New Media Accountability – Lessons from SoCon09
It’s worth noting some differences from last year’s post. Atlanta is no longer the most wired city in the country according to Forbes Magazine. SoCon09 presenter and sponsor Jeff Haynie can no longer be a poster child for Altanta’s technology elite. Good for him, his ship came in. Appcelerator received an infusion of capital and relocated to Mountain View, California. Even still, the social media community continues to build momentum. There are more sources for start up funding, and there is a sense of optimism even in a deep recession.
It was great to reconnect with social media guru Chris Carfi who made a presentation about markets and technology. I also met folks like Lyle Harris, a former AJC editorial writer who has started the Georgia Online News Service (GONSO) to aggregate hyper local content (think AP meets crowdsourcing), Selah Abrams, a production engineer from Turner Studios, Lisa Campbell, an entrepreneur and WSB-Radio anchor, Jamie Gumbrecht, an Atlanta Journal Constitution lifestyle reporter, founder of Elemental Interactive James Harris and Stephanie Roberts who heads up LittlePurpleCow Productions.
James Andrews
I also caught up with James Andrews, a Ketchum PR executive after his presentation on social media and PR.
He recently endured a rocky time over a Twitter post he did about Memphis. As he realized, Twitter is the new sound bite (I was not the first to say this), and Twitter bit him. He was not the first PR person to be bitten, and will not be the last.
I don’t need to rehash the details. His lessons from the Twitter firestorm – the sheer velocity at which news spreads, the power of hidden agendas to drive controversy and the importance of context and accountability.
Accountability was in fact my rallying cry for the day. Check out the Atlanta Journal Constitution article.
It began during a presentation by Andrew Wilson of Atlanta.net. He directs all online initiatives of the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau. His topic was Atlanta’s Niche in the Social Media Universe.
Now I am a big advocate for building Atlanta’s social media presence. I sympathize with him and the challenges of building online community and social media adoption here, but I took exception with the definition of social media he used. In citing Wikipedia, he said that a key difference between social media and industrial media is the lack of accountability.
I have heard that distinction before, but I wasn’t prepared to take it at face value. My arm darted up in true unconference fashion.
For those who know me, I am passionate, but respectful and opt for a low-key approach most times. I was in the room filled with passionate online advocates who very much value accountability. You may not get fired for deception or inflammatory remarks, but incurring the wrath of the blogosphere will lead to loss of credibility and irrelevance.
In my book, accountability is:
- Having no hidden agendas
- Understanding your audience
- Using an honest voice
- Putting your posts in context
- Being prepared to back up your claims
- Being prepared to live with consequences
In the world of social media, all you really have is your reputation. Without accountability, you don’t have community, and without community, social media is pointless. If James’s experience tells us anything, the blogosphere can be very humbling but also forgiving for those who abide by its rules.
Let me get back to you.
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