I expect excellence from everybody and you should too. Over the past 24 hours I have been considering my decision to post an article earlier this week which revealed a mistake made by a social media communications professional. I rarely describe the mistakes made by anybody because as many commenters pointed out, we all make mistakes. For a communications professional (and pretty much anybody else), the value is in your network and the woman that I mentioned yesterday has never met me. In other words, I’m not in her immediate network.
So why did I take this example as the opportunity to publicly degrade this woman? Not only can it be viewed as inconsiderate but some commenters even called it arrogant. (As a side note, this will be my last mention of the event.) The reason I ultimately decided to post it was two fold: I thought it would generate a lot of comments (which it did), and I gave the individual multiple opportunities to resolve the issue before it turned into an all out “Fail”, in internet terms.
The first reason was selfish, but I thought I’d at least be honest about why I decided to do it. The individual became an easy target and I went after the bait. At this point I feel a bit guilty because I pretty much highlighted how poor of a decision it was. Beth has been in the communications industry for longer than I’ve been in blogging though so it’s somewhat unfair for me to take her to task.
I once worked at a communications firm though and I’ve learned through others how to handle a crisis situation as she had on her hands yesterday. Rather than nipping the issue in the bud immediately, she enabled it to spiral out of control. Many commenters claimed that it was “human error”. Who am I to highlight this professional error though? Have I never made one myself?
Honestly, I took advantage of a rare occasion and turned it into pageviews and comments and for that I apologize. It was not only selfish but it was symptomatic of a trend that I’ve long tried to avoid: the desire to attract pageviews and comments through overly aggressive tactics at the expense of others. This is not a gossip rag though and I hope you never perceive it to be. That’s while I’ll avoid these posts in the future.
It was simply an emotional response to slam Beth. I hold everybody to high expectations and when a “communications” person sends me out an email on numerous occasions about something that I’m not interested in, it means that they don’t know me and they don’t have the network that their clients deserve. People like Brian Solis and many others, have strived to build relationships and forward only content that they think is relevant.
These individuals also work their ass off. I can’t really say much more than that. Hustlers know each other and if you try to game the system, you won’t get far. However it’s not my duty to highlight those that are trying to take the quick route. Instead I’ll let nature take its course as I always have in the past rather than taking the low hanging fruit!
To those I have offended, sorry about that, but thanks for the pageviews 
I won’t be posting about minor mistakes in the future! If you work ethically, and embrace your problems, there’s nothing that will ever stop your business.
Add New Comment
Viewing 5 Comments
Thanks. Your comment is awaiting approval by a moderator.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
I am not surprised that you are converting it into pageviews , commenters kind of thing.
It does boil down to that.
As some one who is new in this..at this point, i feel along with content, if a person is ready to give their attention and respect other's idea then success is easy to find.
Add New Comment
Trackbacks