Your people are using Twitter. Some of them maintain blogs. They’re also participating with LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, and a variety of other Social Media sites. There’s no way (nor does it make sense) to try to stop them. The social media phenomenon has taken root so quickly because it mirrors something very fundamental about our human-ness: We are social beings.
These new (and somewhat disruptive) technologies are certainly uncharted waters for organizations. These new platforms look nothing like the monolithic client-server applications of days gone by and bear only a surficial resemblance to the web applications being deployed at the outset of the Internet. These platforms are not about rendering data on a screen, or giving individuals a place to interact with a system. These platforms connect people to other people in a way that lubricates the flow of information.
While enterprises and organizations may be somewhat internally social, at their membrane they are private, legally cautious, slow moving beasts. When they encounter the uncharted waters of these new platforms, they either drop anchor and avoid involvement for fear of liability, or attempt to figure out how to manipulate the medium in the same ways they manipulate press releases and marketing materials. However, it is important to note that these social communities are seldom open to such manipulation.
In order to be successful participating in these new channels, two tactics must be employed: Guidance, and Trust.
The first thing to realize is that your people own their own presence on these platforms. It’s no more appropriate for you to tell them what to say in these channels than it is to dictate their conversation at a cocktail party. It’s also important to realize that, generally speaking, your people have a stake in the success of your organization and wouldn’t intentionally do anything to harm its chances of success. However, people don’t always think through the implications of their actions (much like a cocktail party) while Tweeting or posting to their blogs. It is important to inform them of the potential pitfalls of careless content cast into the Whatever-sphere. It is equally important to help them realize the potential for mutual benefit from conscientious participation in social media.
Trust is, admittedly, the more difficult of the two tactics because it implies a philosophical change in the way you do business. As different as social media looks from past technology platforms, this new model of participation looks practically alien. Trusting your people enough to realize the benefits of social media requires being able to look at every person in your organization and tell them that they are your marketing department. More than that, they are your brand. While this is a bit of a sea change, it’s important to realize that your people give your organization and its message effective reach into areas where even the most energetic canvassing and rigorous market segmentation could hope to get you.
If you set out thoughtful guidelines and ground rules and trust the members of your organization to take them into account as they participate in social media, there’s no reason that benefit can’t be realized for both parties.
