Lessons on executive social media... from 1988

A hot topic in my line of work these days is executive social. People like Dara Khosrowshahi of Uber, Mary Barra of GM, and Aaron Levie of Box show that an executive's personal social media presence can complement the impact of their brand's social channels. But not every CEO today is a social CEO, nor are other C-suite executives leading corporate functions like marketing, finance, or human resources active on social. I think that's bound to change, and there's a parallel in computing's past to show us the way.

In April, 1988 Computerworld ran an article about the explosive growth of electronic mail. An estimated two billion emails were sent in the US that year. That number was projected to grow to 8 billion by 1991. Now, it’s up to 270 billion emails. Per day. 

And to really drive the point home about email’s growth potential, ComputerWorld found a consultant to give them a provocative pull quote. Walter Ulrich of Coopers & Lybrand consulting told the magazine: “by the year 2000, I can’t imagine any businessperson not being as adept at using email as using the telephone.”

I have this theory – that social media today is like email was in 1988. Back then, most executives didn’t email. Email was something that college students and techies did. But eventually, email just became part of how we all work, executives included.

Today, social media is not a daily work habit for many company leaders. But a change is underway. Think ahead a few years – will it be normal for an exec to not be on social media?

To answer that question, guess who I found? Walter Ulrich, that consultant from Coopers & Lybrand quoted in that 1988 Computerworld article. He was recently the President and CEO of Houston Technology Center, the largest technology business incubator in Texas. I spoke to Mr. Ulrich by phone and he agreed with my theory that for execs, social media today is like email was in 1988.  And once again, he came through for me with a provocative pull quote. In his words “Any exec who is not adept at social in the next 6-10 years is going to be out of a job.” 

So, when you talk to your leaders about social, talk to them about the potential to influence brand love and trust. Talk to them about the way it can help humanize your company and complement your brand's social channels. But also remind them that email was once new, too. And we all got around to doing that, didn't we?