Proceed with caution: Everyday dangers of social media, part 1
For every social m
edia success, there are multiple disasters that receive 10 times the publicity. It pays, therefore, to remember that while social media offers fantastic opportunities for business, networking and professional development, it is also a fragile and powerful tool that needs special care and consideration.
Personal/professional integration
Most practitioners encourage social media newbies to be themselves. There is no doubt that your audience/customers identify better with a face than a brand, but there is great danger in going too far.
If you’re representing your company, brand or product, always keep that in mind when communicating under their banner. Leave your hang-ups and politics at home, and focus on your company’s goal. Even when you’re communicating under your personal brand, be careful with how tightly you integrate. It may be handy to connect your Twitter, LinkedIn, Flickr, YouTube and Facebook accounts — but if you’re known to make faces at the camera or have ever donned a lampshade as a hat, you might want to rethink who has access to your profile. It might be an old college buddy, but it could also be your next employer.
Now let’s hear from you: Is the intersection of personal and professional via social media more likely to create opportunity or disaster?
Comment below to tell us what you think and why — in 140 characters or less (Tweet-length). We’ll run the five best responses (along with your name, website and Twitter handle, if you so choose) in SmartBrief on Social Media, right here on our SmartBlog and via @sbosm.
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Tags: caution, danger, Facebook, integration, linkedin, social media, twitter
Categories: Ideas in Action, Social Networks
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Posted by Erin Blakemore on January 23rd, 2009 at 4:35 pm
Opportunity. What better way to humanize the face of your business than with a dose of real life? Within reason, of course.
Posted by Digital Biographer™ » Posts about Personal Branding as of January 24, 2009 on January 24th, 2009 at 4:15 am
[...] where I scratch my head and say “I would die if I had to live here! citation DavidHenderson Proceed with caution: Everyday dangers of social media, part 1 – smartblogs.com 01/23/2009 For every social media success, there are multiple disasters that [...]
Posted by Kevin Dugan on January 25th, 2009 at 10:15 pm
It’s a personal choice. But I think you should take advantage of the fact that Google sees all. While there are plenty of things I choose to keep offline, if you search “Kevin Dugan” on Google you’ll learn more about me than a resume could ever detail.
The key is remembering that sites like Twitter are not for your inner dialogue. The informal nature of social media catches people off guard and they seem to forget this. The end result makes for great content.
on twitter: @prblog
Posted by Stephanie Jansky on January 26th, 2009 at 12:15 pm
Definitely opportunity – these tools allow a person’s passions, authenticity and personality to shine enhancing a personal brand. Just remember anything posted online can live in infamy, so it behooves all users to be thoughtful in their responses/comments.
Posted by Ed Ritter on January 27th, 2009 at 2:37 pm
It is a direct connection between you and your community in close to real time – if you are listening. Flight 1549 a recent example – the media was referencing the tweets! The downside is there also vis-a-vie Ketchum in Mephis; we all can learn from that.
Posted by J Keirn-Swanson on January 28th, 2009 at 7:34 am
Absolutely opportunity, but (and it’s a big one) it’s the opportunity for success or disaster.
Companies need to find someone willing to spend the time engaging others online to grow the brand, so this person has to have a social side, but the person they select also has to have the insight/maturity to know where to draw the line. You can’t blog/tweet every thought that crosses your mind, just as you can’t link to or put up on your social sites every cool thing you run across.
Those tasked with engaging on social media for a company need to remember that their personality absolutely has to be an ingredient or else the whole exercise comes off as a dry marketing gimmick. But they also have to remember that what they do for work isn’t the entirety of who they are, so their own personal issues, politics, beliefs, and tastes need to be filtered through what’s acceptable at the office.
That said, the old adage, all press is good press holds true to the extent that you don’t totally tank the company’s reputation. Name recognition, especially for a smaller organization, can do wonders, even if the name recognition does carry with it a hint of edginess.
Posted by J on January 29th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
D’oh! Someone didn’t read the instructions very well.
Posted by Tumblemoose on January 31st, 2009 at 7:18 pm
Discipline is the key. Do not give in to temptation.
Sometimes I’ll see a tweet that I’m certain was designed to bait me in. Thus far I have resisted.
You must keep personal attributes and interests separate from what you are businessizing in the social media circles. if you feel you must inject personal into the pool, then go “batman” on us and get a secret identity.
Great Article, BTW
Cheers!
George
Posted by Matthew Carson on October 29th, 2009 at 1:56 pm
Be warned. I know from past, personal experience that employers sometimes bookmark and sift through employee online postings on a regular. And woe to you if you work for a company that paranoid or looking for an excuse to trim the payroll without paying unemployment.
Even mentioning your position, roles, or accomplishments can land you in HR if you work at the ‘wrong’ place.