1. Do you blog yourself?
2. What blogs and podcasts do you recommend?
3. What clients have you got into social media?
4. What do you think of ghost blogging?
5. How do you approach a blogger who wrote something negative?

Each of which is, in its own right, an excellent shibboleth for social media practitioners.

However, given the nascent state of social media in the public sector, it seems unlikely to me that many agencies would be in the market for this sort of assistance. Indeed, even if they were, I am not sure that the expertise is widespread or readily available (not according to the list, anyway).

What it did trigger for me was the following thought: what sort of questions should we be asking of ourselves? Or, more accurately, what are the questions that senior management are going to want answered when we pitch this sort of thing?

Control

Their primary concern, believe it or not, will be the degree of control. How much they have, or how much they are giving up. Hierarchical structures like government agencies depend upon tightly controlled corporate communications — for good reasons. So how much of a risk are social media channels to the current practice? Well, not as much as some would think (or fear).

The most common argument that I have heard over the last couple of years is, allowing blogging is like letting anyone talk to the media. There is some truth to this. Once an article is posted, it could very well end up in the media. Is this risk manageable? Absolutely.

One practical way to address the risk is for potential bloggers to be run through a training programme to ensure they understand the responsibilities that come with the sheer unadulterated joy of blogging day after day after day…

Even without that training, the risk of inadvertently posting something inappropriate is at least equal to, if not smaller than, the associated risk of someone just answering the phone and starting to chat to a journalist. And it’s not like that never happens.

In fact, blogging (or wikis or podcasts) have a significant advantage in this respect. Once posted, you have a definitive record of your comment. It’s not like talking to a reporter on the phone and trusting that their shorthand is up to scratch. The downside of this is, of course, glaringly obvious.

The trade-off

As you move along the scale, from total control (like your web pages) though to partial control (interviews, pressers) and end up at very little control (what other people or organizations say about you), you will want to be able to demonstrate a benefit trade-off.

The benefit is increased transparency and engagement. As you relinquish control, you invite others to engage. Using social media, this is a transparent process, which in turn fosters trust and a receptiveness to what it is you are trying to communicate.

Will this be enough to sway senior management? I doubt it. But if you were to demonstrate increased engagement by using social media internally, that would be a different matter.

It would also mean that you don’t have to call consultants on their practical experience with social media, because you would have developed the expertise yourself…

Photo: Lance McCord