Judo is a gentle art of self defence where you use an opponent’s strength against them, instead of pitting your strength in their direction. It was my favourite sport at college. Nick White, Geoff Nelson, Chris Aarons with Dan Zehr have self-published Social Media Judo, a 167-page guide to social media for business. The book would be a credible sales tool for the company Nick, Geoff and Chris founded – Ivy Worldwide.

The judo analogy is so apt for social media, a field I work in at a leading bank. When any bank’s computers or ATMs break down, it is sometimes scary to see the speed with which bad news travels and how savvy customers use social networks to get a response quickly. My experience enabled me to appreciate this book very well and I commend the authors for speaking the truth, which some companies may find hard to swallow.

I was exposed to some of the Microsoft Windows Vista campaigns mentioned in the Introduction, so I understood the anecdotes better. Continue reading →