Social media has become an essential part of our lives. It has become our primary source for news and entertainment. Every company in the world has made managing their social media successfully a priority. All except one. Where is the most valuable company in the world in an arms race that has consumed the world? Apple, which prides itself on being a trailblazer who’s always ahead of the curve, is conspicuously absent. Their Facebook contains exactly zero posts. They only sent out their first tweet a little over a year ago. Yet somehow, someway, this aversion to social media hasn’t caused any tangible harm to them in the slightest. How?
Where did you get your latest information about the newest Apple products? Where did you watch Apple’s latest presentation?
Just because Apple doesn’t post content on their own doesn’t mean they don’t have a presence there. Just as there exists countless twitter handles looking to feed off of the fame of celebrities, people post Apple related content because there’s a demand for it. The people at Apple have always maintained utmost secrecy regarding their products and plans, and all of it is by design. By restricting the flow of information, they can control the narrative, even if the content generated isn’t their own. By only hosting selective presentations a few times a year, they create massive demand and media attention. And because it’s so easy for anybody to access the limited amount of information that they’ve released, speculative and false information is easily dispelled, even while generating more anticipation for their next release.
Apple slowly coming around.
Following the death of Steve Jobs as the company’s charismatic presenter and spokesperson, Apple has slowly started to come around in their aversion to social media. Recent hires of prominent digital strategists have hinted at their slow conversion to a more company-customer communication friendly model. Thus far, their moves have been minor; mostly communicating on Twitter in order to facilitate customer care, but it’s already a far cry from the days where the profile picture was still the infamous Twitter egg. Knowing Apple and their fondness for going against the grain, it wouldn’t be surprising to see them flip the unsuspecting social media world on its head with another daring move.