United Airlines Talks the Talk, but does not Walk the Walk When It Comes to Corporate Blogging

Upon returning home from New York City on Friday, November 21, 2008 (United Flight #7147) connecting in Washington DC, I decided to take a glance at the United Airlines "HEMISPHERES" magazine.
. I came across an interesting article titled,
"The Business of Blogging". Overall, I thought the article made some very valid points. In fact, the author, Ethan G. Salwen recommends businesses integrate websites and blogs. This can be done by simply adding a "Blog" link to a main site or homepage.

The article captivated my attention. I never thought an airline magazine could present such and interesting article. Reading up on the article peaked my interest in whether United Airlines, or it subsidiaries has a blog. I asked the flight attendant but she was unaware. Additionally, I wanted to find out if any other airlines have corporate blogs.

I spent some time over the past week trying to see which airlines implement social media effectively. I reviewed results through Google.com, visited company websites and checked other blogs citing examples of companies using social media effectively. My results are posted below.

Airline / Blog (Yes /No) / Link to Blog on Homepage?

Southwest / Yes / Yes
Delta / Yes / Yes
JetBlue / Yes / Yes
United / No / No
US Airways / No / No

Overall, I'm really surprised to see that United Airlines and US Airways do not have a corporate blog (or at least a corporate blog which is easy to find). It shocks me to see a company support the importance of business blogging in a company sponsored magazine yet not participate itself in such a social phenomena.

As I mentioned, I feel the content in the current issue of HEMISPHERES magazine is very relevant, especially to business people and marketers. United Airlines simply needs to monitor content more closely to make sure it aligns with its business polices and goals. It does not make a lot of sense to allow an article stressing the importance of business blogging to be published in its company sponsored magazine while the brand itself doesn't blog.

I plan to contact United Airlines to clarify whether they indeed have a corporate blog and whether a link can be provided. I will keep everyone updated on my findings.

You may visit Peter Kim's site for a list of companies using social media.

Obama's Victory Speech Receives Millions of Views

President-elect Barack Obama's victory speech has been uploaded more than 500 times and viewed more than 7 million times on the web in the last 48 hours, according to web analytics firm Visible Measures.

The viral video view growth of Obama’s victory speech has been gathering momentum since Wednesday, November 5, 2008. Visible Meaures' discovery process revealed that the speech had seen more than 620,000 views from 100 placements by 11:00 am ET yesterday. By 5:30 pm, the view count had shot up to more than 2.2 million from 160 different placements. At the 11:30PM ET, almost exactly 24 hours after the speech occurred, the number of placements had grown to 200, generating close to 5 million views.

You can read more about the popularity of Obama's victory speech on Visible Measures.

Starbucks Is the Only Non-News Company on the Top 100 Twitterholics List

Starbucks is the only non-news company on the top 100 Twitterholics list (Twitterholics!) You can see how Starbucks utilizes Twitter by visiting Starbucks Twitters .

Top 100 Twitterholics!

New Study Says 93% of Americans Consult Colleagues Before Buying

Advertising Age reports that reaching consumers at work could be next great frontier.

While I do feel Americans consult colleagues before buying, I'm not sure the percentage is as high as 93%. Additionally, what exactly are Americans consulting colleagues for? For instance, I find myself consulting with other people before buying technology devices (e.g. new cell phone, new media device, etc...). Occasionally, I'll seek advice regarding the best restaurant to visit over the weekend. I did seek other's opinions about presidential candidates, but I combined those opinions with my own research. I find myself taking a similar approach looking into company's products and services. I'll ask friends and colleagues for their opinions on a brand or product, research it further on my own and make my own decision.

Who do you ask and how do you ultimately decide what to buy?

Are Small Businesses Owners Concerned about Getting Credit?

Many small business owners are starting to voice concerns over their ability to get money from banks to fund their businesses in the current credit crunch. A rise is online buzz among small business owners complaining about difficulties getting credit exemplifies this growing concern.

Only 29% of Journalists Read Five or More Blogs

I came across an interesting finding from Steve Rubel while surfing Twitter. He links to an article on Social Media Today stating that only 29% of journalists read five or more blogs to keep up with their specific topics and issues. The positive side of this is that 75% read one blog or more. One year ago, about 26% read 5 or more blogs.

The posting on Social Media Today concludes by saying, "newspapers are still a key source of news for them (so will all those newspapers-are-dead promoters stop making it seem worse than it is?), and a large number of them are big on Electronic News Kits." There may be some validity to this. I don't feel newspapers are dead. Instead, I see blogs and newspapers living symbiotically. Newspapers and other sources (e.g. RSS feeds, other blog sources, board discussion, inside information) are key sources of information for many bloggers. Likewise, more journalists are starting to keep up with blogs to help develop their stories.

Bloggers and journalists may not realize it, but they need each other to survive this day in age.