One of the things we humans are loathe to do, is turn away from a good old fashion flame war. Gathering up all our indignation and spittle, we fly in the face of anyone who dares mention us online in anything but a glowing fashion. But does our tendency to take things personally, interfere with peoples’ perception of us as considered individuals and stable organisations?
If you’re like me and have blogged in anger, or made the mistake of a late night, drunken forum post… then you’ll know first hand how peoples’ opinion of us can be irreparably damaged by a few incautiously chosen sentences. There is an assumption that everything online has been thoughtfully considered; if someone has a bit of a breakdown in front of you in person, you’re likely to cut them some slack for being overly emotional, or just a bit pissy. But when it’s done online there’s no such compassion – and it’s written in history forever.
So how does a corporate, who has many staff and representatives speaking on their behalf, and who is the focus of much online activity handle the social network? They can’t just say nothing or gag everyone but their PR staff (many corporations have been burned this way for being too non-genuine), but they also don’t want to find themselves wrestling pigs.
Well, take a look at the United States Air Force’s Web Posting Response Assessment chart. It’s a fantastic way to manage your online persona and is very, *ahem* military;
(Click the image to download the readable PDF version)
They could teach us all a little about engaging with the social networks in constructive ways and, probably much more importantly, when it’s better to just let the pigs go for it and simply say nothing at all…
