Paul Argenti: What Every Exec Should Know About Social Media

I recently re-watched a December 2009 interview of Paul Argenti (corporate communications professor at Tuck University) following the release of his book dedicated to Web 2.0's effect on communications.

I've pulled out some points from the interview. A lot of what Argenti describes here is similar to what I have written in these columns and elsewhere:

1. Most execs are out of sync. It's easy to dismiss what you don't know as being a fad or meaningless.
   
2. Yet a true revolution in corporate communications is unfolding with regard to how our corporate relationships are impacted in all areas: press and public relations, investors, analysts, partners and clients, employees and job seekers etc. What is funny, Argenti says, is that despite point one, none of the interviewed execs denies this fact.
3. This revolution has less to do with tools than strategy.
   
4. Video and vlogging (video blogging) are transforming everything we do in corporate communications.
5. Web 2.0 enables active vs. reactive communications.
6. Negative feedback is definitely what execs are afraid of, but it is already broadly available beyond social media. Social media is not the cause of negative feedback or brand disloyalty and cannot be held responsible for the quality of a product or the fact that a service hasn't been rendered properly.

Don't:

• Misjudge the importance of a sentence or a comment. Even more than in the printed press, every word counts in social media.
• Misunderstand the human factor behind crisis management in social media. Some believe that fiddling with comments is enough, whereas human conversations will work wonders.
• Think being present on social media is enough. You need to engage.
• Talk digital vs. do digital -- you need to understand what the Web makes available to all.
• Ignore positive feedback including that which can be generated by internal blogging communities and partnerships,
• Forget to implement the right processes and spell them out clearly, including disclosure practices.