From a customer-service standpoint, social media is an unprecedented tool for connecting in real time with customers – for gathering information about their needs and concerns and letting them know you’re addressing them. But the social web has a powerful nose for spin and adspeak and frankly “We’re doing all we can” doesn’t really cut it. Maddie Grant, co-author of Humanize: How People-Centric Organizations Succeed in a Social World, argues that what the social media generation wants most from business is genuine transparency and a human face. They want to know that someone is actually listening and interested in their personal needs as a consumer. Companies that understand this – as opposed to paying lip service to it – can reap huge rewards in the form of customer loyalty and a real competitive edge.In this lesson, Grant uses the example of a misstep by the company Motrin to illustrate how social media can become a barometer of what’s working and what’s not, and a sourc...