On the playground, the most common way you’ll find to divide the teams is Shirts versus Skins. Having been a Skin on a hot day, it makes ventilation a little easier (and the tan a little more even.) It also requires you to learn how to take a few lumps along the way, and develop a thicker skin.
If you’re curious about or new to this stuff called “social media” or “new media,” there is a progression to understanding it. You don’t trot out onto the court and remove your shoes, just because you saw people without shirts. You get in slowly, in a measured way. Learn the rules of the playground, and you won’t embarrass yourself in public.
Your first step is the toughest, because it is nothing more than the realization that you really didn’t control as much of the discussion as you thought. People are talking about you, just like they always have, for good and for bad. But now they have access to publishing tools that extend those conversations across time and space. A conversation that seemingly ended eight months ago might revive, and include people from around the world who found it on Google. These comments about your products, services, competence, and ethics have always happened, but the general public never had a way to reach beyond their ripples to the wider ocean. The internet can carry the circles of influence further than before, and the ripples intersect with greater frequency.
Two eyes, two ears, one mouth.
These same technologies that link so many people and their opinions also leave behind bread crumbs — opportunities for you listen to the people that can give you the best advice: your customers. But that means you’ll hear some things you’ll rather wish you didn’t. Some will be bad news, some misperceptions, some outright lies. You’ve got to resist the urge to run in and fix everything. Remember, know the rules of the playground before you charge in.
Every playground is a little different. In some, you call your own fouls. In others, there are no fouls unless there’s blood. Some people play “make-it take-it” basketball (the scoring team retains possession.) The only way you’ll know how to participate without scorn is to watch and listen. And for that, you need a thick skin.
Obvious libels aside, you need to measure your responses. That takes a little bit of experience and a whole lot of patience. I find myself wanting to drop into a comment stream on a forum, or in the reader comments of a newspaper website. It’s human nature — but you’ve got to count to ten and toughen up the skin.
- Some people will never change their mind anyway.
If there’s nothing you can do to appease, and nothing to be gained, then you likely have everything to lose. - Some people, by virtue of their life circumstances, aren’t worth debating.
Even if you win, you still look like a jerk. - Many, many people who write on the internet do not influence very many others.
If a blog has only a dozen readers, it probably isn’t your immediate priority. - You can do more harm than good.
A poorly-designed response can trigger an even more venomous counter, which is sure to magnify the attention.
In future posts, we’ll look at some of the tools and knowledge you’ll need to know what to do, what to say, and how you can simultaneously contribute value to the community and to your corporate interests. But for now, open up the channels and start listening. Just listen with a thick skin, lest you lose your shirt.
(Ike Pigott regularly blogs at Occam’s RazR)
You and Geoff are killing me with sports analogies and examples!
Listening is the most difficult step. Take conversations with a grain of salt and pay attention to those doing the talking. Are these influencers or rotten apples with a microphone?
I didn’t play sports on the blacktop. You could find me on the monkey bars – strength and endurance.
Great post Ike, but the most important point is to get out on the playground!
Social Media isn’t any harder than other PR skills – although it has as much potential for making a muck-up. But you can’t win it from the sidelines!