豆知识 2011-02-27&03-05 工作需要社会化媒体

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Organizations often monitor what is said about them in the media and control every message that comes from the company.But these days, blogs and social networking sites mean that companies can'tkeep up. The media has become social. New ways to understand and react towhat's being said online are now needed. That's why organizations are beginningto encourage employees to understand and be a part of online conversations. 

Consider this. Chair Hero has made quality chairs for twenty years. Recentlysomething happened. One of their chair models was defective¹ and people werefalling down. Soon enough, blogs, social networking sites and Twitter were all writing about their defective chairs. Within two days,they were overwhelmed². The company started to panic. What could they do? What would workin this new world? 

At first, they wrote press releasesand posted information on their website. It helped a little. But they could seethe³ conversations were happening elsewhere. They felt powerless like they hadlost control.

A potential solution to this problem requires a new way of thinking aboutcompany communication. These days, customers want more than just another pressrelease. They want to have an honest conversation with someone from the company, often outside the companywebsite. To make these conversations productive⁴ and reduce the risks, companiesneed to have a few things in place.

First, official accounts on popular social media sites. Second, a way tomonitor what's being said about them, usingservices like Google alerts⁵ or Twitter Search. Third,

guidelines⁶. They give employees clear direction. Let's look at how this works. 

Silas recently went through Chair Hero's training sessions on using socialmedia. It's now a part of his job to identify and respond to people talkingabout the company online. Before responding to a recent blog post, Silas goesthrough a quick checklist. He asks himself, does this need a response? In thiscase, yes. He can offer valuable information. Is he the right person? Yes, heknows the facts. Does he know the culture? Yes, he knows the blog and what'sbeen said there before. So Silas decides to get involved. Following theguidelines at his company,he introduces himself as a company representative and provides a shortdisclaimer. He's careful to speak in the first person and focuses on thesubject and not the person. His goal is to be personable, respectful and neverangry. In this case, he may just need to provide a link to clear up the issueand an offer to help in the future. Beforeposting it, he quickly makes sure no confidential⁷ information has been shared.The next day, Silas receives a quick thank you and an added benefit. Hisresponse will now be seen by others, and evenappear in search results. Silas was able to take a risky⁸ situation and turnedit into an informative⁹ message without taking him the rest of the company'svaluable time. He added value and built trust with customers. And that's the main role of employees using social media,whether is a crisislike a defective chair model, everyday customer support or just sharinginformation. 

The web is too wide for a company to control every communication.But a company can understand the growing influence ofsocial media and create an environment where employees are empowered toparticipate and build trust with their customers.

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