Panel: When Social Media Becomes Unsociable, Fleishman Hillard, New York
February 10, 2009
I've been a little hard on Social Media Week, but I have good
reason. Shiny building gnomes (some call them corporate types) have long treated social media as child's play, a frivolous "cute" funnel for communication. I have been involved with this
movement since the good old days -- I helped launch the IBM podcasting pilot and was an obsessive contributor and top blogger on the company's internal blogging platform, "Blog Central" so
the struggle for respect is close to my heart. Even with the stats showcasing employees' eagerness to participate, to connect with their EVPs and CTOs, it was still like putting pleather pants
on a rabbit to get executive types to see it as productivity- enhancing rather than draining. 
So you can see why, when someone (or a panel of someones) decided to put the "Social Media Week" moniker on a... week, I would want it to shine with a polished
schedule, not with confusion and missing logistical details, and a feeling of haphazard drop and run. It's serious (fun) business and I don't want anyone to have an excuse to say "and
this is why we don't respect social media." And hey, the panel I attended last night was filled with people who believe in it, who are serious (fun) busines people, and who understand the power
of, well, hearing the people. Let's go there, then...
I ran out of the MediaPost office on Broadway, ran into the 28th and Park subway stop, and fell down the stairs. I
twisted my ankle so hardcore I even whimpered a little bit as I burst through the turnstile. When your week is packed and your job is to spend each event on your feet, running around, sometimes
balancing on stuff, a twisted ankle is not ideal.
I sucked
it up and gimped to Fleishman-Hillard, breezed through security, and popped into the arctic tomb that hosted the panel. Instead of weird tuna sandwiches on pumpernickel, Bud Lights, wine, and
honey mustard pretzel rodlets covered two side bars. Toby Daniels (@tobyd), VP Business Development at Mint Digital, lead organizer of NYC Twestival (and according to his Twitter bio, he's
@socialmediaweek), introduced the panel by addressing where Social Media Week was born, and I was all ears. It came as no surprise
that the idea was coughed out three weeks ago and put together fairly last minute. Let's move onto the panel and get some discussion going, why don't we? Here are some tidbits that stuck
to my brain like a boogie on a five-year-old's finger:
The Phelps dilemma(puff puff, pass): How do you address a crisis when it's out there -- and does it ever die?
Overwhelmingly, the audience (which turned into a mumblefest of snarky commentary after this question) saw the Phelps situation as less a "don't do drugs, kids!" situation and more of a "be careful of
the company you keep" lesson or, as one guy said "the *sshole factor." But really, how do you respond? "Unfortunately," smiled Peter Himler of Flatiron Communications and writer of
TheFlack.com, "He's not that articulate." But seriously folks, it's another one of those situations where you -- or in this case, his publicist/PR goon -- need to make the judgment call on when
to engage and for how long. Continually addressing the situation gives it longer legs, when, really, Americans are quick to forgive a hero who has gotten a little low. Himler suggested in
a couple of years Phelps will be back on top. Mark my words; it's going to be in a couple of weeks.
What is the worst experience or issue you've had to manage in social media? Both Brad Mays and Steve Coulson went straight for the "the
wife found Facebook" angle, and Himler admitted that he is on it, but that his sons have blocked him from seeing their profiles. "But really, the worst thing is when you [the customer, the
target] get no response whatsoever, or a delayed response," Coulson asserted smartly. This is what Amber Naslund calls ROI -- Return On Ignoring (or Risk Of Ignoring) -- where, as a brand, the
risk you take by ignoring the conversation is greater than any other. "If you have a presence out there before a crisis hits, if you're already engaged with your community, the way you handle
the crisis won't be reactionary," advised Naslund. Coulson agreed, noting that "being heard and knowing you were heard solves a huge part of the problem." And, the bonus is, a lot of negative
responders who were recognized and were pulled into the solution can turn into powerful advocates. Again, every situation is unique and sometimes the choice is to not address it at all --
because not everything lives and dies by the blog.
What are the rules for the "empowered employee"? AKA, "How do you diplomatically tell your employees not to be a jackass and use common sense?" The panel unanimously agreed that
giving employees guidelines and educating in lowest-hanging-fruit language so everyone "gets it" is important, but what's more important is, you can't teach personality and you can't teach common
sense. Donald Schwartz from Fast Company asked a question that made me cringe, sort of a "how much of your personality do you show and how do you keep it natural," implying that
guidelines would make someone over-think every statement, potentially stifling an employee's true self. Can I answer this one? Thanks.
Listen, the message is the same. The words are the same. The way you
represent your company is still the same. The desired behavior (from a company to its employee) is the same. The channel has changed. Use your head, know your privacy filters, and,
as Constantin Basturea of Converseon said, act like you want to keep your job. In my indoctrination class at IBM, I saw this unintentionally hilarious film that I have never forgotten. The
segment was called "Information Brokers" and it showed Chauncey McCracken at an airport bar with his buddy, getting all tanked up and sweaty. He started blabbing the company secrets and slamming
his management, etc. Lurking nearby was the potentially pedophilic Pasty Noseypants, soaking in every whiskey-tinged diatribe. The "der" point? Be a responsible representative of
your company in public because you never know who's listening. And THIS was before Facebook woo-girl photo sets and the infamous Phelps bong hit.
Celebrating the end of February?
Invite kelly@mediapost.com and get covered in Just An Online Minute!
You're right, I didn't name everyone, but you can see everyone on Flickr!