(CNN) — You’re delayed at the airport. It’s going to be hours before the airline can get you on another flight. You log onto your computer and answer your e-mails. You surf the Web for a while. You’re still waiting. This is taking way too long.
Might as well tweet about it.

And if you do, the chances are ever increasing that someone at the airline will see what you have written. They may even respond to it.

Airlines are ramping up their use of social networking sites. Several have one employee in the communications department whose primary job is to monitor what is being said about them and to create a presence in the world of Twitter and Facebook. Other staff members also watch the sites in search of opportunities to improve relationships with customers.

“Promotions clearly work well, but there is also an opportunity for airlines to improve customer service and brand perception,” Adam Ostrow, editor-in-chief of social media guide Mashable.com and a commentator on social networking sites, wrote in an e-mail interview. “If you’re stuck at an airport, and it’s the airline’s fault, you’re going to tweet about it. If the airline responds to those tweets in a positive fashion, it at least shows they care, even if they can’t immediately remedy the issue.”

JetBlue has embraced Twitter as both a medium to update the public on its latest news and a sounding board for how the airline is doing.

The airline has more than 1 million followers on Twitter and it also follows about 120,000 of those tweeters.

“The tricky thing with following people is that you don’t want to creep anyone out,” said Alex Headrick, senior analyst of corporate communications at JetBlue. “You don’t want to look like you are stalking them just because they are talking about us.”
The trick is to watch them and see if the tweeter is trying to actively engage the airline in conversation, he said. Often when that happens, someone from the company will send a private message to that person.

The main goal for JetBlue is to “humanize the brand,” Headrick said.

Like other airlines, JetBlue approached social networking sites by slowly scaling up its presence.

American Airlines also took its time. Billy Sanez, director of customer communications, said the airline has been watching the growth of social media for several years.

The interactive team brought up the idea of using Facebook about a year ago, Sanez said, and the airline added its fan page about four months ago. It has been increasing its use of the site by adding modules, including a yet-to-be-named feature that helps users find fares.

“We still have a lot to learn from customers and from how customers interact in these mediums,” he said. “But it has worked because we have been able to do targeted promotions to consumers, and because we have been able to get feedback from consumers, and in a very easy way.”

Not to mention an inexpensive way. Mashable’s Ostrow said social media is still a small part of most marketing budgets (not only for airlines but for many companies) but it is attractive because the costs are minimal.

“It also can be essentially cost-free to get started, since all one needs to do is open a Facebook, Twitter or YouTube account and get creative,” Ostrow said. “In a down economy, the low cost of entry certainly makes social media even more attractive than it might have already been otherwise.”

As for the unfavorable comments people post, American Airlines’ Sanez says it can be a chance to turn a negative experience into something positive. He thinks it can be good for customers to use the forum to get something off their chest.

The airline looks for opportunities to interact with users. If people want to express something, let them express it, he said. If they are frustrated, they should be able to complain.

“If they want a resolution, we want to engage them and come up with options and get them to the right people with the right information,” he said.

Twitter followers and Facebook fans can also get the scoop on fare sales. JetBlue has a Twitter feed called JetBlueCheeps, where travelers can get some last-minute deals. For instance, on Monday, September 7, the airline posted on its Twitter feed that there were 25 seats available on a flight from New York’s LaGuardia to Orlando, Florida, for $39. Tickets for the Saturday flight had to be purchased by 6 p.m. Monday evening.

Headrick said that JetBlue times Twitter updates to coincide with releases to the media.

While airlines appear to be happy so far with the results they are getting from their social media ventures, some are still not ready to expand dramatically just yet. Headrick said JetBlue was studying how to use Facebook.

Meanwhile, Southwest Airlines has established its social media presence with more than 600,000 followers on Twitter and more than 76,000 fans on Facebook.

Other major carriers also have thousands of followers on Twitter. Delta Air Lines, for instance, has about 11,000 followers, while United Airlines has more than 33,000 watchers.

Continental is also looking at Facebook and other sites where a presence makes sense, according to airline spokeswoman Mary Clark. Continental is focusing on Twitter, where it has about 3,000 followers, and FlyerTalk.com, a Web site devoted to frequent flyers, she said.

When someone mentions your organization (or business) to someone else, that person is going to search for you online.  Whatever appears is the beginning of your organization’s online communication.  If the searcher cannot find anything, you’re organization has just made a very bold online statement.

Even if you have a website, if it doesn’t have current information, isn’t easily accessible or viewable on a mobile device, your online presence is still making a statement about your organization.

