FIR LIve #13: Social Media Monitoring -- Critical or Creepy?

Marshall Kirkpatrick of ReadWriteWeb explored both sides of the increasingly popular business activity of monitoring social media. He wrote: "It's kind of a modern day horror story, isn't it? Web 2.0's potential benefit for humanity tragically sold short by social media because it fell under a fog of marketing software. Would-be short-form conversationalists jumping in with CRM-tinted glasses secured to their faces. One of my co-workers says that within minutes of his wife Tweeting about her art studio last night, she was friended by scads of art companies and salespeople. Who wants to have a conversation in that context? Or maybe it's just a matter of changing our expectations. Maybe this is all good; the new customer service - a lot like the old customer service, but in your blog comments and replies tab." In our April FIR Live episode, we'll talk with CustomScoop CEO Chip Griffin and a senior representative of the new social media monitoring service Spiral 16 for their takes on the issue. And we'll take your calls.