Obsession du jour - Social Media and internal communications

I have been reasonably sure for a while that corporate PR has to change. This is due to the fundamental changes in media and communication wrought by the web (often called social media). In my earlier career it was easier to have a staff policy that only spokespeople can talk to media. It would usually work.
There were problems sometimes with people at public meetings or being interviewed or reported for an outside work issue. And of course at a barbecue staff could say anything. 

But then sometime a few years ago it all started to change. First there were bulletin boards and news groups.  these were followed by Blogging, Facebook, LinkedIn Youtube, and now Twitter. Now people are more visible and having meangingful policies on controlling their views and activities is impossible. There are employment policies of course but really.....  You can get staff blogging via work controlled blogs, but really they can still blog in their own time.

Also social media has created potential to harm brands and companies - consider
Burger King staff member having a bath in the BK sink http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1iyN7Y-jJQ
McDonald's staff wrestling http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSdBKG6pYGc

And of course there are videos of misbehaving staff and blogs and Facebook posts running down companies.  You can have a complicated system to monitor blogs, bulletin boards, as well as Talkback and other media but that doesn't address the problem.

The real answer is that we can't control people. When jobs were for life there was a chance.

The solution I think is we need to start to place internal communication where it should be in the communication tool kit: right next to customer and shareholder PR - at the top. Not an add-on or something run by HR.  Meaningful, planned, sustained communication with and from staff, and the building of a sustainable and constructive internal culture need to be a priority.

Happy, loyal and positive staff are the best defence against the ravages of FB, Twitter and YouTube, they are also the best opportunity to succeed in the new environment.  These staff will also provide defence against customer backlash and other 'crisis' issues.