Comments on: Social Media Denial?

By: Social Media Policies in Kenya | Socialight Media Kenya

Social Media Policies in Kenya | Socialight Media Kenya — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 09:45:22 +0000

[...] While a total ban is the easy route, a social media policy is the ideal way of settling the fears that businesses have. A social media policy allows your business to accrue the benefits of social media that would be lost through a blanket ban. There is an interesting article in BNET UK on whether bosses are right to Ban Social Media. This will especially be of interest to Kenyan bosses who have seen it fit to slap a ban on social media. Also interesting to read is this article on Social Media Denial. [...]

By: Killer quote to promote social media to management | Social Media 4 Good

Killer quote to promote social media to management | Social Media 4 Good — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 11:48:04 +0000

[...] Timo on September 17, 2009 I’ve just been reading Ken Burbary’s blog and came across an excellent story from Scott Monty. I think it’s a beauty in itself and [...]

By: The fear of measuring Social Media « Marketing Tech Blender

The fear of measuring Social Media « Marketing Tech Blender — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 03:56:38 +0000

[...] “Social Media Denial”, a recent Web Business blog post, author Ken Burbary points out that “…there are many [...]

By: Damon Henry

Damon Henry — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 19:12:45 +0000

I disagree with there being no business value in social media, but a company that's interested in influencing (or controlling) outbound communication doesn't necessarily correlate to being anti social media. Most of the public/private sector does some form of this every day.

Living in a litigious society corporations have every right to be concerned about the information disseminated by it's representatives. Because, at the end of the day, the corporation is left holding the bag for any transgressions that may occur between it's employees and consumers. Unfortunately, advancements in Internet security and the law has severely under paced the growth of social media and the general Internet. Run a Google Insights report on "facebook scam" (just an example) and see the year over year query growth. Marketer's are scared.

That being said, education is really the key. Before "throwing the baby out with the bath water", one must identify all the F.U.D. surrounding the issues and empower employees by providing a framework for interacting with consumers through all channels (not just social).

By: Jeremy Probert

Jeremy Probert — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 14:04:33 +0000

Who's denying social media, Ken? How can you? It would be like denying – er -dog. ( The agnostic, dyslexic insomniac who lay awake all night pondering the existence of dog.) But dog – the four legged furry friend – exists, so does social media. Can't deny it. Can, however, realise that it's not measurable (in terms of qual, not quant) and not (in any way) regulated. Can say that it doesn't return any quantifiable ROI. Can say that – for a corporate – having a 'social media strategy' (an oxymoron if ever I saw one) is time-consuming, resource-consuming and budget-inefficient. Can say that it's the obvious cause of the current outbreak of 'Shiny Object Syndrome' (oooh, oooh, must have that, it's new, it's sparkly, everyone else has got one). Ken – no-one knows anything about social media. As communicators, we don't know how it works, what its long-term potential is, what the pitfalls are. But there's loads of people styling themselves as experts. What's your favourite Ken? Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Posterous, Jaiku, Tumbir, Pownce, BrightKite, FourSquare? Hmmm?

And do you work with them all equally?

By: Ken Burbary

Ken Burbary — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 03:03:39 +0000

Agree 100% with that last statement Alan. And I think it will continue to be true for some time.

By: Alan Wolk

Alan Wolk — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 01:44:05 +0000

Scott and Ken: don't get me wrong, I think that these companies are
foolish to reject the modern world.

My point was just that at a time where many companies still are
uncomfortable with Web 1.0, we shouldn't be surprised to see them
freak out about 2.0

(Love the telephone story, btw Scott)

By: Ken Burbary

Ken Burbary — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 16:49:33 +0000

Keith – Love that description, thanks. I'm a name, not a number. I concur with your assessment, this may be mentionable now, but only companies that aren't doing it will be talked about in the future.

By: Ken Burbary

Ken Burbary — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 16:46:27 +0000

Alan – definitely a valid counterpoint. That said, most of those restrictions stem from a command and control culture, that doesn't understand modernization of the workforce. That said, there can't be a complete and total free for all, every person can do whatever they damn well please type situation. The reality is a blend of openness to use new communications like social, but with an internal mechanism that helps facilitate and coached the effort (Scott's work internally at Ford comes to mind as an example)

Scott – Who checks their corporate email from home??

By: Ken Burbary

Ken Burbary — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 16:45:12 +0000

Alan, definitely a valid counterpoint. That said, most of those restrictions stem from a command and control culture that in many cases doesn't understand modernization of the workforce. That said, I don't believe there can be a complete and total free for all, every person can do whatever they damn well please situation. The reality is a blend of openness to use new communications like social, but with an internal mechanism that helps facilitate and coached the effort, (Scott's work internally at Ford comes to mind as an example) so everyone is aligned with company goals and information is accurate.