Social Media as a Form of Cooperation
May 24th, 2010 by David Svet
The previous post on SPURspectives opened a conversation about three ways to repair the current economic downturn proposing greater cooperation, improved social norms and shared values between the financial services sector and their clients. Granted, this is a very high altitude look at a broad idea. But I think it is important to have a dialogue on the subject and begin the building process.
Today I’d like to propose improving communication as a first step in creating cooperation.
I think the best way to do that is through the use of social media. While millions of people and business sectors are participating, the financial sector has largely been on the sidelines or flying under the radar due to foggy regulatory compliance issues. That’s changed. There is now clear regulatory guidance regarding the use of social media in the financial sector and they are free to join the conversation happening on our shrinking planet.
How small has the world become? Small enough that this blog attracts readers from around 5000 cities spread over 150 countries. As blogs go, that’s not a big readership. What does this mean? It means blogging has reach — it’s a way to touch a lot of people all over the world with very little effort or expense. But the real value isn’t pushing your message to grow readership; it’s growing the cooperation that comes from sharing ideas with such a wide range of people. The dialogue that emerges between comments posted directly on a blog or indirectly via Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and emails are rich, exciting and embrace a broad world view. That’s pretty amazing power for one little blog.
I think it is time for the financial sector to see how amazing it would be to join the conversation in a cooperative spirit. I know they want to and are capable. So, this is a call to the financial services sector to join the conversation. Offer personal customer service. Provide valuable information. Be human — communicate with transparency. Openly show your integrity. Joining the social conversation will require you to step up your game, but the upside for everyone is huge. On behalf of SPURspectives readers, let me extend an olive branch, an open hand and an open forum to everyone interested in building the economy and financial security. Welcome to the conversation.
Image: Center for Whale Research under Creative Commons: http://whaleresearch.com
