Are Social Media Obligations and Responsibilities Mutual?

Many of us would have read the story recently about Za’s Brick Oven Pizza restaurant and their run in with a South Carolina Twitter celebrity. It’s an interesting lesson about the power of the crowd and how sometimes this power can be misused (either intentionally or unintentionally).

As someone who is active in social media, generating income from working in the space, consulting to companies, and providing solutions I’ve long advocated the basic principles put forward by the luminaries like David Meerman Scott (as an aside – did you know that David is coming to Australia next month – don’t miss this…) Brian Solis, and Axel Schultze – be open, be transparent, contribute and expect nothing in return, accept feedback, listen, engage, and most of all be honest.

But as I read this story and thought about the ideals that we strive to live to I was struck by this notion that sometimes consumers don’t seem to live to the same set of expectations. So there’s no mutuality in this social media thing… Is this fair?

You don’t get to play by the old rules any more, and it doesn’t matter what business you’re in. You don’t get the old privilege of anonymity – Sonia Simone

So we as vendors can’t live by the old rules! But what about consumers who choose to use word of mouth tools (like Twitter) to make a complaint that they know full well is going to spread; is there an obligation or expectation on them to take an active role in the resolution?

Is it fair on the vendor if a customer rants on Twitter and then decides they don’t want to talk, that they want to move on!

Or have we entered an age where consumers won’t accept mistakes period?

Or worse, have we entered an age where minor transgressions become internet headlines? My dish arrived 2 minutes later than I expected so it’s death to the reputation of this restaurant… I have to admit I don’t like this model where a consumer can rant and run. It goes against my core values of fairness and accountability.

How should we deal with those that decide to rant and run – do we as active members of the community have a right to turn the tables and call out consumers who do a seagull?

Social Media Policy – balancing freedom and corporate responsibility

I caught a very interesting article this morning from the WSJ about social media policy. It delved into the issues public companies face with respect to using social media tools and public disclosure/SEC compliance.

This is a topic I’m always asked about when I talk about social media with CEO’s and I think it’s a reasonable question to be asking. I commented earlier this month about Australian Telco Telstra’s recently announced social media policy which was good but I felt they were closing the gate after the horse had bolted.

Many social media experts put forward an overly simplistic ideal that the corporation should just get in and join the groundswell and let the information be free with this sentiment picked up in the article with reference to eBay seemingly putting some boundaries around an official Twitterer:

Some followers think the tougher oversight is squelching Mr. Brewer-Hay’s spontaneous, informal style

This type of mindset is dangerous as it fails to balance the desire to be open and collaborative with real world regulatory demands (such as continuous disclosure obligations).

This collision of ideals is where I feel many social media experts and participants really let themselves down in that they don’t or won’t accept realistic boundaries around the use of social media. If an employee puts information into the community that is wrong or is breaking the law why shouldn’t the company act? What justification is there for this ideal that “sanitising such posts risks hurting credibility with online audiences”?

If you step back from the regulatory aspect, it’s also good business to have a policy in place that reinforces mutual obligations as well as the overall strategy. The US Air Force has a very interesting flow chart that they use to help their employees understand how to engage. As David Meerman Scott discusses in his post, the USAF has a well developed policy that encourages every employee to be a communicator. The USAF’s blog assessment flowchart is something I was very impressed with as it’s a simple but effective tool to help visualise one aspect of a social media policy.

US Air Force Blog Assessment Flowchart

My advice to CEO’s is to focus on getting a clear and simple policy in place and then sticking to it. Get on the web and find examples of what others are doing well – i.e. Dell, IBM. If you find reason to intervene then make sure you do it in a way that is open and transparent. Most people in the community will respect this and appreciate the fact that a company is prepared to be open but is also prepared to be diligent and responsible.