If you have read my posts, you’ll probably know that I’m obsessed with social media (SM). In my defence, I’m not the only one: both practitioners and academics are lauding their potentials to directly manage relationships with stakeholders and realize the dream of an interactive two-way communication.
Like it or not, one thing is certain: you cannot ignore SM, especially if you work in communication. In fact, SM have imposed one of the biggest shift in society since the industrial revolution, and in order to survive, organizations need to embrace it.
However, as my colleague Naomi mentioned, SM imply also risks and negative implications. So let’s put away the enthusiasm for a moment, and let’s see why, in SM, all that glitter is not always gold.
The illusion of control
Imagine that you’re a PR of a huge company, that you have just launched a nice #hashtag for your campaign, to make people talk nicely about your brand. And that, instead, they use it to speak ill about your organization.
Once you post something on SM, you lose control over it. Users from all over the world can do whatever they want with your contents, from a negative reply to a parody of your message. Practitioners have comprehended the loss of control over their contents and image building strategies, as they cannot predict what people are going to do or say on SM.
An example of mocked content of Yves Saint Laurent campaign, referred to the Kate Moss’ drug scandal.
Retrieved from Pinterest
Moreover, the persistent memory of today’s technology makes impossible to escape our past or remake ourselves. Thus, don’t even think to go deleting that negative review or that tweet wrote in one go, or you’ll encounter the Streisand effect. That means that everyone will know that you tried to censor unfavourable information, and automatically you will remind to all stakeholders your previous failures.
Basically, a constant presence on SM means for organizations being in the eye of an endless storm.
The security issue
Retrieved from Daily Mail
No worries, Obama is fine. That’s just an example of how easy is for hackers to take control over your profile on SM and do whatever they want with it. And that’s not a stand alone case: similar security problems have regarded also Ebay and Sony, the latter in more than one occasion. Even if not strictly related to SM only, the problem of security is one of the most impelling for organizations. In case of hacking, not only your image could be destroyed, but also the relationship with your stakeholders could be seriously affected, as they could reconsider your ability to have a reasonable level of security.
In a shell, never underestimate the security issue on SM.
Is the game worth the pain?
Retrieved from Unsplash
Let’s just admit it: no matter how hard you try and how entertaining you make your campaigns, public will understand your hidden agenda. Users are becoming aware of organizations’ undisclosed messages, and soon enough they will immunize themselves to our online communications. This means that, in an already over-polluted environment, practitioners must find newer and more creative ways to attract the audience.
There are also questionable practitioners who try to overcome this obstacle by faking comments or paying bloggers to obtain good publicity. Besides being risky, it is also highly damaging for the overall reputation of PR. Even if we are still figuring out how to use SM as organizations, violating ethical principles is an easy way to be labelled again as liars and phonies.
All in all, our job for the future will definitely concern finding new ways to engage our audience though SM, and that will be a tricky, yet exciting, job.
Are there any other downsides of SM? Are you a lover or hater of SM?
Share your opinions, and comment and share this post!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Cristina Canale
During the day, Corporate Communication master student from University of Amsterdam interested in social media, crisis communication and brand management.
At night, rock-n-roll fanatic with an insane passion for Italian food and Snapchat.
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