Its been something top of mind for me the last couple of weeks. Doing the right thing. Not the easy thing. Not the fast thing. Not the thing thats right now. In a soon-to-come post this will make sense, but for now…
The right thing. The right way. Not “situationally” correct, or “what the handbook says”, but the right thing because it is right.
Chris Brogan drops a little mind bomb this evening during the debate about Ethics and Social Media.
Its a great post, and as usual a required read (he IS in your aggregator, right?).
Here are some of my thoughts regarding doing the right thing, ethics and social media:
If it feels easy you are doing it right
If you think you need might need to take a shower after coming up with a way to connect with users you should probably scratch that idea.
Be transparent. Be honest. Be Human.
If the user isn’t at the center of your strategy, planning, tactics and efforts then you should start over. Its not about budget, or the IWOOT (I Want One Of Those), or the client’s request. Its about the user. Its about doing the right thing by them. Its about partying with them. Its about creating and sharing spaces with them.
Viral isn’t synonymous with honest
If the deck has a slide about “gaming” anything (systems, users, groups, google, facebook, youtube ratings, etc,) its an EPIC FAIL
Are you proud of the work? Is it something you would put on your wall, describe at your kid’s “what does my
do?” day at school, tell your buddies about over beers @ the 19th hole? If you aren’t proud of it, if you dont get psyched about it, if you dont get jazzed about how your users are connecting with the work, then why did you bother? Do you trust the users? Do you value them? Do you tell them why decisions are made? Its ok to moderate comments if you tell the users UPFRONT what the rules on, AND THEN FOLLOW THEM. It’s ok to admit that you/your org/your company is just getting started, feeling this Social thing out, trying to change your mindset. Its ok for a huge company to admit to being a little scared. Heck, the users might actually give you the benefit of the doubt… as long as you dont take them for granted, try to play them, dismiss them.
There are so many ways to get caught. So many other ways to spend those $$$ that dont require you to make the effort, do the work, fight the good fight, have a conversation.
Why not do the right thing?