The Goth in development writes in the first person singular

When I get pushback from Corporate Communications teams about employees on blogs, forums, and social networks, it’s usually because the professional communicators are scared silly about hundreds or thousands of people in a company "speaking on behalf of the company."

The PR team imagines the Goth who works in software development who has 5,000 Twitter followers delivering "messages" on behalf of the company. Yikes!

The wrong answer is to simply say "no" to allowing employees to communicate on social networks. Sadly too many companies do just that.

There is an amazingly simple and effective way to deal with this corporate concern.

First person singular

Create a policy that requires people to write in the first-person singular on social networks. That's what IBM has done with its IBM Social Computing Guidelines.

In fact, I think that speaking in the first-person singular is essential to social media when used at work.

When somebody from your company says something in a social network using "we" -- as in "We're going to create a new product and release it in December!" -- readers might think that this is some sort of formal corporate announcement, even if the person is not authorized to talk about product launches. That's the part that frightens corporate communications people.

However, when the same employee uses the first-person singular -- "I'm working on a new product targeted for December release!" -- it becomes a personal statement or a personal opinion.

Simple and clear.

Photo credit: Shutterstock / Kuzma

Comments

[Keith Jennings]

David,

In addition to first person singular, do IBM and others require disclaimer statements, particularly for bloggers? You know, the ol' "opinions expressed here do not represent those of my employer."

[David Gordon Schmidt]

David:

They've nailed it. If there is only one rule, this should be it. I also like:
"If you get in trouble, you're on your own."
"Don't be stupid."
"No personal attacks."

[David Meerman Scott]

Keith - Yes. On blogs written by employees that are related to their work at IBM. This is the suggested language -- "The postings on this site are my own and don't necessarily represent IBM's positions, strategies or opinions."

David - I love the "Don't be stupid." Thanks for that. Something similar that I like to think about when I am active online is "Don't say anything online that you wouldn't say to someone in person."

[Des Walsh]

Neat, David, as always.

Frank Arrigo at Microsoft said in a seminar I was at that he tells his team not to blog something they would not want to see on the front page of the daily newspaper tomorrow.

And I love the one from Deloitte Australia - "What would your mum say?"

[David Meerman Scott]

Thanks Des! I invoke my mum too sometimes in answer to questions about ethics: "If your mother would say it is wrong, it probably is."

[learningquranonline]

Thank you so much.You did very nice job and exploring your blog gives you update knowledge of different things keep the good work on.

[Daniel Kuperman]

Nicely put! And I like Des Walsh's suggestion of thinking "what would your mum say?".

Really, if you're going to limit employees using social media you might as well tell them to not attend parties, family dinners, outings, dance lessons, and any other social engagement. True, they do that off-work but what used to be a clear separation of life-work is not that clear anymore.

And, it all comes down to TRUST. Do you not trust your employees? Maybe you shouldn't have hired them in the first place.

[David Meerman Scott]

Daniel Kuperman - Yes, it is about trust. If they allow employees to use the telephone, why not the keyboard?