Summer 2007
“Issues Affecting Reputation Management and Strategic Communications”
Social Media – Reputation Friend or Foe?
S
ocial media – such as blogs, online commu-
nities and wikis – have become a force to
reckon with. According to Andrew
Tomkins, Director of Search Research at Yahoo!
Research, 10 to 15 percent of global information
consumption occurs through social media, rather
than through traditional news sources.
The widespread adoption of social media, an
often subjective and unreliable source, has changed
the playing field for organizations trying to shape
their reputations; with so much content readily
available, people can find information to support
any predetermined theory.
Organizations using any type of media to
communicate should consider that people are not going to inherently
trust you – or the journalist that quotes you – as the source. Instead, they
will conduct their own analysis based on information they collect.
But who’s to say the information they collect will be factual?
Reach Out and Touch Someone Near and Far
Social media certainly have made it easier to stay in touch with
family and friends from anywhere – at any time. It is amazing that a
soldier in Iraq can talk to his children back at home from a jeep in
Baghdad, or that a mountain climber can pinpoint her exact location
within inches via a handheld GPS system from high in the Himalayas.
If you have any doubt that big brother could be watching you, look at
a satellite view of your house via Google Earth (http://earth.google.com).
The irony is that most text messaging and other social media
conversations go to and from people near enough to have a face to face
conversation with. So the question remains – do these tech advances
bring us closer together as human beings?
Recently, a member of my wife’s book group forwarded an e-mail that
was making the rounds among a network of friends connecting to
yet another network of more friends. The subject of the e-mail was
the awe-inspiring images taken from the Hubble Telescope
(http://hubblesite.org/). If you have any doubt that we cannot be
alone in this universe, it will be confirmed by spending a few minutes
on this website. It takes more than a bit of hubris to think that these
rivers of stars, galaxies, constellations, black holes and dark matter
that we call space could be created for us alone. There must be other
conversations taking place around the universe in faraway places that
even our best technology cannot reach. Perhaps others are listening
and speaking, too, and we just can’t hear them, so we must be careful
vol.7 no.
Virtually anyone can initiate discussions and
forums, and social media sources are rarely policed
for accuracy. People have begun to rank blogs,
wikis and other online content based on accuracy,
but questions still remain. Can organizations win
their audiences’ trust and use social media to com-
municate effectively? Can audiences distinguish
what information is accurate and what sources are
trustworthy? How can organizations successfully
manage their reputations with social media?
Social Media:
The Implications
Analysis Shifts to the Individual
We used to rely on “traditional” news sources –
newspapers, talk radio, and television programs – to provide us with
information, and analysis of that information. And we used to trust
those sources.
{ S O C I A L M E D I A - continued on PG 2 }
about what we say and do. What do others in the cosmos think of us?
What opinions have they formed about how we take care of our
planet Earth and how we treat one another? What is mankind’s
reputation in the cosmos? Perhaps this is the next frontier of reputa-
tion management.
There is much to learn about the infinity of space – after all, there
could be entire universes existing in the nano-world here on planet
Earth. Recently a consortium of scientists announced the
Encyclopedia of Life Project (http://www.ngbw.org/eol/index.html),
an effort to catalogue every species known or found – some 1.8
million species. And that is only those we know. There may be
millions, possibly billions of microorganisms we know even less
about. So as the saying goes – the more we think we know, the less
we discover we truly do know.
This issue of the Mount Vernon Report is all about making connections
through social media. As our knowledge base grows, our means of
reaching out and touching someone near or far will need to keep pace.
Look for the new age of a communications to herald in this chapter
of how mankind stays in touch with others – maybe literally on its
fingertips – to those far away places we’ve yet to discover.
{ S O C I A L M E D I A - continued from PG 1 }
Today, those outlets are losing clout and credibility to social media.
According to David Wilson, author of the blog Social Media
Optimization, which discusses a wide array of issues pertinent to social
media, social media content is double that produced by traditional
media outlets, and newspapers like USA Today and The Washington Post
are “racing to add social networking features to their websites.”
Faced with new competition, traditional news sources are being forced
to move faster – covering stories as they break, consistently updating or
changing content as more details become available. But the swing
toward “as-it’s-happening” coverage leaves traditional media with a
tricky decision: either take the time to verify the facts and risk
becoming irrelevant, or move with the flow to keep pace with bloggers
and discussion boards. The vast majority are opting for the latter.
The changing news landscape has also drastically altered our under-
standing of traditional news sources. Instead of appearing as “the only
source” for information and analysis, most of us view the traditional
subset as one of many sources, choosing instead to rely on social media
for additional content. We no longer assume information we encounter
is factual or comprehensive. Instead, we conduct our own analysis, draw
our own conclusions, and form our own opinions based on information
we’ve collected.
Winning Their Trust
Organizations, especially large corporations, are often at a disadvantage
