neuroaxonal Dystrophy (INAD). Cleary has started a blog, a Twitter account, and a Facebook fan page; all of which have become increasingly popular. As of yet, Cleary’s organization has yet to make substantial money towards her cause, but the network connections she’s gaining are truly invaluable, including ties with the Make-a-Wish of southeastern Michigan.
But, of course, this wouldn’t be a JASS class if we didn’t examine how social media is affecting journalism and they way consumers get their news. BBC news says that the journalism industry should “embrace social media” because it givers reporters a wider range of sources, opinions and voices to add to their research, as well as, a wider audience to target with their stories. I think we can all agree this is true, there’s no end of inexpensive if not free news outlets where people can find news that caters to their technological, political and personal interests.
Journalism professors at UMD, though, might point out to you that this open availability to news is more of a problem than it is a solution. Several instructors have expressed concern toward news media which tilts its reporting to the liking of an audience. The Huffington Post, The Daily Show, Fox News and other news outlets attract multitudes of young people, but some say the news they present is skewed to far toward one party to be fair. According to these professors, when the public is able to choose the perspective of their news, they’re not always fully informed.
But, for now, “Cops and Doughnuts” doesn’t care about the effects of social media on journalism and how it could potentially harm the valuable checks and balances system that reporters present to authority. Like most of us, when they log into their Facebook account, they’re just looking at the positive. They add new pictures, update their status with the latest pastry they’ve just created, and they look for what new connections they can make today.


"The New York Times"- Twitter Could Become the Unemployed's Best Friend
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/25/twitter-could-become-a-recruiters-best-friend/?scp=6&sq=twitter&st=cse

"The Wall Street Journal"- Facebook to Non-Profits: More Pages, Fewer Apps
http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2009/08/28/facebook-to-nonprofits-more-pages-fewer-apps/tab/article/

"The New York Times"- How to Market Your Business With Facebook
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/12/business/smallbusiness/12guide.html?_r=2

"Guardian News"- Q&A: BBC World Service News Director Peter Horrocks on Social Media and News
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/pda/2010/feb/10/peter-horrocks-social-media

"The Poynter Institute"- Why News Organizations Need a Facebook Strategy
http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=31&aid=168485

"Tweet4Cams"
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Tweet4Cams/134537140993?ref=ts

"Cops and Doughnuts"
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Clare-MI/COPS-DOUGHNUTS-CLARE-CITY-BAKERY/97882918529?ref=ts

1st photo: Facebook photo by Brian Solis, licensed by Creative Commons

2nd photo: Kantoor by vlauria, licenced by Creative Commons

"The Huffington Post" Logo, originally uploaded by Pyrogamer (officially part of the public domain, according to Creative Commons)