Marketing BLOG
Social Media Ethics – Twitter
May 2nd, 2010
Is it ethical to tweet on behalf of a client?
For some practical insight check out the post that inspired this visual: Tweeting Under False Circumstances: Social Media Ethical Dilemmas. Todd Defren walks through a real-life case study and shares some thoughts on how his firm dealt with this issue.
My philosophy is that social media needs to be an authentic & transparent endeavor – and clients need to make the cultural and financial investment i.e. labour, time, etc. in order to be successful. This ideology has developed over time and through personal experience. I’ve justified tweeting for a former employer on the premise that I had a genuine knowledge of the brand and lived the culture – but even this intimate level of engagement has limitations. Without a real commitment from the client, almost any social media initiative will become a hollow exercise.
Balancing the business needs of a client with personal ideology can be a challenge for any agency. Have you come across any ethical challenges using Twitter as a client or agency? Have have you addressed them?
Note: This is the first visual in a set inspired by Todd Defren’s “Social Media Ethics” series over at the PR squared blog. Stay tuned for more.
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May 3rd, 2010 at 10:23 am
Love the infographic!
I was just chatting about this topic (again) with a friend and fellow Social Media evangelist. We agreed on most points, but this one especially:
The CLIENT makes it harder.
In other words, the agencies are largely not ASKING to tread that gray path. Rather, the CLIENTS are specifically requesting it, i.e., “Yea, Twitter sounds like a good idea, but, we won’t staff it. You do it, please. Just don’t eff it up. Thanks. Send me an invoice.”
Reputable, ethical agencies will find the line and will MOSTLY do the right thing. Unethical agencies won’t care – nor will they be reading posts like mine, or yours.
May 3rd, 2010 at 11:33 am
@ Todd – Glad you like the visual
Very good point about clients pushing the ethical boundary. I think one of the reasons they do so stems from a focus on tools vs. strategy. Developing a strategy and integrating social media into their business culture helps organizations understand the dynamics…including best practices and ethics.
Companies that look for the quick fix and attempt to buy engagement don’t really get it – and they end up working with the wrong agency on the wrong side of the line.
May 9th, 2010 at 7:06 pm
[...] Autor/es: Juan Sobejano Leía el otro día un artículo sobre el componente ético de los medios sociales. En concreto hablaba del hecho de que muchas empresas entregan la gestión de su conversación, es [...]
May 9th, 2010 at 7:22 pm
[...] Social Media Ethics – The Agency Twitter Grey Scale [...]
May 10th, 2010 at 4:38 am
[...] el otro día un artículo sobre el componente ético de los medios sociales. En concreto hablaba del hecho de que muchas empresas entregan la gestión de su conversación, es [...]
June 9th, 2010 at 12:16 pm
Im afraid the agencies are afraid to the clients asks for value because they want to pay for the “full service”.