We Can Do Better Than This… Surely?

We hear that buzzword - transparency - in social media so many times, but I wonder how many of those who practise social media actually abide by it. I have been reading so many parties whom have been redefining the boundaries of social media in words. At the end of the day, I feel we are looking at more rules and less actions.

Take for example the HR company that I worked for many years ago, my manager was also the main decision maker. When my manager and I started another sub-company, I was also taught to do the same. Therefore, all clients and associates got to see was our managerial title and all decisions were left to a non-existent “senior management”. The fact was, we WERE the senior management.

Little wonder why we fell out eventually. Making known to the clients that I was one of the decision makers and was able to service them with a little more, did more good for the company than restricting the amount of work we can do for clients. As the days went, resentments grew when I determined that this was just another tactic to “deceive clients”.

As I came to know more and more Web 2.0 services, this scene seems to be replaying itself again and again. Precisely why, there are some like me whom have grown wary of Web 2.0 companies or anyone known to be operating these services. Just like how recently, I decided to turn my back on someone who often invited me to her employer’s gatherings on a “friend” basis. To my disappointment, someone spilled the beans to me about her shareholdings in the company. Effectively, she is more than just an “employee” which she had presented herself as.

Unfortunately, there are more people talking about transparency than actually practising transparency. This is something I feel must be changed, and fast! This spiralling effect is also potentially the one to slow down the adoption of social media here, apart from stale ideas we copied conveniently from our overseas counterparts.

Take the practice of private engagement for example, it works at times and it doesn’t for some other times. More and more companies are taking their engagement underground, which leave little in the open for a clear tranparent mode of communication. For another matter of fact, private conversations revealed to me by my peers with certain high-profile blog advertising companies painted a very different picture from what was declared in the open. Remember, you don’t want to be begging for sympathies from bloggers in private.

Is private engagement defeating the whole purpose of transparency in social media? Yes, it does when you look at it this way. In that sense, companies are using private communication modes to say things which otherwise, they wouldn’t on the open platform. Experience has tell some of us that, the more a certain business is insisting on private engagement - the more we should be wary of what transpires at the end of it. Treat it as, the inability to be held accountable for public statements.

Here’s some suggestions on how you can change for a more transparent practice;

Consolidation of opinions
When you have several parties voicing the same concern simultaneously, address all the problems in one related publication. It can be a press release, it can be a blog entry or even a circulation email. It beats having to answer to various parties individually with contradicting responses. It can also serve as a good guide to others whom have the same concerns but did not voice out.

Declare your status
Making known your identity isn’t enough. Your face-shot and name tell us nothing about your credibility. You don’t want to be caught lying with your pants down that you have more commercial interests in a certain entity than you have indicated. It just turns you into a gigantic target board in a small 50m firing range. Honesty is still the best policy. And yes, marketers have our ways to find out. A full-blown exposure is hazardous to any company. Do a search for Edelman - Walmart, nothing more I can say.

Avoid unverified contents
You shouldn’t be afraid of being held accountable for the contents or correspondences you put up. You earn more trust when you are willing to be held accountable, and that’s a big commitment to live with. If you’re not ready to answer for your statements and contents, you’re not ready for social media.

Encourage feedbacks without prejudice
Good or bad, embrace it with grace. This is exactly the part that companies find hardest to achieve. Many companies discourage their customers against negative feedbacks when at the same time they are preaching of how social media can be used with a balance. Clearly, you are not adapting to social media if you find it difficult to manage negative feedbacks. Like how I wrote some time back, social media isn’t something that you can apply the old marketing/PR rules to. The game has changed, so have the rules.

So far, there are very little examples who can truly put into practice all of the above, most of which derived from my encounters with various parties. My eventual verdict is anything but convincing. When businesses cannot perform these traits consistently throughout their social media involvement, they can only slowly fade away like most local blog aggregators we see. Hype fades… doesn’t it?

Related Read:
Be Real or Remarkable (Not Both)
Policies, biases and conflicts

By Ed | August 25, 2008

Filed Under Marketing, Social Media

 


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