Since the explosion of Facebook, Twitter, blogs, MySpace and other on-line networks, many companies have been flocking to social media in droves. Some are being led willingly into this new garden by innovative leaders with a vision of a profitable company. However there are others, who perhaps quite rightly, are reluctantly dragging their feet towards the gates of these enchanted gardens. Make no mistake about it, the use of social media as a part of business strategy is not for every company. Like Adam and Eve, many social media newbies have found the many sins that lie therein.

Selfish focus

We understand that the main idea behind putting your company ‘out there’ under the hot glare of the social media lights is to bring attention to the ‘life-saving’ qualities your business has to offer. So, through the networks you have bombarded us with the phenomenal qualities of the goods or services you are selling to the world. We now know that if we do not go out and immediately buy Product ABC, or attend your event, our paltry lives will continue to meander down a meaningless path. We will end up, empty and alone with unfulfilled dreams of the glamorous life your product promised us. We get that you have to promote. Now, do you care what we have to say? The beauty of social media is in the countless ears and mouths that it has to offer our businesses. It is not supposed to be used as a dead-end, one way street or like traditional media. The proper use of social media is about engaging us, your audience. It is about garnering feedback. Unfortunately, because of the novelty of this communications tool, many companies assign it to a young, unexposed employee and do not give him or her much guidance. There is usually no clear understanding about posting ‘listening’ messages on the social media feed so that you will be able to garner valuable responses for your company. The result is the sin of selfishness with no long term benefit for either the company nor its audience.

False friends

I fear that the true meaning of the word ‘friend’ has been severely eroded by social media networks such as Facebook. Those of us who were never ever able to raise a single BFF ‘Best Friend Forever’ in all those years of high school now have a plethora of followers and people who we are now proud to call our ‘friend’. The nebulous nature of these imaginary relationships and the fact that we share nothing in common more than mutual ‘friends’ does not matter, as long as we are safe in the knowledge that we have a friend or fan base of over one thousand. Never mind that although he exists in the 2.0 world, you would never ever want to meet anyone whose name is preceded by ‘Ram-goat’ or ‘stulla’ in real life. Some companies make the same mistake and focus on gathering around them a massive fan base of persons who perhaps will never ever be able to afford the goods or services that they are selling. Their base has nothing in common with their company. The measurement of success that they use is in the high level of exposure they imagine their company will receive from ‘be-friending’ so many persons. If that is the particular objective then this is fine, however, I am a believer in being highly selective about who I encourage into my network. If I am not a lover of sports, bags, shoes or ‘Impy Skimpy’ parties, your message will fly right over my head and your invitations to same will be deleted forthwith. Somewhere in that story is a moral about choosing your friends carefully.

Flatter to deceive

Desperate times call for desperate measures, they say and we are indeed living in very interesting times. Some people use social media networks to unleash a host of ‘nutten no go so’ story about themselves. The photos of themselves that they use on their pages are not truly representative of their ‘real life’ selves and likewise the information on their page is so false, the devil himself would have a conniption that someone here on earth has bettered him in his core function — the art of lying. It is patently clear that one should not believe everything they read about people on the social media networks. The man/woman with whom you are lovingly corresponding might turn out to be someone who they are not, for example. If your company is posting information on any social media sites it is important to ensure that the information is always factual and unambiguous. Do not post deceptive and untrue statement and promises that will never be fulfilled about your business. Once people become aware that any information you post is untrue, the level of trust will recede – sometimes rapidly.

Finally, companies who choose to enter into the social media network space must be prepared to take whatever critical blows that are flung at them. This media landscape is not for the fainthearted — when you enter you either go hard or go home.

Yvonne Grinam-Nicholson, (MBA, ABC) is a Business Communications Consultant with ROCommunications Jamaica, specialising in business communications and financial publications. She can be contacted at: yvonne@rocommunications.com. Visit her website at www.rocommunications.com and post your comments.