While social media is a relatively new set of tools, one of the problems it can produce is a pretty old one. And that is the failure of organizations to establish rules that enable a business to have a consistent voice in the market. And the fact that firms are not training their employees in the use of social media should ensure that this old problem affects new tools as well as old ones.
With the SocialCPAs Social Media survey reporting the lack of training at most firms, it is time to go back to public relations 101. The lesson there applies whether a business is using Twitter, a press release or direct mail flyer. Employees need to know who is authorized to say what about a business and what kind of image an organization is trying to project.
Having read LinkedIn profiles in which users list budget amounts, I have always wondered just how much information gets broadcast that an organization might not want to see in print, whether on paper or on a computer display. People do put secrets in the public view, often because they do not know better, and they can also behave in the name of a firm in a way that does not represent it in the best light.
As a reporter, I am always happy to see companies whose employees release information, whether that is good for the company or not. That is not my concern. But I also know that if that were my company, I would do everything to ensure a consistent voice and that proprietary information is not divulged unless it is supposed to be divulged.
Guidelines for behavior are always in style, even when new tools change the game. And the most effective way for firms to get the results they want is to know what message they intend to convey. And employees have to be brought into this process. If they can help in shaping the message or if they are simply given the chance to be heard, the odds are they are more likely to use social media or any other media to the organization's benefit.
Bob Scott has provided information to the tax and accounting community since 1991, first as technology editor of Accounting Today, and from 1997 through 2009 as editor of its sister publication, Accounting Technology. He is known throughout the industry for his depth of knowledge and for his high journalistic standards. Scott has made frequent appearances as a speaker, moderator and panelist and events serving tax and accounting professionals. He has a strong background in computer journalism as an editor with two former trade publications, Computer+Software News and MIS Week and spent several years with weekly and daily newspapers in Morris County New Jersey prior to that. A graduate of Indiana University with a degree in journalism, Bob is a native of Madison, Ind
