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Three books issue especially compelling warnings about the consequences of the careless use of social media. So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed, by Jon Ronson, Influence Redefined, by Stacey Hanke, and Got Social Mediology?, by Jay Izso, point out that social media practitioners should be aware that even the most offhand comments or critical views can cause lasting damage to a business.

Ronson relies heavily on real-world examples of mistakes individuals have made that have had a lasting impact on their lives and careers. Everything from a passing Twitter comment that was deemed racist, an insensitive joke transmitted over the Internet, to a careless picture showing disrespect for our military have doomed business careers.

Topping off some of Ronson’s anecdotal warnings, Stacey Hanke continues down that path in her book 2017 book Influence Redefined. According to Hanke, social media can work to amplify human errors. “Who among us hasn’t botched a joke or made an ill-timed, inappropriate comment? How many of us face lifetime consequences for it? When a single post can go viral in a matter of hours and be read by millions of people around the world, we must be vigilant. Once a post is out there, it is likely captured forever.”

She continues by observing that “…not a week goes by that we don’t hear about some politician, celebrity, sports figure, business leader or ‘average Joe’ who has gotten themselves into hot water over something they posted on social media or something they did that was captured on social media.”

To make her point she cites examples much like Ronson did in So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed:

• “The director of corporate communications tweeted what she thought was an innocuous comment to her 170 followers. Then she turned off her phone for an 11-hour transcontinental flight. By the time she landed, her post — which was perceived as racist by most who view it — was the number-one worldwide trend on Twitter. Within weeks, she was fired and her career was ruined.
• “A man sitting at a tech-industry conference leaned over and privately shared with a friend a joke that just popped into his head. A woman sitting in the row in front of them overheard the joke and felt it was indicative of the gender issues plaguing their industry. She turned around, snapped their picture and tweeted it out to her nine thousand followers with a post calling the men out. Two days later, the man (a father of three) was fired from his job.”

Remembering the Negative

Admitting that once a comment is made or an action taken, it can easily cause lasting harm to a person or company. “Once you’ve damaged your reputation, you’ve also damaged your credibility, trustworthiness and influence. Repairing a damaged reputation is challenging because people tend to remember the negative more easily and longer than the positive.”

The examples she cited in her book serve as a perfect example of how the lines between work and personal lives have blurred — if not been erased completely. What you do and say and post on your personal time absolutely impacts your professional life — something independent manufacturers’ reps should bear in mind. According to Hanke, “It bears repeating one more time: maintaining your reputation and influence is a 24/7/365 job.”

If Ronson and Hanke offer their views of how social media use can impact our lives today, then Jay Izso in his book Got Social Mediology? picks up the ball from there and takes a look at its importance in the future. As a result, if business people today should be concerned about the careful use of social media, then there’s even more to be concerned about the future.

According to Izso, “In the end, though, social media is not so much about the technology as it is about, well, being social. We as humans are naturally social and have a need for interaction. Research has been limited, and yet opinions have been many in regard to what social media’s role is in our social interaction. With more than a billion people currently using the various social media platforms, I would argue that most people’s use is not based on a fascination with technology, but on the ability to in some way connect with other human beings.

“This is not a new concept. People have been trying to connect since the start of time, whether it was to develop spoken language, written words, the printing press, the telegraph, or the telephone. And the transition wasn’t always easy. I can only imagine when the first telephone was put in the local store or café how people rejected it or perhaps feared that they would get shock from it. Now we take phones for granted. Social media is simply our newest way to connect. And today, the speed at which we are able to make a connection with others, anywhere in the world, is always increasing.

“Will you and your business resist this wave of change or embrace? Will you criticize and downplay it, or will you open the door and try it out for yourself? Will you consider, instead of being stubborn or afraid, getting SPICEY? When in doubt, don’t forget our acronym: Strategize, Plan, Interact, Commit, Experiment, and Be You — and if you remember nothing else, remember the principal of reciprocity: give to others on social media, and they will give back to you.”

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