Airlines want to talk to you

Social media is the new communication carrier. It is the 21st century direct mail, but it allows users to let their voice be heard too. The technology has been seeping out from under the carpet of the cubicles of technology geeks and into the mainstream, and one of the most conservative industries has also adopted it: the airline industry. I did some research into how airlines are utilizing social media and was surprised to discover that:
1. most airlines have failed to realize that social media is also for less official messages
2. a lot of airlines are prolific advertisers on social media platforms, but they are poor at channeling traffic into sales
3. Twitter and Facebook appear to be great tools for disseminating time sensitive information
4. a lot of airlines have discovered that social media exists, but there are also a lot that are not present
5. not surprisingly, a lot of "younger" upstarts are more prone to use social media, but some "dinosaurs" are pretty good at it too
6. airlines need to find a balance of their use; I am a fan or follower of nearly every airline out there and I am drowning in information

This research is an exploration into how social media is used in the industry, and was presented at the Air Transport Research Conference in Porto this year. Here is the presentation that I gave.

Airline use of social media

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