when it comes to social media, as people tend to trust grass-roots
outlets (media that appear less refined, even though much time and
effort may have gone into giving it that appearance) over “corporate”
communications.
The same basic principles hold true for social media communications
as for traditional communications – organizations can win trust by
communicating in an honest, timely and straightforward fashion. When
working with social media, organizations can gain credibility by
ensuring communications are:
• Two-way – include a mechanism for questions or feedback, and
respond to those inquiries in a timely manner
• Frequent – update content regularly and keep news current
• Direct – address hot topics directly
• Relevant – survey your audiences to determine what kinds of
information they’re looking for – and provide that content
• Responsible – use social media responsibly, not sensationally
• Quality – ensure grammar, spelling, and punctuation are correct
and writing is clear and concise
Organizations might also consider providing an index or list of social
media sources they consider honest and accurate on their website. For
example, a biotechnology company providing a treatment for multiple
sclerosis might offer an index including links to the National MS
pg.
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Society’s online community, patients’ blogs, or healthcare providers’
blogs. Providing your audiences with additional sources of information
will help you gain credibility in their eyes.
Managing Your Reputation, Despite the Influence of
Social Media
A plethora of sources purport true and untrue information, and it’s left
up to the audience to discern fact from fiction. As a result, people hear
what they want to hear more than ever before, making it increasingly
challenging for an organization to communicate key messages and shape
reputation.
How can your organization effectively participate in the social media
conversation to establish, build on, support or change your reputation?
Steps your organization can take include:
• Monitoring social media platforms for content concerning
your organization
• Responding directly to questions posed
• Always taking the high road – avoiding debates with dishonest
sources
Social media provide new avenues for organizations to reach their
audiences. If used responsibly, social media can support traditional
communications efforts and enable companies to reach more people
more quickly. In a crisis, for example, a company can create a blog for
two-way correspondence, and set up a website and issue press releases
from that site. This helps distribute the organization’s content on the
Web, and works against negative content from other bloggers.
So why should you care about social media? For one, social media are
changing how audiences receive information and make decisions.
Second, social media have the power to make or break your
organization’s reputation. If poorly executed, social media can deplete
your public image. However, if used intelligently, social media can
help your organization build trust and interact with your audiences
in a different, perhaps more modern and appealing, way.
~ Megan Page
“Advances in computer technology
and the Internet have changed the way
America works, learns, and communicates.
The Internet has become an integral
part of America’s economic, political,
and social life.”
~Bill Clinton
 “Social Computing is not a fad. Nor is it something that will pass you or your
company by. Gradually, Social Computing will impact almost every role, at every
kind of company, in all parts of the world.”
~Forrester Research, “Social Computing – How Networks Erode Institutional Power, and What to Do About It”
OMG: Social Media is Not Just For Kids
Social media have gained popularity and traction at an astounding rate.
As of April 2007, MySpace, a bastion of youth culture expressed on
highly personalized pages, reported over 100 million registered
accounts. Technorati, the “World Live Web” authority, reported
tracking over 85 million blogs in June 2007, up from 50 million in July
2006 and just 10 million in the summer of 2005. Even traditional
news sources such as National Public Radio
offer podcasts on a plethora of topics.
No longer are social media outlets solely the
domain of the young. Once relegated to
tech-savvy Generation Y, many forward-looking
companies have tried – sometimes successfully,
sometimes learning lessons as they go – to join
this so-called social media revolution. While it’s
no surprise that technology companies like Sun
Microsystems support their President and CEO
Jonathan Schwartz’s blog, other, more surprising
companies are taking a front seat at the social
media table: Marriott International CEO Bill
Marriott, Whole Foods Market CEO John
Mackey, and even Dallas Mavericks owner Mark
Cuban are hoping their participation in this
medium will help create reputations of moder-
nity, bring them closer to their communities and,
to some extent, enhance transparency.
Politicians are also turning to the power of social media to enhance their
credibility and reputation, in an effort to prove to constituents, especially
younger generations, that they can harness the power of technology to bring
our country into the future. Hilary Clinton, for example, has actively
adopted this technology. She announced her campaign for the Presidency
on the Internet and continues utilizing social media to reach supporters and
general web-browsers alike. While some older voters may shake their heads
at Clinton’s new-fangled technologically-centered campaign, every candidate
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sports their own website, many of which even feature blogs, podcasts, and
RSS feeds, among other online communication and networking tools.
Social media have, undeniably, become big business. When News Corp.
bought Intermix Media, MySpace’s parent, for $580 million in 2005,
the heads of both the tech-savvy and the tech-novices turned. With
Rupert Murdoch’s assertion that they could now
sell MySpace for $6 billion, venture capitalists
