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Are you sure you want your company participating in social media? Really? You're sure?

Chances are that, if you are a company leader you are FAR from sure. Rick Mahn suggested in a recent blog post that company leaders are reluctant to allow their company to utilize social networks/media/tools because of a need for trust. I agree with him to some extent. There is a lack of trust. However, I think that lack of trust comes from a generational stigma that causes fear.

That fear makes sense. The majority of company leaders grew up basking in the glow of Walter Cronkite and his flawless delivery of the news America needed to know. They came from an era where Mr. Cronkite and anything owned by Hearst or Time was all the news they needed and it was always right.

Until just a few years ago, company leaders were all-powerful and at times, larger than life – Henry Ford, Sam Walton, Walt Disney, Richard Branson, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Ted Turner. Business leaders like these become the supermodels of business leadership that others emulate. Management classes are tuned to follow the lessons taught by such leaders.

Such power is waning as social media expands its reach. Leaders who embrace social media are establishing an image as approachable, engaged and real.

The fear is intense and prevalent. Companies work hard to set up sophisticated firewalls to block access to certain sites. Participation in social media is discouraged by HR, legal, IT and others.

The illusion is that by choosing to block employees from visiting and participating in social networks at work, or by avoiding the addition of social networking tools to the enterprise that the semblance of power can be maintained in an orderly top-down fashion. Illusion.

The illusion is that by choosing to block employees from visiting and participating in social networks at work, or by avoiding the addition of social networking tools to the enterprise that the company can avoid misinformation or proprietary information shared by employees. Illusion.

The illusion is that by choosing to block employees from visiting and participating in social networks at work, or by avoiding the addition of social networking tools to the enterprise that the company can protect itself from hackers and virus threats. Illusion.

Reality is that your customers are out there. Your employees are out there. The conversation is happening.

Will they tell the unblemished story the PR department would prefer 100% of the time? No way.

Will they accurately describe your product and service in relation to competition 100% of the time? No way.

Will they accurately describe company procedures, protocols and processes 100% of the time? No way.

They will make mistakes. They might be little blunders. They might be monumental like when Best Buy mistakenly invited millions of customers to participate in a premium Reward Zone membership. (Read the post by Barry Judge, Best Buy CMO, following their mistake.)

The important part is that the company is out there – communicating. Honestly. Openly. Such mistakes will happen regardless of the company's participation in social media. However, having a presence and relationships there BEFORE the blunder happens gives an opportunity for fast recovery.

Are you sure you want your company participating in social media? This is a trick question. Your company is already participating. The real question is, are you helping?

Update 4/11/09:  Make sure to check out this post by Steve Bendt about Practicing Social at Best Buy and this post by Jeremiah Owyang.