So why should you care about your online statement?  How do you take hold and direct the conversation of your online presence?  Here are some basic insights to get you started.

I can’t adapt to the technology

Some of you may embrace your anachronistic ways in the technology driven world.  You use a phonograph to listen to your favorite albums and ice cream just isn’t as good as when you churn it yourself.  Yet you know that some people just don’t appreciate your time-honored traditions.

Its just the same when you’re not using online media.

Except it is not only a personal statement as using a phonograph would be, but it is a statement about your capabilities, your organization or your businesses capabilities as well.

Saying, “I’m not online.”  Is saying “I’m not adapting to the globally used means of communication and I have nothing to share online.”  Probably not what you want potential clients or members to think.

You are excluding anyone under the age of 30

With all the online marketing that is focused to the young members of society, these young people think that if your services are geared to them, then they will be able to find out about them online.

For this age group it is also important to have some engagement beyond a stagnant website.  Again, age specific online marketing has developed complex interactive online experiences, this age group expects that you have a calendar of events so they can share the information and invite their friends, and see if what you have been doing is of any interest to them.

I can’t afford any online support

Whether this is true or false, it is better that this is not an immediate assumption of potential online visitors.  You want them to think that you are successful and stable with enough money to have a basic online presence.

For example, Chevy and Ford have recently developed complex online microsites and interactive tools, despite the troubles of the car companies, they understand the importance of investing in an online experience.

See Chevy’s microsite for Latin America “On the Road Again”
This also reiterates why its important to Tweet en Espanol

While you may not be the owner of a billion-dollar company, there are small steps that say “I can afford to be online.”  All it takes is a little creativity.  For instance, there are free calendars that can be added to your website so that visitors can see upcoming or previous events.  How about adding the organization’s twitter feed?  That’s free as well.  Or spend a little money and have a nicely done video collage of presentations, product demonstrations, etc.

And always remember that quality beats quantity.

-Nicole Hess
Online Media Consultant

Twitter is already about half as popular with only about one-tenth as many users.

Thus, as its user numbers begin to rise it has the potential to surpass Facebook for sharing information.  Not to say that twitter will be more popular, Facebook has significantly more uses than twitter, from picture sharing to mafia wars playing.

In the Silicon Alley Insider’s chart of sharing, one thing to note is that this chart represents those who used the website or publisher’s method to share, specifically using the widgets made by AddToAny.

Using the publisher’s widget for sharing is also important for considering its only 11.1% share in sharing.  Personally, I much rather send a link through my own email by the ol’ cut & paste method, so I don’t have to type in my friends’ email address by hand.

This article seems to be part of a larger argument that says email is no longer a preferred way to share information.  Recently, I’ve heard way too many experts discuss email as a dying method of exchange, not only in sharing, but in marketing as well.  While I do understand there have been recent abuses of the email blast function – sorry MoveOn.org but I haven’t opened an email since the election last year – and Facebook allows for easier ways to see what’s up with your friends, email is still incredibly useful. 

It’s just that email blasts have earned the reputation of being like a needy ex-girlfriend/boyfriend.  People don’t want to be bombarded by weekly requests for action or hear the same story yet again.  But when the email offers something truly new or interesting (and not tweaking of the old) say an event centered on my favorite activity, I’m not only reading the email, but I’m going to the event and taking friends.

Still, in regards to information sharing, email still scores highly, especially in the professional world.  While AdToAny widgets may not be used, people are emailing links every day to coworkers, clients, old clients to remind them you’re still interested, and so on.  In many companies there are actually staff personnel relegated to creating weekly or sometimes daily email blasts of links for client, based on the clients request or particular field.

Also, let us not ignore the role of instant message services.  I’ve done projects with a few companies that were significantly less than tech-friendly and yet one of the standard means of communication between employees was through instant messaging.  Whether it was finding the boss’ interview with the Wall Street Journal or developments on a project in Peru, if we found it online – we shared it through messenger.  Again, just like tracking information sharing through email, tracking the rate of information sharing through instant messaging is difficult, if not impossible due to laws protecting privacy.  All we can say for now is that in sharing information, social sites are proving to be a recognized medium and growing in popularity.

What will the future of social sites look like?  My guess would be that social sites which appeal or center around specific interests or needs, Emily’s list for recommendations, delicious for bookmarking, will grow in popularity and use, but not necessarily compete with Facebook for staying in touch with friends or twitter for sharing information.

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