Rules of engagement for Social Media.

Social Media is in essence a form of communication between people.

You can only be successful with Social Media if you’re able to act as a person (= Human Being). A lot of rules that apply for social human interaction also apply for Social media. To do so we all have our references in terms of values and opinions.

It’s safe to assume that in a short period of time you can go to college to study Social Media. Already many out there are working very hard to understand and theorize Social Media. This is off course a good thing. SM is here to stay and it redefines the way we communicate. It will not replace other means to communicate but it will be additional to them. We do need to understand its power as an individual but also as part of a social community/company.

Compared to tradditional communication two differences stand out:

• What you say on the internet, stays on the internet. You can’t “erase” or “undo” a posting.
• You are not addressing a single person but a crowd.

Already, there is enough written about Social Media to fill a small library. A search on Twitter for #Socialmedia will result in more links to great blogs than you’d be able to read. It’s almost as if we, for the first time in human existence, have discovered the wonders of communication and need to describe and define all of its aspects. We then need to define the “rules of engagement” and teach/learn them.

Clever peeps out there (creators) already gained great authority on Social Media matters. But looking closely it’s as if they are running way ahead, leaving the rest of us behind with only their latest findings and unable to catch up with them. They are no longer contributing to your need for information with regard to the implementation of a Social Media plan for your company. The knowledge gap grows.

These creators often still struggle with some basic rules for interaction. They need to come up with a definition for things as “Authenticity”, “Transparency” and “Sincerity” in order to get a clear view on how to deal with “Values”, “Appreciation”, “Listening”, Respect”, “Honesty” and more. All this have meaning to a single person but how do you cope with them from a corporate viewpoint?

Then, there is no such thing as transparency or authenticity.

From a Social Media viewpoint, a corporate is merely a group of individuals sharing some common interests. A lot of interests that are understood to be common or in fact should be common are not common at all. People working together in a system based on a hierarchical division of tasks and responsibilities seldom have a lot of common interests. They put themselves first and the company second. Everything they do is filtered through their set of values. This is our nature, we merely try to act in our best interest.

The rules

These rules may be useful:

Foremost it’s important to create company awareness about your company and brand values and ethics.

Make sure your Social Media policy is in place and known to all. Everyone needs to be aware of the do’s and don’ts with regard to Social Media.

Remember: You do not have to be “all good” or “saints” as long as you’re upfront about it. Errors will be made and that’s not such a big deal as long you are honest about it and try to reolve issues on Social Media.

Setup shop for intensive search and tracking systems for content and context.

Start with Social Media by using dedicated corporate accounts. Make sure more than one person is entitled to these accounts (in case of personnel shift or holidays) and that they are empowered to act.

Engage now! Not participating doesn’t mean that discussions don’t take place. What would you rather have: you not knowing what your customer thinks of your product, company, brand or service? Or you not being able to engage with them to turn a bad thing into a good thing?

Don’t forget: “On the internet all hysteria is mass hysteria!”