Is there any use for Social Media in Construction?

Room4’s Tim Whitehill attended the first meeting of Constructing Excellence’s Social Media Task Group yesterday. Some of the early issues raised by the group were that Social Media is often something that is misunderstood in the construction sector. Is it simply a tool for the marketing department only, or is it something that can improve the way we provide service to our clients and possibly engage with some of the technological advances in our sector, for instance Building Information Modelling. Paul Wilkinson of pwcom.co.uk led the meeting, giving an excellent presentation, which gave an informative insight in to the vast array of media platforms, and the potential for how they could be used in construction.

The group also spent some time sharing experiences. Tim told of his experience on a recent trip to London on Virgin Trains, where he was struggling to gain access to the on board Wi-Fi. After venting his frustration on Twitter which included  Virgin Trains’ handle @virgintrains, within minutes he received a reply offering an apology and a solution. This was a ‘penny dropping’ moment.

From the ubiquitous Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin to the lesser known platforms of NING and KLOUT, the world of social media is without question growing at a pace. Coupled with the sharp rise of smart phones (now overtaking laptops and pc’s for our everyday access to internet), it’s now clear that as a sector, corporately and individually, we have to understand and identify the usefulness of Social Media.