Shhhh. Can you hear it? It’s the sound of yet another corporate giant falling to its knees after a tidal wave of social media criticism.

Corporate capitulation is happening with frightening regularity these days. We no longer look at the Fortune 500 as impenetrable monoliths; instead, they now appear as dominoes ready to topple at the first flick of public outcry via the Twitterverse.

When do ‘we the people’ stop having a point? And when do we as communicators stop listening to it?

Are we counseling our clients/organizations to respond because it’s the right thing to do or are we being bullied into it via the blogosphere?

Effective social media advocacy campaigns typically start with a like-minded demographic – underlining the ‘strength in numbers’ theory.  Mom bloggers first made waves with the makers of Motrin and then took public umbrage at JC Penney’s “I’m too pretty to do homework” T-shirt debacle.  In both cases, McNeil Laboratories and JC Penney bowed to the pressure and removed their campaigns. – Is It Time To Stop Listening to Social Media? by Elissa Freeman

/>