Warning: Social media is dangerous

One of the guests sitting at my table last week at a networking dinner at which I was the speaker expressed the view that social media was dangerous, total tyranny, that companies were now at the mercy of the public – that they could say anything and people would listen. She felt that your brand could just be destroyed by a vindictive member of the public and years and years of careful nurturing of the brand would just be destroyed.

Is this really a threat?

It really depends on your mindset. If you believe that you are in control of your brand then it is. It’s a threat because spin and puffery don’t work when people can examine the source and have alternative sources of information.

You have certainly lost control. Maybe control was nothing more than an illusion anyway, people have always spoken about things, about products and about people. The sum of their opinion is your brand or your reputation.

What social media has done is amplify the public/costumers voice by creating better connections. The same technology that links people keeps a permanent record which can be found and tracked by other members of the public BUT also by you, so NOW you know what they are saying!

The antidote is nothing new. Truth and transparency. If you build your own personal reputation by doing and being what you say you are then there is no danger, same with your brand.

On the other hand…