Chris Skinner's blog

Shaping the future of finance

In finance, facebook is just a phase we’re going through

Chris Skinner Author Avatar
by

My grumpiness just got ten times worse at this treasury conference, as I stood up and started talking about how I use facebook, twitter, blogging etc to leverage my business.

I could see a veil of abandonment enter the faces of the room as they struggled to get what I was saying, so I asked if any of them use facebook, twitter, flickr, tumblr, gropuon et al.

No.

One person piped up and said they use facebook to keep abreast of what their children are doing, and that was it.

I just unfriended the lot of them.

But then I thought, hey ho, they’re corporate treasurers.  Why should they be interested in social media?

So I gave it a chance and launched into my spiel about micropayments, bitcoin, facebook credits, the challenge to security and privacy, the world of change from Square and mobile payments and more.

You name it and I tried to ensure it was, at the very least, discussed and debated, illuminated and understood.

By the end of the meeting, I could see a few more concerned faces.  It’s the usual reaction to my presentation: oh, I just got the fact that the world is disrupted, or that’s what I thought.

So we go to lunch and I’m chatting away with folks who all start with the soft blow: “I enjoyed your presentation” and then follow it up with the classic “but …”

  • “But facebook is just a transient thing”
  • “But people will soon stop using facebook and use something else”
  • “But isn’t facebook just a fad”
  • “But why would I use twitter”
  • “But what’s the point of hearing that someone’s just eaten a cake or posted a letter”
  • “But what’s the relevance of this to me”
  • “But who cares what kids are doing”
  • “But you’re just talking about stuff that’s for someone else who wants to have fun, not me”

No, you don’t want to have fun do you?

We then get into a deeper debate, with some of the folks saying:

  • “How can you discount the idea of a website that is almost as big as India and China”
  • “How can you say something that some kids invest days or weeks of their lives building – their profile – can just be dumped like that”
  • “You need to use twitter to start getting it, as it tells me all I need to know about my competition and clients”

Blah, blah, blah.

It felt a little bit like going back to some kindergarten and teaching children the basics of the alphabet.

That’s fine for a social media education session, but this was supposedly a dialogue about how it would, could and is changing their business models and the models of commerce generally.

Bottom-line: it may not be your job, your colleague’s job, your boss’s job or your CEO’s job to understand social media, but just make darned sure someone in your business does or your business is screwed.

 

UncategorizedCategories
Chris Skinner Author Avatar

Chris M Skinner

Chris Skinner is best known as an independent commentator on the financial markets through his blog, TheFinanser.com, as author of the bestselling book Digital Bank, and Chair of the European networking forum the Financial Services Club. He has been voted one of the most influential people in banking by The Financial Brand (as well as one of the best blogs), a FinTech Titan (Next Bank), one of the Fintech Leaders you need to follow (City AM, Deluxe and Jax Finance), as well as one of the Top 40 most influential people in financial technology by the Wall Street Journal's Financial News. To learn more click here...

What is the future?

Learn more

Learn more about Chris

About Chris Skinner

The Past, Present And Future Of Banking, Finance And Technology

Fintech expert Chris Skinner: countries need digital transformation to remain competitive

Join me on Linkedin

Follow Me on X!

Hire Chris Skinner for dinners, workshops and more

Learn directly from from one of the most influential people in technology, gain insights from the world's most innovative companies, and build a global network.

Chris’s latest book

Chris Skinner’s ‘Digital For Good’ Book Launch Event – CFTE

Top 50 Global Thought Leaders and Influencers on FinTech 2023

Chris Skinner
Commentator, CEO of The Finanser and best-selling author at The Finanser

Thinkers360 Thought Leader

Contact Me

Global Awards

Lifetime Achievement Award

Global 100 - 2024 Winner

Chris Skinner - Financial Markets Advisor of the Year - The Finanser - UK 2023

Best Financial Markets Advisor of the Year 2023

30 Best Regtech Blogs and Websites 2023

Kids creating the future bank | TEDxAthens

Captain Cake and the Candy Crew

Captain Cake Winner of a Golden Mom’s Choice Award

TWO-TIME WINNER OF A MOM’S CHOICE GOLD AWARD!

Alex at the Financial Services

Gaping Void's Hugh MacLeod worked with the Finanser