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Are We Not Social?
June 26, 2008
If you are online much, I don’t know how you could not notice that our world has been invaded by social networks—places to go online to meet up with contemporaries, like-minded individuals, etc. There are the big boys such as Facebook and MySpace, and endless numbers of chatrooms and even hotel-industry specific social sites like the long-standing “Who Is Who In Hospitality,” wiwih.com. Two relatively new hospitality-specific sites are www.hospitalityhub.com and www.hospitalityfriends.com.
While social networks are the hottest thing going online, these particular hospitality sites just don’t seem to have generated noticeable traffic, attention or captured the imagination of our industry. Are hoteliers not interested in being social, especially online? It appears the answer is, “yes.”
Hotelsmag.com gets a lot of traffic via its daily e-newsletter, but our blogs are not generating as much conversation as I had hoped—so far, at least. It is still early days for our blogs—and the Web, for that matter, if you put things into perspective. Perhaps hoteliers just don’t have the time to get online and make posts or join user groups to dialogue with their contemporaries. Maybe they just aren’t interested in the virtual world as, after all, the hotel business is very real and very personal—the Web is not.
I would like to know why hoteliers do not appear to be participating as much in the social network revolution. I await your comments—I hope.
Posted by Jeff Weinstein on June 26, 2008 | Comments (13)
In response to: Are We Not Social?
SUSAN STEWART commented:
I believe we are so tired out by communicating with our customers and guests all day long, we may have "social communication overload". Susan Stewart-IHG Global Sales
In response to: Are We Not Social?
Regina Karolczuk commented:
I agree with Susan. Because I work for an on-line travel company now but before I managed e-commerce for a hotel chain we talk all day and we work all day on a computer so I do not want to spend extra time writing a blog.Regina Karolczuk-Orbitz.com
In response to: Are We Not Social?
Goran Tudorovic commented:
I partialy agree with the ladies, but other professionals in sales in some other industries communicate all day also...yet they are more active on social nets. Are we just bystanders of social relationships, rather than the ones that crate them? Are we trained to listen and please others in socual and other events, as by the nature of the business we suppose to do so? Am I missing the point here...goran tudorovic www.turno.hr
In response to: Are We Not Social?
Cedric commented:
Communication is something we like. But socializing through computers is something that some can do and some simply cannot. I do understand that especially in the hospitality industry, we don't like to talk to monitors through keyboards, it is more familiar and more friendly and more human to socialize directly with people. Plus, one has to stay hours on the premises for work (sometimes with no more pleasure at the end of the day, sometimes with non friendly guests, etc.) so when it comes to off time, it is better to just go around do something concrete than stay in a virtual world and keep the stress in.
In response to: Are We Not Social?
Jeannette commented:
we have time and energy to blog?!
In response to: Are We Not Social?
Jan commented:
Overload of information and time are crucial factors to why we dont blog so much as hoteliers. Face to face communication is our norm, but I think that this will change. Networking sites are probably our first entry into this area, eg wiwih as mentioned and ecademy.com. Participating and writing blogs require skills we havent had to use particularly until now.....
In response to: Are We Not Social?
Maria Terzaki commented:
I do not believe hoteliers are not interested in being social. Communication is something we hoteliers like to do and know to do best. Time is the crucial factors to why we don’t blog so much. Till now our communication with customers was done face to face and our work was organized accordingly. Today blog is the way lots of customers like to communicate and a large number of businesses are making good use of it. Customers tell us the way they wish to go and we should listen to them. Does blog needs to become part of our every day job task and not off work?
In response to: Are We Not Social?
Sven commented:
In our industry we communicate so much with people we do not really know: guests, customers, suppliers, etc. So we probably prefer a face to face conversation with our family and friends instead of blogging with total strangers...
In response to: Are We Not Social?
Daniel commented:
Yes I agree, I spend such long hours "on site", when I do manage to squeeze in some "off time", I prefer to unwind with family or friends. Yes we are social people, but I'm sure many will agree when I say that taking my mind off work and anything associated with it for a short period is the single most valuable task of my week.
In response to: Are We Not Social?
F Franco Afonso commented:
Has you can see by the replies you got we are social but it is also true that we value time and we use it the best way. So maybe the right way of turning blogging valuable enough for Hoteliers to invest on it as not came, yet!
In response to: Are We Not Social?
Kathleen commented:
Seems the hotel industry hasn't historically attracted the most cutting-edge individuals - more conservative types. I know senior voices of the industry who don't even use email (fax instead) or the internet. It's changing, but not quickly.
In response to: Are We Not Social?
Harry commented:
Jeff, I think hotelmen (and women) are the most social beings of any industry I deal with. But I think the preference is still via phone or face-to-face -- just witness the healthy number of conferences we all attend each year. By contrast, the only way I can talk to my programmers is via IM or email.
In response to: Are We Not Social?
Jay Hamilton, Marriott PR commented:
It's slowly changing. We've built a network of subscribers to our YouTube channel and embed our videos in other sites. (www.youtube.com/marriottnews) You have to get traction/help from others. With 150,000 associates and 12 million rewards members, Marriott has a built in network to draw from. But only trip advisor has harnessed the power of social networking in the travel industry. Good luck and be patient. Jay