Social Media Ethics and Policies

Andy Sernovitz touched on three social media topics that he deemed most important when it comes to ethical behavior:

1) There needs to be a strong level of truthfulness

2) Companies/agencies need to monitor conversations and correct misstatements if/when they occur

3) Companies and agencies also need to create and enforce social media policies and training programs. This not only creates a level of cohesive actions throughout the company, but also protects them from potential liability issues.

I strongly agree with all that Andy covered in his speech; social media is an excellent and powerful way to communicate with consumers but it needs to be regulated in order to ensure its messages have a positive impact on our society. Because social media puts the power back into the hands of the general public it is that much easier for people to take advantage of it and create problems for a company's brand and image.

A great example of this is the issue that came up with Chrysler about a month ago: an employee at the ad agency that was (note, was) representing Chrysler said on the company handle that: "I find it ironic that Detroit is known as the #motorcity and yet no one here knows how to fucking drive." The tweet was removed in 5 minutes but people from all over the US had already done a screen grab and the damage was done. The employee issued an apology but was still let go and Chrysler decided not to renew their contract with their agency of record, New Media Strategies.

So a mistake of this magnitude not only damaged the company's reputation (although they'll obviously be fine) but wreaked considerable havoc on the agency. Potentially, if New Media Strategies had a more strict social media policy that they enforced, or had training programs in place then this issue never would have come up. It's because of this problem, and many more like it that I can see the need for companies to implement the three principles that Sernovitz discussed in his case study.