Reputation Management In Social Media Another ugly presentation by Martin Created by Techrigy, developers of SM2: Providing Visibility Into Social Media

It’s a fact: People are talking about your brand and your reputation. On blogs In wikis On Twitter, Plurk, Friendfeed In user-generated video On social networks All over the social media eco-system

On blogs

In wikis

On Twitter, Plurk, Friendfeed

In user-generated video

On social networks

All over the social media eco-system

Eco-System? What’s that all about? Think about it this way: The Internet is about finding information. Social media is about communication. Communication between millions of people. That’s the eco-system.

Think about it this way:

The Internet is about finding information.

Social media is about communication.

Communication between millions of people.

That’s the eco-system.

Who are they talking to? That’s where it’s different than any other way we communicate. The communication is one to many and then, many to many. I blog and ten people read it. They each blog about it and a hundred people read it. And so forth. It’s exponential…

That’s where it’s different than any other way we communicate.

The communication is one to many and then, many to many.

I blog and ten people read it. They each blog about it and a hundred people read it.

And so forth. It’s exponential…

Exponential? Exponential: Relating to a mathematical expression containing one or more exponents. Something is said to increase or decrease exponentially if its rate of change must be expressed using exponents. A graph of such a rate would appear not as a straight line, but as a curve that continually becomes steeper or shallower. The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Exponential:

Relating to a mathematical expression containing one or more exponents. Something is said to increase or decrease exponentially if its rate of change must be expressed using exponents. A graph of such a rate would appear not as a straight line, but as a curve that continually becomes steeper or shallower.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary

Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company.

Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

In other words, a conversation in social media can spread really fast. Whether it’s true…or not.

Whether it’s true…or not.

Obama is a Muslim (pass it on…) Not true, but 15% of Americans think it is.

Not true, but 15% of Americans think it is.

That one got around pretty quickly for a complete untruth. And it has affected his reputation, fairly or not.

And it has affected his reputation,

fairly or not.

So what do you do about it? How do we manage what people are saying? With something called Reputation Management in Social Media

With something called

Reputation Management in Social Media

To manage a reputation you have to be a part of the conversation. That starts with listening. But how do you listen to thousands of conversations? You need a tool. We make one of them but that’s not what I’m writing about at the moment.

You need a tool. We make one of them but that’s not what I’m writing about at the moment.

Social Media Monitoring and Measurement helps us listen to specific conversations. You enter keywords that tell the tool what kind of discussion you want to know about: Brands, Competitors, People, Products, Services Then it goes out and brings back the results, lots of results. So many that it can be hard to know which ones are important.

You enter keywords that tell the tool what kind of discussion you want to know about:

Brands, Competitors, People, Products, Services

Then it goes out and brings back the results, lots of results. So many that it can be hard to know which ones are important.

That’s why you need analysis tools, to help you drill down to the important conversations that can affect your reputation. Analysis like: Sentiment (do they like it or not?) Demographics (girl/boy? old/young? Arizona or Germany?) Authority (how many people do they influence?)

Analysis like:

Sentiment (do they like it or not?)

Demographics (girl/boy? old/young? Arizona or Germany?)

Authority (how many people do they influence?)

So now you can see who’s talking and listen to what they’re saying. But what do you do about it? Aye, there’s the rub… You have to get in there in a way that’s acceptable and participate. You should be transparent about it…

Aye, there’s the rub…

You have to get in there in a way that’s acceptable and participate.

You should be transparent about it…

“ I grew up with Barack and went to the same church for 20 years. The same Christian church. Here’s a picture of us to prove it…” Be nice and don’t barge in. Use a logical, calm approach. Stay above the fray. If people start to respect you, your reputation will grow and you’ll get better at defending the reputations of others.

Be nice and don’t barge in.

Use a logical, calm approach.

Stay above the fray.

If people start to respect you, your reputation will grow and you’ll get better at defending the reputations of others.

If you blog, use a commenting system like DisQus or Intense Debate. They help build reputations. People who read your comments on blogs that use these systems can vote you up or down and that reputation will appear on your future comments, wherever they are.

People who read your comments on blogs that use these systems can vote you up or down and that reputation will appear on your future comments, wherever they are.

If you Twitter, don’t be a nit-twit: “ I’m sitting in a café drinking coffee. Bored as hell” Who cares? I don’t and I won’t follow you. Tell me something important. Even better, tell me something relevant. I might decide to follow you. Your stock just went up…

Who cares?

I don’t and I won’t follow you.

Tell me something important.

Even better, tell me something relevant.

I might decide to follow you.

Your stock just went up…

You have to be reputable to manage a reputation. If you’re a crook or a scam artist why would your recommendation mean anything? Which brings us to another thing about reputation management in social media. You can make things worse.

Which brings us to another thing about reputation management in social media.

You can make things worse.

If you bullsh*t in social media you will get caught. And exposed. To everyone. And you will hurt the reputation you’re trying to help.

And you will hurt the reputation you’re trying to help.

So… Be transparent. Be reputable as measured by other people’s opinions. Respond honestly, in the context of the conversation. Be relevant and back up your assertions with incontrovertible facts. Don’t lie or exaggerate.

That’s about it. Managing reputations, whether in social media or anywhere else, is a big responsibility. But I know you can handle it… Thanks, Martin at Techrigy.com