@PRsarahevans @bradjward One PR blog’s hard to pick, but I think @TDefren gives some good advice. [link to post] #JR324

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RT @Akhia How to Relinquish Control [link to post] from PR-Squared

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When will the crowd get a dividend?
[link to post]

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RT @LaraK: Correct link this time – “Remember that everyone wears an invisible sign that reads, Make me feel important.” [link to post]

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great article: [link to post]

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RT @mdd044: from @tdefren. [link to post] – 4 ways to relinquish control 4 those companies that want to be smart.

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@jgoldsborough @markvanbaale check out this blog post from @tdefren. [link to post]

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You are also right that I am raising issues with not inconsiderable consequences. In fact you may remember that my call-out from Peter Kim’s Social Media Predictions Project was, “The tipping point has not only NOT been reached, but could tip AWAY from Social Media” (due to episodes like those you’ve imagined).

I push the envelope for the sake of creating a dialogue like this one! Thank you.

When I was in PR I worked with one of the clients you have listed, and everyone I worked with wanted to do the right thing. What was the biggest obstacle? The lawyers. Very often, the objectives of legal and PR run head on into one another. These were real crises, with obvious legal ramifications, unlike the Motrin Moms flap, which was a silly difference of opinion on the content of an online commercial.

Social media, no matter how prominent it becomes, will not trump the fiduciary responsibility that the legal departments have to protect against lawsuits. Why? Because the feeling is that a reputation that has been damaged can be repaired–and it’s harder to put a lost dollar figure on a damaged reputation.

But if you have a mountain of lawsuits because someone in the company admitted–even inadvertently–to being at fault, the eventual payout of damages is a concrete, real number that can be automatically subtracted from the bottom line. Shareholders would not be amused.

Lawsuits are a real fear of businesses. I worked for a state chamber of commerce in a legislative (lobbying) capacity, and lawsuits are always, always a top concern. Social media advocates should always keep this in mind when advising clients to open up blogging/etc. to every employee. Yes, there will always be dumb employees who say the wrong thing, and there’s always a chance they will blog about something on their own, from home, etc. But, I would think that the ability of a company to distance itself from the “loose lips” of an employee would be significantly impacted by the existence of a policy that specifically states that employees can blog and represent the company versus having no policy at all,or a policy that states only certain employees can.

I know I’m swimming against the social media crowd here. But it will only take one or two high profile cases wherein a company was advised to allow all employees to blog, and that got them in legal trouble, and the backlash against allowing employees to blog/tweet/etc. will be so swift it will be stunning.

There are profound implications of allowing all employees of large, publicly-owned companies to act as spokespeople, from legal to regulatory and financial. There is nothing wrong with being cautious.

4 ways to relinquish control: [link to post] I like the idea of giving guests cameras at events to see it from their eyes

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