Linchi Kwok, Ph.D.

In today’s age, a guest shares an average of 22 photos per wedding on social media sites (The Today Show - NBC News Network). The truth is no matter if we like it or not, social media has forever changed the way people do weddings, but does everyone know the wedding etiquette in the age of social media? Based on what is discussed in the NBC News video , I recommend the following: For the Bride and Groom Make up your mind if you prefer to either keep your wedding private or make it a “public” event on the internet. If you want to keep yours a private and exclusive event, make it clear that you do not want anyone to post anything on the internet. If you do not mind making yours a “public” event, you may do yourself a favor by creating a hashtag for your wedding and encourage your guests to post updates using the hashtag. Unless you have told your guests not to share any updates about your wedding, chances are you will find updates and pictures about your wedding everywhere ...

SoLoMo – Social, Local, and Mobile – is not a trend; it is happening right now on this moment. If a company does not have a clear SoLoMo strategy or a mobile-optimized website by now, the company has fallen behind in competition. I am an optimistic person and thus believe many companies have already taken SoLoMo seriously. Otherwise, they have probably been defeated by their competitors who embrace SoLoMo. My real concern is that not every company has an integrated SoLoMo strategy. Often, companies pay close attention to SoLoMo’s effect on sales and marketing. A true integrated strategy, however, must include every facet of business operations into considerations. Yesterday, The Wall Street Journal reported a story that highlighted the SoLoMo’s impact on employee recruitment. According to this report, mobile devices will outpass desktops/laptops and become Americans’ preferred method for accessing the internet by 2015. Among the Fortune 500 companies, 167 (33%) have already h...

A successful social media strategy must integrate three key components: “social,” “local,” and “mobile.” According to a recent special report in the Nation’s Restaurant News, $159 billion of U.S. retail sales in 2012 were influenced by SoLoMo . Over 116 million people own smartphones. In July 2012 alone, 90 million American had accessed retail information on their mobile devices. Additionally, 38% of mobile users opted in to receive location-based promotional text messages and that 18% used a location-based social media app such as Foursqure to check in at a venue. How can any business come up with an excuse of not participating in SoLoMo? The following include some best practices and direct quotes from the report. For example, Texas Roadhouse initiated a “TextUs Loyalty Club” campaign. The redemption rate reached 17% during a six month trial period, much higher than those using other media sources. Nearly two fifth of Pita Pit’s new likes came from smartphone users on Faceb...

It is not new to hear people got fired because of their updates on social networking sites . In one extreme case, a man got fired even for his random thoughts posted on Facebook . So, is it legal for companies to fire employees because of their updates on social media sites ? Employees have the rights to discuss face-to-face on “protected concerted activity” as outlined by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). For example, employees can talk about their wages and work conditions with co-workers. According to The Lodging Magazine (2013), the answer to whether employees have the rights to talk about work or their boss on social media sites depends on whether the employee’s update is considered as protected concerted activity. The article in The Lodging Magazine reported two cases with the published decisions from NLRB. One case involves in an employee’s sarcastic comments about the employer. This employee is not protected because NLRB believes that the comments were made “...

Money cannot buy us true friendship in the real life, but can we buy fans or followers on social networking sites? Absolutely, and the price might be cheaper than expected.     Eric Steuer reported the following price tags in Wired Magazine: Facebook: 500 likes for $30 or 20,000 for $699 on Socialyup.com Twitter: 1,000 followers for $10 or 1,000,000+ for $1,750 on FanMeNow.com Pinterest: 100 followers for $15 or 5,000 for $95 on Pinfol.com YouTube: 30,000 views for $150 or 1,000,000+ for $3,100 on 500views.com I can certainly afford to pay $30 to make my Facebook page look better, but if I rarely engage the Facebook users on my page, how likely can I build a meaningful relationship with them? Without a meaningful relationship, can I create value for me and the Facebook users on my page? Probably not. That’s why I argued earlier that only the relationship built on engaging conversations can create value . Likewise, even though companies can buy thousands ...

“Yes, yes, I know. I should have stopped, but please just let me finish posting this update …” God knows how difficult it becomes these days to get people’s attention away from Facebook or just any social media platforms. People are tempted to check news feeds and updates.   Let me ask you another question: When was the last time you checked your Facebook? Was it just a minute ago before you put down your cell phone? Or right in this moment while you are trying to share my discussion on Facebook? For a long time, Facebook has become the most visited website in the U.S. ( 3 rd place in the world ) and the website on which Americans spend the most time . There must be a good reason why people can’t have enough with Facebook. According to recent report on Monitor on Psychology: A Publication of The American Psychological Association, Facebook indeed has the “magic” to satisfy people’s need for connectedness and self-promotion, boost people’s self-esteem, and help people ...

Last week, I invited the Director of Human Resources (HR) at the Sheraton Syracuse University (SU) Hotel and Conference Center to speak in my Human Resource Management class, in which we discussed a few HR issues. One topic was about employee relations and complaints. For instance, what is the most common complaint among hotel employees? How should a HR manager deal with such complaint? I expect the answer will vary among different HR managers. According to our guest speaker, the most-heard employee complaint is: “That is NOT fair.” Often times, employees do not feel they are treated equally because they misunderstand their managers, regardless of whether they have a valid complaint. In this case, effective communication can help.   In Sheraton SU, for example, the Housekeeping Manager holds a pre-shift meeting every day to ensure that management’s expectations are effectively communicated in the department. The manager is perceived as a “tough guy” with high expectation...