Corporate social media policy: Are you in or are you out?

22 Sep 2010

Corporates around the world are facing a profound question right now. It's about whether they put a toe into the social media pool or dive in at the deep end. Both approaches can be disastrous. The crux of the issue though is - there's little option but to engage. It's not a question of 'if' - it's a question of 'when, where and how?'

When social media went even halfway mainstream, some corporates, via their opportunistic ad agencies, thought of it as a low-cost advertising medium. There were naïve attempts to peddle their snake oil under the guise of "consumer comment" or "happy customer endorsement". What they discovered, as have many others more recently, is that social media is rigorous in outing dishonesty in any shape or form.

What's delightful and terrifying at the same time about social media is the utterly uncontrolled immediacy of it.

Nhlanhla Nene (then Director General in the ministry of finance, now Deputy Minister and an extremely capable man) was being featured on SABC Morning Live TV when his chair collapsed on camera. He became an international celebrity within the hour. He temporarily lost his sense of humour, then regained it and earned our admiration.

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Source: Memeburn

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