You can’t control “social media”

You can’t control “social media” – but my Gran can

There seems to be a lot of “social media experts” cropping up at the moment. All telling us how to engage and control and evangelise AND frankly my Gran knows more about “being social” than most of them.

A company picks an “expert” and then gets them to become the point of call for the rest of the organisation for the social web. They then train the staff in the use of a medium that suits the company or the “trainer”… Is this what social media is about?

It should not be controlled at all, it’s like the Borg from Star Trek – “You must comply”… eh?

Employees (and customers) will evangelise the company/peers/superiors/subordinates if the environment that they work in makes them want to… This social thing is not new – it’s gossip – digital gossip. Hence my gran being better at it (and she’ll read your tea leaves).
If the only person who believes in the company/product is the guy being paid to do it – you have a big failure and a waste of resource. If you create an environment that promotes involvement, cooperation, a sense of belonging, integrity and dare I say it happiness (feel free to add your own expletives here) then your staff will do the social thing for you, with no training, using whatever medium suits them…

Interestingly with today’s tools, you can monitor everything being said online about your business and pre-empt internal problems quicker (as well as external) to ensure that staff and customers are happy. We’ve heard a lot about “Social Support”, what about “Social HR”…?

Mark
10 March 2009
Comments

Matthew Anderson

Great blog and way to go Gran! (not the windows thing Tom).

Any organisaiton should have blogging guidelines built into employment agreements, but we must be careful to enforce a command and control mentality. Just look at the police blogger called Nightjack... people will always talk on and off line, even if it means it is under a different Avatar or indentity to get around controls.

Organisations must LISTEN to their customers and clients online and change policy or product , then promote this using social media and internal communications.

What so many "Social media gurus" lack is the art of conversation and listening and if you've got nothing interesting to say nobody will listen!

Now pass me the rich tea Gran and do you fancy a natter over a cuppa??

Mark

@Tom, it may be your birthday but no need to be this constructive with your critique...

Tom

Is Granny running windows? Filthy bitch...

Nigel Legg

Social media strategies should all be about finding ways for the comms / PR teams to let go, and let the people who do the real work of the business the freedom to tell it as it is. If they are not on message, then you know you have a problem with them internally. A good social media strategy, in my opinion (and I'm no "expert") would tie in with some loosening of control within the organisation.

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