Is this the real life, or is this just fantasy?
Just how much of the real world is played out in our online activities? Are we really escaping from reality, or is social media an authentic extension of our personalities and everyday lives? I mentioned this in passing in my 501 Places blog post yesterday, but thought it was worth exploring further.
In the last few days I have met a dozen or more people who I had only previously known via Twitter. We shared a common interest: travel, and more specifically travel writing. Having made our acquaintance online and shared some of our passions, our frustrations and our experiences with whoever was listening, World Travel Mart created the opportunity for this little community to meet in the real world.
The most striking thing for me is the realisation that Twitter activity is a very accurate predictor of peoples’ personalties. I would honestly say that if you had put me in the room with this group of people for 30 minutes and asked me to link the person to the Twitter user (without the benefit of avatar images) I would have matched everyone with their online character. Those that were passionate about helping others online displayed the same traits face to face. Those that prefer more analytical tweets and who tend to share others’ work rather than their own were more reserved in person. And the jokers at the numerous meetings this week have long been the people who have filled their online chat with dry wit and ascerbic commentary.
Does this matter? I would say this matters enormously, and carries a very important lesson particularly for organisations who are starting to dabble with social media. A person who is assigned as the companies social media user will inevitably project their own personality through their 140 characters on Twitter or their blog posts. That personality will soon be associated by their followers as that of the brand. Their values will be associated with those of the organisation they represent. Get this right, and you will have a very powerful and cost-effective method of reaching new and existing customers, and of promoting your brand in a positive light. Get it wrong and your brand may be tarnished in a way that will be far reaching and long lasting.
Choosing the right person is critical. A company might wish that its employees’ beliefs and passions are all perfectly alligned to its own, but reality suggests that is rarely the case. The person who takes on the role of tweeting or blogging for the company should not only be aware of the brand values but be able to articulate them in direct and abstract situations.
Someone who has an appreciation of the company’s ethos will also need to be tactful enough to be able to handle attacks on the brand in a positive way without creating the space for these attacks in the first place. Witness the recent debacle with Princess Cruises travel bloggers’ trip that turned into a ugly shouting match – will they do the same again and if so, how will they look to avoid the mistakes of this trip? (see BlogHer’s analysis of this episode)
As more and more organisations embrace the world of social media, we will see more high profile faux-pas as individuals’ indiscretions are associated with the company they are supposed to represent. But through all these blips I am hopeful that a new view of the corporate world will emerge: where companies are less able to hide behind anonymous statements and static communication and will be increasingly perecived as reflecting the values and personalities of those people they choose as their online ambassadors. In other words, more accessible organisations that will have to respond to its customers with excellence in order to survive.
Wondering which category of Twitterer I’m in? Must be the reserved?
Just illustrates how crucial it is to find “right” person to do your corporate tweeting as they are going to be the public face of your organisation.
Reserved? Yes of course Karen
Excellent post Andy! I remember our discussion about personalities and you’re absolutely spot-on about Twitter personalities and their importance as a factor when recruiting a social media manager. Ummm… I wonder what my personality is.
Thanks Keith, I wonder how the recruitment of these people will evolve. If only I had offered to create and sell personality profiles when we all met up! Congrats on the Top 50 Blog accolade – fully deserved.
Excellent Andy! All sooooo true!
Very intriguing post – never considered whether a person’s online personality was the same as their real personality, much less consider taking that into account if someone is going to be doing social networking for a company.
I hadn’t thought of it much either Barbara, but this week got me convinced, as Karen and Keith have both pointed out, how important it is for a company to have the right online ambassador.