are trying to get plugged in to the next big social
media deal. Now there are even conferences to
advance the business of social media – helping
marketers and companies learn to profit from
Internet networking sites.
Can this growth be sustained? And how big can
the big business of social media get? Michael
Hirschorn of The Atlantic Monthly believes that
the social media boom will, inevitably, become a
bust. Time and again, he argues, the hype of new
functionality becomes old news.
Indeed, there is evidence that the blogosphere is
starting to slow down, particularly in English-
language posts each year. According to Dave
Sifry’s April 2007 “State of the Live Web,” the
number of daily posts in English dropped from
507,000 in October 2006 to 495,000 in March
2007. English-language posts have fallen from 39 percent of the
blogosphere in October 2006 to 33 percent in March 2007.
In order for social media to prosper, we must ensure that, amidst all the noise
and hype, social media remain sexy and non-commoditized; in other words,
social media must maintain the innovation and growth that has caused such
a stir. Much like our corporate reputations, these types of media must fight
the urge to become ordinary and continue to find new ways to reach stake-
holders. And that’s nothing to LOL about. ~ Sarah Gerrol
 Social Media At-A-Glance
While there is no formal definition for social media in Merriam-Webster’s retirement. While no two blogs are the same, the main types of
Collegiate® Dictionary, Eleventh Edition, social media – often referred to as blogs today are personal, political, business and media-focused.
social computing – can best be described as technologies and practices
that people use to share opinions, insights and experiences with each • Social networks: These websites allow people to build personal
other. Individuals utilizing these tools typically share common interests, websites and then connect with friends to share content and
which helps create a sense of community as they learn, work and social- communication. The best known example of a social network is
ize together. Communities can be large or small, local or global, publicly MySpace (myspace.com), which has dominated younger audiences
accessible or member restricted. worldwide. However, there has been a clear spike from a variety of
different age groups utilizing these websites. Case in point: nearly
According to London-based Spannerworks, a leader in market and all of the 2008 presidential nominees have created their own
brand research, social media outlets share most of the following personal MySpace pages. For the more mature audiences, web-
characteristics: sites like LinkedIn (linkedin.com) are useful for building
professional networks online.
• Participation: Social media encourages contributions
and feedback from anyone and everyone who is • Content communities: Communities that organize
interested. and share particular kinds of content. The most
popular kinds of content communities tend to be
• Openness: Most social media services are open around photos (Flickr.com), bookmarked links
to feedback and participation, encourage voting, (del.icio.us) and videos (YouTube.com).
comments and sharing of information. There are
rarely any barriers to accessing and making use • Wikis: Wikis allow people to add content to or
of content. edit the information on them, acting as a living
document or database. The best-known wiki is
• Conversation: While traditional media are about Wikipedia (wikipedia.org), an online encyclopedia that
“broadcast,” that is, content transmitted or distributed has over 1.82 million articles published in English alone.
to an audience, social media are more like a conversation
or dialogue between friends. • Podcasts: These are audio and video files that are available by
subscription through services like Apple iTunes (apple.com/itunes).
• Community: Social media allow communities to form quickly
and communicate effectively around common interests, whether it be New to the social media arena are “virtual communities,” designed for
political issues, business trends or a favorite T.V. show. community and social interaction within a “fantasy world.” Interest
in communities like Second Life (secondlife.com) is exploding as
• Connectedness: Most kinds of social media thrive on their companies eager to drive interest to their “real” businesses use Second
connectedness –– via email or postings, instant messaging, text Life to create and display virtual ads – a profitable move that is
messaging, podcasts, archives and tags. dramatically growing the membership to these types of communities.

The most common kinds of social media include blogs, social net-
works, virtual communities, content communities, wikis and podcasts.
• Blogs: These online journals are the best known form of social
media. Blogs are usually written in a personal, conversational style.
Millions of people around the world blog – from grade school to
Understanding these growing communities is just the beginning. It is
important now to start to think about how social media affects your
reputation and what your strategy might be for adapting and leveraging
these new forms of communication within your own “real” businesses.
~ Margaret Brady

Morrissey & Company

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Boston, MA 02108

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The Mount Vernon Report™ is published and copyrighted 2007 by Morrissey & Company, an independent Reputation Management and Public Relations firm headquartered at 121 Mount Vernon Street, Boston, MA 02108. Permission to copy and
distribute is granted, provided that full attribution is given to Morrissey & Company. Further commentary or response to any of the topics discussed in this issue is welcome and should be directed to 617-523-4141 or via e-mail to peter@morrisseyco.com.
Printed on recycled paper. In an effort to conserve natural resources we have altered the format of the Mount Vernon Report to omit the use of an envelope.

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