I recently purchased a new computer from a company to remain nameless, but the location where I purchased it was from one of their many retail stores. They were very technologically savvy, well informed and educated, experts in specific equipment, working from a handheld machine to check you out - it was smooth and impressive.

As I paid standing in the middle of the store while the expert helping me scanned my card and sent me a copy of my receipt via email, I told him the ease with which you do things and connectivity is quite impressive. I said I would like to mention it on social media sites and give the company a shout out, what is your Twitter account name. I knew by the confused look on his face that he did not understand. I asked does your company have an account on Twitter and Facebook where I could direct people in a comment mentioning/complimenting the service? He seemed to understand somewhat where I was going, but then and proceeded to give me the local store physical address. I’m not sure what to do with that, but thanks. I made one last attempt to clarify what I was looking for and also received their email address. I asked if he knew if the company was active on Facebook, MySpace or Twitter and he indicated he wasn't sure, probably but that he doesn’t really do much with those sites.

Turns out they do have a social media presence. For a company so closely in tune with the latest technology, with software and applications galore that help us all easily stay connected through social media, and with rumors of a big social network launch coming this fall, it was surprising they had not yet started effectively using social media for their own brand or communicating about it company-wide.

How effective is having a social media presence if your people – at every level – are not plugged into it?