Social media is like a cocktail party. That was an intriguing metaphor discussed by Rob Landry of Pemaquid Communications, a Portland Web design studio, during a recent Maine Public Relations Council seminar.
The comparison is spot-on in all the particulars that Rob talked about – and in another couple crucial ways that didn’t come up.
The idea, of course, is that social media is not a monologue like the one that has taken place between traditional media and the public. Instead, social media is a conversation, where the most popular participants are witty, interesting and helpful.
If you try to use social media in the tone of most press releases or marketing pitches, you’ll find people wandering away to the high-technology equivalent of the kitchen, where they have a better shot of finding something to eat and new conversation partners.
If you do social media right, though, you can network with others, find new clients and build all manner of unexpected and valuable connections.
However, a second-half of the metaphor has to be considered too, as businesses enter this new social scene for the first time. Cocktail parties can lead to people wearing lampshades on their heads. They often involve catty comments, political arguments and gossip. They bring people together in new ways, in conversations that may or may not have anything to do with work.
Bad party behavior can be remembered and remarked upon for years around the water cooler. The online version has an even greater potential reach, since it can reside on the Web and pop up in searches for years to come. Sometimes, it can go viral and make its way to all sorts of unintended audiences.
So here’s the rub: Companies need to be on their best behavior and ensure that their employees also aren’t dancing on tabletops by chatting about confidential information, bad-mouthing individuals or using off-color language. That’s the last thing a financial services company or other professional organization needs, as it tries to prove itself a serious steward of someone’s business.
When you go into social media, strike a balance somewhere between boring and wild. Be interesting and helpful, but don’t forget entirely the image that you are working to project in every other forum.
– Eric Blom
Tags: Add new tag, image, public relations, reputation, social media
