CASE EXAMPLE 3.1 GENERAL ELECTRIC: CAMPAIGNING THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA In 2008. General Electric redeveloped its digital communication platforms, including its intranet and its external-facing website. The intranet came to include GE Connect, a Facebook like internal network which allows staff to maintain personal sites and profiles. to write blogs and to develop knowledge-sharing and discussion sites. GE also has an inter- active external website where employees post videos about their work and thus act as brand ambassadors. A particularly popular feature is a correspondence site on the intranet (called InsideGE) where employees can debate stories and issues in an unfettered manner In 2009, GE Aviation faced a threat to funding for the F-35 fighter-jet engine it was devel oping for the US military, an issue that sparked huge interest with employees inside the form. Debating the issue on InsideGE, employees decided that they should collectively lobby politicians on the issue. Rather than a more traditional corporate communication approach of telling GE's story via the media or via a targeted public affairs strategy, employees initi ated their own grassroots approach. About 12,000 employees from all parts of GE sent letters to the senators of their own states, asking the US government to keep funding the engine. Each employee wrote a personal letter and framed the appeal around their own interests, as individual citizens, and also argued for preserving jobs and local technology expertise. The initiative not only helped in getting the resolution passed, it also marked a Communication in a Changing Media Environment new dawn for internal and external communication within GE. It led to the realization that employees can collectively voice issues and communicate with external stakeholders such as government and do not need traditional news media in the process. According to Sangita Malhotra, corporate communication manager at GE companies like GE need to grow with these developments, rather than attempt to turn back the clock. New media are not only here to stay, but also offer new opportunities internally in terms of harnessing employees' creativity and identification and externally in terms of crafting conversations about the company and its activities. Question for reflection Reflect on the way in which employees mobilized themselves and communicated directly to the senators of their state. Do you think that a process like this should be supported or managed by a corporate communication practitioner; and if so, how and to what degree