How Companies Should Avoid Over-directing Social Media

It can be difficult for companies to balance the necessary control and creativity in order to use social media effectively. As I continue to look back on trends in how businesses use social media, here is a post delving into that topic (orginally published August 2 on Examiner.com):

Social media can fail at companies that like to over-control everything. Smart companies are paving the roads and providing the traffic lights, but not trying to drive the car.

It is definitely a delicate balance to instigate social media with proper checks and balances without squelching the viral and creative nature of it. A few ideas for companies who want to make social media work without stifling its flame:

Have a policy in place. Here is where control matters. A commentary from the law firm DLA Piper notes the legal risks of social media (although there isn’t really a lot of legal precedence to work with just yet). Having a policy in place about what employees can and cannot do with social media is key.

Let them fly. Once that policy is in place, over-policing the tone of social media at your company could result in an ineffective social media strategy. Meaning, the audience for your Tweets or Facebook messages might see right through over-calculated and impersonal social-media messaging. Plus, employees have to use the right side of their brains to make this work; when too much control is present, the right brain shuts off, making employees like deer in the headlights. (It is really time-consuming for employees to be creative if they work in a controlling environment that breeds paranoia.)

Make the line clear about personal and professional. Here’s an idea for the corporate policy: Make sure the line is clear about personal verse professional. Let employees know if you want to claim their name on social media or if they should make a different avatar. Some employees are solving this by coming up with personal social media personas and professional personas. Or perhaps Twitter is professional but Facebook is for fun. The line is hazy because a “professional persona” should usually be casual/personable in order to be legit in the medium — and yet it’s not totally personal because the idea is to promote the company and not promote the person.

Sound confusing? It is. Employees might welcome the chance for a divide between personal and professional, as it could clear up some of the confusion.

Don’t give up. Yes, some corporate cultures seem to be structured in a way that is completely counter to social media, and are now realizing they need to include it. It’s OK if not every type of social media fits the strategy. Create your own strategy, and then sit back and watch it take off.


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