Why oh why do we always (over) focus on: “What are the risks of engaging in social media?”
[EEEKK!!!!]
Why aren’t we asking: “What are the risks of staying on the sidelines?”
2 thoughts on “Food for Thought”
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Why oh why do we always (over) focus on: “What are the risks of engaging in social media?”
[EEEKK!!!!]
Why aren’t we asking: “What are the risks of staying on the sidelines?”
Comments are closed.
Kristi Donovan says:
Unfortunately, I think your second question can be construed by some to mean, “Everyone else is doing it, we need to too!”
Call me naive, but I always wonder why we don't focus on the 99% of people, give or take a few percentage points, who will, and want to, do the right thing. I mean, if someone steals your mailing list from your community site (a totally random example I heard recently), you can a) warn them b) serve up a penalty c) remove them, d) let the community take care of reprimanding them and/or e) know they will pay for their bad behavior in the end (a.k.a. bad karma will fall upon them).
The problem is, we are so afraid of confrontation and dare I say, crucial conversations, that we cater to the 1% who screw up. Participating in social media means you have to be willing to talk to folks in good times and bad… some people have a very hard time with the latter.
It's a cultural issue.
Elizabeth Weaver Engel, CAE says:
+10, Kristi – I love the idea of “prepare for the worst, but assume the best.” Particularly in places where it's hard to hide your real identity (which is increasingly “the entire Internet” these days), most people are pretty inclined to behave themselves so as not be (deservedly) labeled douchebags.