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My dad is a smart guy. Throughout my life, he’s been right a lot. But most of the time, he wasn’t trying to be right. He was trying to teach me something. One piece of advice my dad gave me was foundational. And I guess I thought all parents passed down this truism to their kids. But today, I am reminded that they don’t. (See Anthony Weiner’s (D-NY) revelation today that he did in fact tweet that photo.)
Here’s what my dad told me: Lying makes it worse.
One Sunday morning when I was 8, I realized I couldn’t finish the plate of pancakes I’d helped myself to. For some reason, I felt the worst thing I could do was throw away those pancakes. My dad sat in the next room, as I claimed I was done and cleverly stashed the remnants in the garbage disposal. The true genius of my plan was that I didn’t turn on the disposal. Hence, he’d never know.
Um, wrong.
I could’ve admitted to throwing away breakfast, apologized and maybe agreed that I shouldn’t have been so greedy at the table — and honestly, that would’ve ended it. But instead, I lied.
And guess what? SO MUCH WORSE.
I’m pretty sure that it would take a couple more times of losing my friend time or phone privileges before I learned that no matter what I had done, lying would only make it worse. Oh, and also: The truth always comes out eventually. I learned these things before the transparency of social media and the evolution of “gotcha” journalism. (Not that I’m perfect, mind you, but the lesson has stuck.)
So, to members of Congress and other politicians, c-level execs, professionals running a marketing or PR department, and anyone in the public eye, I implore you: Enough with the lying. The public relations nightmares that follow an ill-advised decision will be bad. You bet. But my dad, who, as it turns out, is right about a lot of things, has been proven right time and again about this: Lying will only make it worse.
In a recent conversation with a colleague, we embarked on the subject of social media. For those of us in media/marketing/communications, social media is so often where our conversations end up. How can we make Facebook and Twitter work for us? How can we get more hits on YouTube? Etc.
I personally include “social media integration” as one of my services. That’s because I think these techniques can be a valuable element of SOME marketing campaigns. Not all. But it is still about strategy. There are organizations signing up for Twitter accounts because they hear that’s how they get the word out these days. And yes, it’s one way. But you should still have goals and objectives for this medium — just as you do for direct mail, media relations or your Web site.
My colleague and I noticed that several agencies are hiring “social media interns.” Is this a way to capitalize on a young person’s knowledge of the technology? Is the strategy being considered, or are they just setting college students free and asking them to build fan pages all day long? Without being on the inside, we can’t know for sure what the hiring strategy really is.
Nonetheless, when it comes to social media, make sure that if you hire a consultant or agency to help, that you have a plan — a strategy — in place. Just because Twitter and Facebook seem “easy” doesn’t mean they are throwaway tools. Think it through, and make sure that your agency or consultant is, too.
There are a lot of components to being a good PR/Marketing/Media professional. Yes, being a good writer or editor is one expectation. Understanding the business. Delivering creative ideas. Providing stellar customer service — or at the base level, at least returning phone calls and e-mails. (This gets missed more than you might realize.) And we’re also expected to understand and engage in social media.
But here’s something that I’m finding is often overlooked — if you’re a reporter, follow your sources. If you’re a PR/marketing pro, follow the reporters that cover your industry. Work for an agency or maintain clients as an indie? Follow your clients.
It seems so basic, but we’re so absorbed in this world of social media, and everyone is trying to figure out how to monetize it. How can you drive traffic to your Web site via Twitter? How can your YouTube video become viral? How can Facebook help your blog get noticed? Great goals, but as we sit around figuring out how to grow our business or make money or get noticed, we’re focused on our output. And when we focus on the output, we’re probably ignoring what others are saying. We stop listening (if we ever were in the first place).
But there are reasons — obvious ones! — to listening as much as you speak. In the world of Twitter, short bits of information are broadcast at a rate that is often hard to keep up with. But the problem with tweeters is that they tend to follow people who are trendy (Grrr, who cares about Ashton) or who they want to follow them back. Instead, your strategy should be to sure, follow people you find entertaining, but also follow those who can teach you something, enlighten you or help you in your work. Reporters seek out sources via Twitter — so why aren’t you following the reporters who cover your industry?
What about following clients? Unless you’re maintaining your client’s Twitter account or ghost writing the blog, you should be reading these communiques. It A) Provides you with additional insight into the company, which may provide an opportunity for business — or least keeps you looking engaged and B) Gives you information that you can use as a conversation starter — again, showing your client you care enough to use nonbillable time to keep tabs on the company.
Yes, we’re all busy. But many of us are busy putting messages out into the world through our blogs, our tweets, our fan pages, etc. So, why not take some time to sit back and listen. This may be one of the most important things you can do to perform better at your job.
When you think of Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and other social networks, it’s easy to think two things:
1. Young people.
2. What a waste of time.
And while Twitter’s demographic is actually a bit older than you might suspect, social networks of all stripes are gaining in popularity in all age groups — yes, even seniors. But the reason isn’t the one you might think. It’s not about marketing or re-connecting with old friends or getting popular online (Ahem, Mr. Kutcher). It’s about fighting boredom and loneliness — and having a reason to keep going.
While it’s hard to think we can replace human interaction with online networks and be just as happy, this just goes to show you that social media has a place no matter who you are. I was struck by this notion and by the following New York Times piece on the subject. Enjoy!
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/02/health/02face.html?_r=2&ref=technology
Here’s some not-so-shocking news: A majority of executives say they have a right to know how employees portray themselves and their organizations on social networks like Facebook and Twitter, according to a Deloitte LLP survey. Also not shocking: Employees say they disagree.
But what IS surprising is that only 53 percent of employees believe their Facebook and Twitter lives are none of their boss’s business.
Execs – I hear ya. Your employees are critical to your brand. If Sally in Accounting tells her 300 Twitter followers that your company is the worst place in town to work, that damages your brand. But instead of worrying about what Sally or your other employees are saying, it’s probably best to monitor your staff’s views through anonymous internal surveys and take the time to make changes where possible. Those efforts will help ensure you have fewer disgruntled employees.
But what about staff members who think it’s OK to reveal details of internal staff meetings? (Yes, NYTimes reporters, this one’s for you.) What’s a boss to do? For these issues, companies should have official policies in place. But as this survey shows, few companies do. Though it’s a bit unsettling that special rules have to be made for online social networks. Why isn’t it implicit that anything that’s a corporate secret should be honored in ALL mediums by staff?
Twitter’s a very open social network, so if you really want to monitor your staff, you could. (And this survey says … well, you do.)
Facebook, though? C’mon. While some people use Facebook to appear more popular than their friends, this site is frequently more personal with smaller networks. It’s a way to keep up with friends and view family photos. You may not want Sally to tell her Facebook friends she’s unhappy with her job or your company’s policies, but she could also tell them at the next cocktail party or over the phone. So, unless you think you have a right to wiretap your staff, why do you have a right to monitor their Facebook pages? (And people, please. If you post stuff you don’t want your boss to see, maintain tight privacy restrictions on your FB page.)
So, is anyone else surprised that only 53 percent of employees said their social networking pages are none of their employers’ business?
Check out the full survey at:
http://www.deloitte.com/dtt/cda/doc/content/us_2009_ethics_workplace_survey_150509.pdf