Need for social media in Singapore

I've always advocated the need for social media to be in house in Singapore.

Not only social media is important, corporate wide training is essential.

Here in Singapore, pressure groups have employed social media to protest against Resorts World Sentosa's dolphin issues. Most recently, we witnessed how Wildlife Reserves Singapore was flamed on social media as a result of its sudden cancellation of the Halloween Horrors event.

Crisis often comes with internal staff training as well, KFC Malaysia had staff shown a video on them playing with food, and it attracted a lot of attention and negative publicity.

Social Media training is very important as it prepares the whole corporation to engage with the public in a transparent and natural way. Empowering the staff, most staff will not take the opportunity to destroy the company's reputation. With trained staff, enlightened empowerment can indeed allow the business to react to queries faster, and attend to feedback before a disaster occurs.

Monitoring social media does not need to be a one department job.

-- Robin Low

More info: Read.
http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC111004-0000106/Why-businesses-need-in-house-social-media-teams

Social Media in Singapore

Govt to boost social media usage

After the poor performance online, lack of understanding the ground and the inability to control the conversation, the government decided that they need to do better in engagement.

"You need, basically, two people just to maintain one site, and typically, the respondents come (online, sometime after dinner). " "So it's not trivial," "Facebook is not owned by any Singapore entity; it's an entirely foreign entity and putting in the resources online in this foreign entity, it could shut off Singapore," Says the "experts"

It seems like the government experts have much fear of social media because they do not understand the medium and are unwilling to engage.

I hope they get real training and learn to listen to the public and not just censor comments and negative feedback. It is a whole mindset change and there needs to be proper policies that encourage engagement and empowering everyone to participate, so the responsibility is not on a "team" and hopefully they do not need to get permission to answer the questions raised.

I hope the executives would be willing to learn and create policies that support social media. Hopefully we can see a more vibrant Singapore in the near future.

-- Robin Low

RWS Woes

Resorts World at Sentosa seems to be a pretty successful Facebook page, with more than 140,000 fans, the engagement on the page was pretty spontaneous as well.

However when a post on Sept 2 on Diets of Dolphins open a can of worms!

It started a flurry of replies on the blog and Facebook Page and as the censorship and moderation starts, the intensity of the angry replies increased. This is again a good example that if they want to post something controversial (or about their captive dolphins) they have to be able to engage in the conversation.

A blog called "Marine Life Park" Blog when it is not talking and providing information on the conservation efforts of RWS, is simply a marketing blog for their new dolphin park and not informative.

I hope to see improvements and less censorship in the engagements, and hopefully, RWS can show more of their ongoing efforts in sustainable marine life education in the region.

Eventually this will become a crisis if it is not one already as I found out about this on the news.

This is indeed bad PR and bad for business.

-- Robin Low

How unfortunate.

CNA tries to use more social media and get news from Twitter, however as they are very selective on their news and their views are sometimes biased, many people are unhappy with their reporting.

So it is very unfortunate that this shall appear on live TV, however if you check their twitter feed, and Singapore related hashtags, it is common to see many angry people with angry comments.

But it is simply very unfortunate to have it revealed on TV

-- Robin Low

The Curry Incident Gone Viral.

Cook and Share A Pot of Curry !

Sort of a Facebook Protest to the Curry incident has garnered more than 50,000 attendees and it is something the government cannot ignore.

As observed last week, the Google Search for "Singapore Indian Curry" yields all the negative information about the Curry Incident.

So, instead of ignoring the people, the government finally decides to act, but I feel that the comments made by the minister is not enough and does not respond to the root of the problem. Shanmugam cautions against xenophobia

This respond was partly because of this article and it suddenly became mainstream news.
Singapore's 'anti-Chinese curry war'

In social media, it is very common that when someone feels strongly about something, they will share it with their friends. In turn, this kind of communication gets viral quickly, and when the government wants to engage, it takes much more than a news respond or a campaign -- but rather, listening and responding to the everyday needs of the people.

This does not mean giving in to every request, but rather sharing the reasons with proper communication to let people know the reasons behind things, and accepting and addressing negative feedback instead of deleting it away.

So are you cooking a pot of curry to show your support for the rights to cook curry at home?

-- Robin Low

Does the government understand Social Media?

This is the comments made by DPM Teo in a dialogue with students.

I feel that this statement is not very valid. While social media is "very powerful in amplifying voices of people who are most articulate" Articulate or not, social media allows the public to have a direct feedback unlike the traditional one way broadcast the government is used to have. The truth is nobody needs to have a good command of English to comment on news or articles they read, they simply have to care.

"One negativity I personally don't like in social media is anonymity because it allows you to make statements without responsibilities. And I don't think we can have a responsible discussion if one is not asked to be responsible for what he says," Mr Teo said at a dialogue, Singaporeans in Conversation, with 250 students yesterday. "That results in a discussion which quite often becomes skewed and unproductive."

I do not believe that social media has anonymity. It takes time and effort to build trust, and anonymous posts will not be given much attention unless it is either interesting, humorous or inexplicably -- convincing.

Social media allows the government to crowdsource ideas, broadcast information and get real feedback from the masses. In terms of making statements without responsibilities, it is easier to spread rumors through coffee shop talks. For credibility and trustworthiness, reputation needs to be built, and this is a long process and cannot be done overnight.

The influencers in Singapore like Mr Brown, Mr Miyagi and other popular blogs all took time to build their reputation and create their following.

In terms of leaving anonymous feedback, if the government is willing to put the time to engage and understand the cause for the feedback, it might learn something new. Although there are times people may leave hurtful remarks which may seem to have no basis, but taking the time to investigate further may reveal whether it is a hoax or it is valid concerns which needs to be addressed.

Like any corporation which want to engage with their customers, it does take time, effort and the willingness to engage. Just having a Facebook page, Twitter account and a blog is not using Web 2.0 in the most effective way. It is a whole new change in mindset, policies that would support the engagement to be able to succeed.

-- Robin Low

Presidential Race in Singapore with Web 2.0

As the Presidential Race heats up, the Presidential Candidates get on their A game and starts engagement on social media.

Dr Tony Tan decided to engage bloggers and influencers in Signapore in a lunch meeting. Famous Bloggers like Mr Miyagi, Mr Brown, Yawning Bread, TheOnlineCitizen, MotherInc, Alvinology, Dr. Cherian George attended and of course some of them wrote about their experiences and probably increased his profile a little.

Tan Cheng Bock launches smartphone apps. "For the 71-year-old, it is a big step in leveraging on the power of social media. He confessed that he had not known what "apps" were just two months ago." I don't understand why he would do such a thing, probably just to get the attention of the press?

I feel that social media is continuous engagement and building trust, not a cheap app and just having a Facebook Page or Twitter account can do.

Tan Kin Lian to rely on social media I was not really aware that Mr Tan Kin Lian has a "Popular Blog" and I wonder if he would engage on conversations on other blogs forums and popular pages like the Online Citizen to create awareness, build trust and credibility.

These are clear signs that the Presidential candidates believe that Social Media is a great way to influence people, and they are willing to learn to engage the public using social media.

I hope their efforts will continue even when they are elected so that they can hear the voices of Singaporeans and those who supported them!

-- Robin Low