Remember the childhood story Pinocchio – the puppet who’s nose grew every time he told a lie? Does your organization believe that you can hide things from the public when we are all living in the social media fishbowl? You may think you can get away with telling a lie, but social media can show your nose growing (on YouTube) to the world!
Today, social media requires us to be honest with our actions and words. If you knew that someone had the same exact access to information that you did, would you be more concerned with ensuring the information you provided was accurate? I am often surprised with the lack of discretion some people use when posting all of their information online. I am more surprised when prominent people try to lie about something stupid they did when it ends up all over the internet. If you send an email, a Tweet, or post on Facebook or Google+, it is out there for the world to see forever, at that point, you cannot lie about it! People seem to forget that practically everyone is carrying around a smart phone with them at all times, and could easily catch you doing something stupid, and announce it to the world in less than a minute.
Recently, my family and I were waiting for a flight in the Denver airport, when a gate agent made an announcement about a delayed flight (which luckily was not ours.) She stated that the flight would be delayed due to a suspicious package that was found in the other airport, stopping all air traffic until it was deemed safe. She also stated that most of the flyers probably already knew this, as they most likely read about it on their smart phones. The airline did not have to share this information, but they chose to do so, as they would have been inundated with numerous questions.
Social media has created a transparency of knowledge which can be very useful if an organization chooses to use it to their advantage. An organization of course, would not be thrilled to have negative publicity splashed across the internet. However, if you beat the naysayers to the punch and take a preemptive strike, you can control how this information is shared with the public, ensuring the truth comes directly from you. This also creates a sense of trust between an organization and consumer. By nature, we have been taught not to trust the “big bad corporations” due to what we have all seen in the past. When organizations reveal themselves through social media channels, it is far easier to establish trust with the public. Think about this, your organization sends out a large, mailing to the entire country, and oh no – there is something obscene on it! What do you do as an organization? Do you blame someone else and try to hide, praying that it will go away quickly and quietly? Or, do you take to the internet and own the mistake; making sure that everyone knows that yes, you did mess up, but you are sincerely sorry. Which organization is a consumer going to trust? That is why it is important to have a lot of followers on your social media account like instagram. Aside from the fact that you are posted with the current issues, you can also express your ideas and opinions about the matter. Hence, you should look for the easiest way to buy genuine instagram followers.
People see social media as a way to connect with their customers, to “keep it real.” Are you keeping it real by staying honest, or are you a social media Pinocchio?
