While a joke is a joke, it’s not a good idea on any level to actually practice “antisocial” social media behavior.  Rude comments, character assassination, and outright lies aimed at individuals you have a grudge against can backfire in ways that can leave you extremely compromised.  You can damage your reputation as well as be left vulnerable to legal reprisals.

Once any comment you make hits the Internet, it is legally considered part of an electronic record that can be accessed by the police and often without any subpoena.  So anything you say online can and will be able to be used against you in a court of law.

Making false statements about other people and passing them off as facts can form the basis of legal liability.  There have already been rulings that serve as precedent to the notion that users who behave poorly online and defame other people’s characters can face repercussions for their actions.  While an absolute standard is still evolving, the danger that your antisocial behavior can come back and legally bite you is very real. (more…)

In a previous post, I talked about some reasons why a brand might consider setting up a social media community.  This time around, I’m going to touch on a few points a brand needs to keep in mind whenever it’s drawing up the plans and laying the foundations for its own social media community.

Whenever your brand is creating its community, there needs to be an established reason for its existence beyond simple marketing.  There also needs to be a genuine caring by your brand for the community it creates, a desire to nourish it and encourage its growth among its members.  Members should also feel they have a role and a stake in the community’s development.

As the community is being developed, your consumer base should be engaged using some means of feedback delivery—polls, surveys, and the like—to allow their thoughts and suggestions to be heard.  With this information in hand, you’ll be able to act upon user wants and needs to steer the community’s direction as it takes shape and grows. (more…)

Taking advantage of earned media—the extra exposure that comes when consumers talk about your brand online and off—hinges on actually getting these consumers motivated enough to talk about your brand in the first place.  A social media community can be a way to generate this conversion.  With it, you can provide your consumer base with a place to talk about your brand as well as help those who might be interested in your brand learn more about it, hopefully affecting their purchase-making decisions.

While your brand might already have sites and user forums dedicated to it and serving as gathering places for consumers to share their brand experiences, establishing your own online community provides your brand enthusiasts with a direct means to interact with and learn about your brand, adding to your credibility among your consumer fan base.  It also enables your social site as a valued online destination because your brand will be able to provide the kind of firsthand information that other fan-operated social media sites cannot.
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The Washington Redskins recently learned the hard way what can happen when one of its employees uses social media to vent about his job. Either that or they tapped into a whole new and radically different way to address customer complaints.

During a lackluster 9-7 victory at home over the somewhat hapless St. Louis Rams, Redskin fans voiced their disapproval of the return they were receiving on their ticket investment by performing an age-old fan tradition: booing.

Their displeasure did not fall on deaf ears. In fact, Redskin rookie linebacker Robert Henson had a very specific response to the fans reaction and did not hold back his own objections by going onto Twitter to tweet off a little steam.

Among the highlights of the Henson’s comments were that the fans who booed were “dim wits.” He also wondered how people he described as working “9 to 5 at McDonalds” would be able to understand what’s best for the Redskins and that it would be best for them to keep their opinions (i.e., their booing) to themselves.

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Social media is a great way to peal back layers of media and talk straight to your customers and find out exactly what they think. Because of this, social media is often used for customer service.

Here are some quick tips of what people are looking for when they come to social media sites.

What they want:

• Information. Sometimes it’s not just about carrying on a conversation with your customer. They may need information for something. And if this is the case, get it to them as quickly as possible. If you don’t know the answer, tell them you are following up and will let them know as soon as possible. Don’t leave any question unanswered.
• A sense of community. There’s a reason the old saying “you are who your friends are” rings true. Social media is an expansion of people with similar likes and dislikes, so it’s an expansion of a person’s traditional community.
• To be heard. It’s natural for a human being to want their opinions to be heard. It’s basic psychology. It creates a feeling of being valued, which is important for a relationship to be formed, and this is what social media is all about.
• Transparency. Don’t try to hide anything. And always keep this in the back of your mind: once it’s posted, the content can live forever even if it’s deleted. So be honest, be genuine, and be a good representative for your company. (more…)