Social Media - Curse, Cause or Blessing?

Last week I provided media training to a professional football team. These are high-end athletes and coaches, many champions, who deal with high pressure situations both professional and personal on a regular basis. But it is interesting to note that most operate off the field at the same level as the rest of us and some either forget or disregard their celebrity status which makes them vulnerable to media exploitation, particularly via social media. Their celebrated issues are instructive to all of us.

What I have found common to almost everyone whether professional athletes, business people, or just plain folk trying to enjoy the pursuits of happiness, is that we now have to indulge the new world of social media. It is also interesting to note the differences of how social media is viewed by the different generations and how each seem to be dealing with it. In my world today are the Greatest Generation, the Silents, the Boomers (including me), the Gen Xers, the Millennials, and now Gen Z. For me the most fascinating are the Z-ers…those born into the world of the internet who, as psychologists are describing it, will almost be totally driven by the internet and its applications.


This brings me to my main point: like it or not we have to get in tune with social media because even if we don’t use it, those around us do and increasingly will. It is now commonplace to see cell phones with terrific audio and video capabilities being held up at almost any event. Moreover, there is no way to yet control how or where this type of media is used or its product delivered. Days were when some of us could count on having control or knowing the controls for what got on television. No more.

With the advent of YouTube and a slew of others anyone can post a video, with sound, that captures whatever a person’s agenda wants it to be that can — and often does — go viral on the internet and some of it even make it to mainstream media. Furthermore, with this technology comes a group of people with more anonymity, less empathy and a posture of being critically judgmental of others. It’s no longer about who has an axe to grind but more about ‘how can I embarrass someone else.’

The effect of all this is how it impacts our reputations. Irrespective of the legal issues of any situation, there is now the ever-present ‘perception’ of what someone else thinks of us…and much of it lies beyond our control. This is a new element of crisis management—reputation management.

Note—there is enough concern about this new phenomenon that some states are or have put laws into effect that make it illegal to record policemen in the official performance of their duties. But for the rest of us whether professional athletes giving post-game/practice press availabilities, company managers meeting with employees, by-standers to a startling event, or an individual with a painful or embarrassing problem...

...we are vulnerable to exploitation by people you may not know much less their motivation to “expose you.”



So, what to do about it?   Here are 4 Key Points:


#1 - It’s better to understand it than fight it, ignore it, or complain about it.

The best way to understand it is to use it. New applications and websites are popping up all the time. Even some news bureaus are mining the internet for posted individual stories or videos that become news sources or leads. Common ones today include YouTube, Flickr, Twitter or Facebook. While much is being debated in terms of “net neutrality” and “internet privacy” little is being done about it. So until those landmark lawsuits put limits on it, YOU have to figure it out. Too old or technically challenged? Don’t worry, get one of your young kids or grandkids to show you; they’re experts at it already.


#2 - Always assume someone is recording you regardless of where you are or what you are doing.

I tell clients whether they are executives or athletes that someone is always watching them. Some of them are measuring words or actions and deciding whether they agree or like it or not. Some of them are recording all of it. Even when you don’t see any kind of device that doesn’t mean your voice isn’t being recorded on someone’s PDA or cell phone out of sight. Forget the legality of it. How many gaffs have we witnessed on the internet and news of people, including prominent figures, who thought they were “off mic” or out of view?


#3 - I was once counseled that I could think anything I wanted but I would be held accountable for every word I uttered.

What is most important about talking aloud, regardless the audience or instrument, e.g. the phone, is that it’s more important than ever to recognize and believe that your words can be used against you later. The greatest temptation we routinely give in to is one or more of our emotions—like anger or revenge. Speaking one’s mind used to be thought of as a strength. But now it’s harder to find where that really does any of us any good. The important lesson to be used is to think through what you’re going to say before you say it and apply the ‘headline litmus test’—that is, can you stand to read it as a headline of a newspaper, or banner of a TV news story or subject of a viral internet audio/video piece? If the answer is ‘no’ then don’t say it. Easy to say, hard to do. But if you don’t heed it, well, good luck with the regret.


#4 - If you say something you regret or have audio/video posted you did not release, or wanted released, in most cases you have to respond.

In a few cases, staying out of sight and not talking works well. But regardless the legal aspects, you have a small window to respond and shape public perception of YOU. Once you wait too long — usually hoping the issue blows over — the public perception is usually set and you have a long, hard uphill fight to change it. The court of public opinion is quick to judge, less tolerant or forgiving than a court of law, and expects people to defend themselves or “they must be guilty.”

Bottom Line:  Social media is here to stay. 

A new generation is arriving knowing only a world with the internet and it likely will be the center of their lives. I use it now for business and expect to be using more of it including giving lectures to younger folks in bite size parcels they will view on their handheld devices and prefer that to going to a lecture hall or even joining a video conference or web based seminar.

For some, social media is a curse. For others it’s a cause unto itself. And for others still, it’s a blessing for reasons including the avoidance of personal contact. 

So...where are YOU on this scale?