Businesses are not people.

It annoys the fuck out of me whenever I see commercials for a product or company who want you to follow them on Facebook or Twitter. Hey! Check it out, we’re tweeting! We tweet! And put something on our wall too! Like us!
Aside from this annoyance, I could never quite put my finger on why social media doesn’t work for companies, but Randy Murray nailed it:

The opposite is also true: businesses are not people. For a business to be social, it has to be focused and friendly, but it can never be your friend. I really like Apple products, I own Apple stock, but Apple isn’t my friend. I don’t need a social relationship with the company that made my car, where I shop for food, or the local dry cleaners. I do find it useful to get news and information from them, and someone to listen and act when I have a problem, but I really don’t need another channel of happy talk from businesses.

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