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Transparency, Social Media and, God Forbid, the Truth
Social media offers an unprecedented level of transparency. That’s a good thing. It’s also a bad thing. Classic examples of the principle of duality exists in Newtonian and Quantum physics, where concepts contradict one another yet are both “true” often highlight vitally important truths.
Take a look at this weekend’s NY Times article: “A TheirSpace for Drug Sales Reps”
Nothing, it seems, is off limits at Cafepharma, a water-cooler site where, for the last six years, drug and medical-device sales reps have hashed out their lives and work in tens of thousands of discussion threads.
There’s both good and bad in that article and I recommend reading it.
Another good post that demonstrates this duality is “Social Media: What Are You Waiting For?”
For the record, this is not a post about abandoning social media as a marketing tactic. In fact, it’s exactly the opposite.
This is a post about gettin’ while the gettin’s good.
Take advantage of the opportunity while it still exists. It’s only a matter of time before we slip off that edge and start to slide.
If your product, service, company is capable of withstanding “the truth,” then you should expose it. So why isn’t everyone embracing social media? Do you think companies are actually hiding the truth or are they just resistant to change?
About the author
Jeffrey Eisenberg, founder of FutureNow, is a professional marketing speaker and the co-author of New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling books Call to Action and Waiting For Your Cat to Bark. You can friend him on Facebook.
More articles from Jeffrey Eisenberg
- Nobody wants to read your sh**!September 21st, 2009
- Redesign? Ask The Right Questions!September 18th, 2009
- Cross-post: How to Improve a Product Page, Part 1September 15th, 2009
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June 11th, 2007
10:58 am
Thanks so much for the link love, Jeffrey. I really like the angle of “exposing the truth.” I think there are companies who do this incredibly well, and those who are horrible at it.
The benefits of being transparent are immense. The closer your company can get to the customer, the better off you’ll both be. Social media is definitely a major step toward becoming more transparent.
Thanks again for the shout out
June 11th, 2007
11:42 am
Working in a profession allied to the pharmaceutical industry, I know a medical ad agency was watching the cafepharma site in order to provide strategic logistics to their pharma client regarding internal communications related to a brand. The pharma company was successful because they were transparent with their employees- recoginizing their faults and adressing them. So, yes, its a great idea to be transparent!
October 18th, 2008
11:13 am
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