Looking back over my notes from several conference sessions, I’ve pulled together a few fears that were expressed (usually in questions from the audience) about social networking and the corresponding responses given by panellists.
Fear: We risk exposing the brand: an image carefully crafted by the marketing department.
Response: Well rethink the brand then!
Fear: Blogs, wikis et al simply create more noise and overload.
Response: They’re not going away. Internally, look for the processes that can be replaced by new tools and externally, use RSS to be selective.
Fear: What about security – giving away our secrets or being sued for libel?
Response: Trust your employees, look to your employment contracts. After all, folks with evil intent don’t need a blog to do harm if they really want to.
Fear: Customers who publicly comment on our products or beta tests will expose our bad news.
Response: Wouldn’t you rather know about your product’s failings as early as possible?
Jim Ashling
International Columnist
Information Today