How To Overcome The Boss’s Objections To Using Social Media — The Bad Comment
Jan 5th, 2010 by David Svet
“We can’t use social media. Someone might say something bad about us.” — Anonymous Executive
If I had a quarter for every time I’ve heard that objection, I’d never fear a parking meter again. It makes me crazy — executives who desperately want their staff to talk to customers and prospects but refuse to use social media for fear that someone might say something negative. Where is the logic in this? If I don’t listen, it isn’t being said? That just doesn’t work. Ignoring it will not make it go away and could ultimately cause serious harm. So, how do you combat the naysayer? Chances are you won’t have to if you use social media to build a strong social network.
Social networks are powerful, but a foreign concept in most organizations. That’s because social networks are decentralized organizations — they have no leader, knowledge and power are distributed, the number and location of participants is undetermined, and communications take place between individual members through the network. This is the complete opposite of the hierarchical structure of corporations and consequently very scary for most organizations. But different is not always scary and in this case, decentralized is a very good thing.
A strong social network is made up of your loyal fans. These are the people who love your organization — they are your advocates. Treat them well. Communicate with them often. Share your knowledge with them. Listen intently to what they have to say and acknowledge that you have heard them. They will protect you from the naysayer.
Centralized organizations turn inward when attacked — we hunker down, or duck and cover. Decentralized organizations grow stronger by fragmenting when attacked and counterattacking — just like a starfish. Cut a starfish in half and you’ll get two starfish. If you are attacked in social media space and have done a good job of being good, your followers will see that you are being unfairly maligned. The malcontent will very quickly and decisively feel the wrath of your advocates. You should be able to simply take the high road and acknowledge that you agree to disagree.
Communicating with your loyal fans is important. I think social media provide you with the best tools you’ve ever had to empower your base on your behalf. There is safety in numbers.
Image: Starfish (Oreaster reticulatus) on the sea floor. Underwater photograph taken by en:User:Dlloyd using a digital camera on a night dive in Cayman.
This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 License. In short: you are free to share and make derivative works of the file under the conditions that you appropriately attribute it, and that you distribute it only under a license identical to this one.
i would also add that execs, leadership teams, decision makers, etc must be properly introduced to and educated on the immediate, intangible benefits of leveraging social channels both as fora for enhancing client relations and for sharing (promoting) intellectual capital/thought leadership..the more precise and targetted your efforts are, the more likely you are able to measure the factors by which it is able to succeed or fail.
You make an excellent point, Autom. Training is essential for the internal team. A properly trained team becomes a dispersed set of catalysts that can help form the opinions of your community.