Should SocialMedian Use Personal Politics in Communication?

September 26th, 2008 Posted in Uncategorized

Before you read my post I want to state that I LOVE the SocialMedian site and I am an avid follower of Jason Goldberg.

With that said…

I happen to agree with a lot of what Jason posts on Twitter and Friendfeed. Our political opinions vary but we agree on most concepts surrounding politics and government. I have been growing a little concerned with personal political opinions being used on a company branded communication platform. Jason uses his twitter account to post news items from Social|Median but he also uses that account for his personal

political viewpoints.

I am not judging how Jason runs his twitter account but a question should be raised when

it comes to the branding of a company. Should personal politics be brought into the company communication medium? When you are trying to set an image of a company into a market is it best to keep neutral and just share information with your followers?

I have a feeling Jason and SocialMedian is putting off some users because of the political opinion of one of the creators using Twitter. When you are building a brand for your company is it best to leave personal opinions on the wayside?

This is a great question when it comes to branding a new startup. The personality of a company is directly related to the creators but how far can you go?

What do you think?

240Comments2008-09-26+22%3A33%3A23Kyle+Lacy to “Should SocialMedian Use Personal Politics in Communication?”
By Lorraine Ball on Sep 27, 2008

Politics is just one more Niche -

From a marketing standpoint, his politics adds to his identity. Will it turn off some of his readers, maybe, but it will also create more loyal followers in his niche.
By Mark Juleen on Sep 29, 2008

Kyle-

I have had the same concern on Twitter for some others I follow. In one case I know that an individual’s Twitter feed actually posts to his company website as well.

While I am open minded to people’s political choice, I feel they need to use caution in the words chosen when communicating with others on the subject. Obviously in today’s Internet world we need to especially be cautious about what we write as it is permanent.

Yes, in marketing we can’t make everyone happy, but as with any sales conversation keep the politics and religion out to avoid some major risks. It’s just so tough to judge with each individual where the “I’m now offended line” is on these topics. I say leave your opinions out, or run the risk of someone saying “no longer following @twitterfriend due to his/her worthless billion tweets this evening during the speech.”
By Adam Helweh on Sep 29, 2008

Kyle,
I agree with Lorraine regarding “identity”. What we are really talking about is whether or not clients, visitor, users, etc…. potentially get offended.

Take a look at someone like Loren Feldmen who has fine tuned his niche by being simply that… offensive. he and all others who delve into voicing their opinions, however offensive, live by the sword and die by the sword.
By Kyle Lacy on Sep 29, 2008

@Adam thanks the thoughts. I think the difference between SocialMedian and Loren Feldman is the fact that Loren is his own personal brand. SocialMedian is a company. There is a fine line to draw with personal political ideas and a companies brand image.

@Mark Well said.. I couldn’t have said it better myself.
By Jonathan Trenn on Oct 8, 2008

I can’t agree with Lorraine or Adam. While Jason and everyone should be free to do what they want, the idea of spouting off one’s political views - under the banner of representing a company - is dangerous territory to enter.

I don’t like Bush. But the financial crisis we have now is multi-faceted and has some roots in Democratic legislation as it relates to Fanny May and Freddie Mac. And I personally get sick of the automatic blame game - blame the ones who you disagree with politically.

Sure there are exceptions - companies that are inherently very pro-environmental for example. But those exceptions are relatively rare.

4 Trackback(s)
Oct 7, 2008: Are Politics Damaging Your Brand? »TechAddress
Oct 7, 2008: Web Rings Get a Business Model: Yardbarker to Power Widgetbox’s Sports Channel »TechAddress
Dec 3, 2008: ¿La política es perjudicial para tu marca? | Mashable
Jan 3, 2009: ChurchCrunch - The Intersection of Technology and the Church » Blog Archive » Politics, Tech, and Ministry

On FriendFeed, this post was liked by 6 people and commented on 3 times hide

View this post on FriendFeed

Liked by

December 31, 1969 at 5:33 pm Jeff Douglass

good post
December 31, 1969 at 5:33 pm Mark Trapp

Hi Kyle, on Social Median, they're discussing what you wrote here: http://www.socialmedian.com/story/1141390/should-socialmedian-use-personal-politics-in-communication
December 31, 1969 at 5:33 pm Rob Diana

That is a good discussion on social median. The key there is that Jason is promoting the discussion instead of knee-jerk defenses. Very cool.