Blog homeTwo stories hit the press this week involving UK airlines and Facebook.
First we had Virgin Atlantic reportedly sacking 13 air crew who branded passengers “chavs” and mocked the airline’s safety. [Source: The Sun]
Now we have British Airways who have launched an investigation about some of their staff reportedly calling passengers “smelly” [Source: The Daily Mail].
The key questions are
- Now “anyone” can publish – how should large companies handle this?
- If an employee publishes a comment in a forum – or semi-public place – are they communicating on behalf of the company they work for – or themselves?
- Should the reaction be to “sack” an employee – or should they be sent on “PR training” instead? Is the sacking just an excuse to reduce headcount in a difficult period?
- Is the issue whether to permit staff to create forums on the web for open discussion – or was the issue about what was said in the forums? Would this have been a problem if there hadn’t been rude comments about customers?
The many to many relationship
Historically public relations was undertaken (in a cosy way) between journalists and PR teams. This was a one-to-one relationship (using a database analogy for you technical lot!). Now its many to many. Individuals (employees) can communicate with individuals (consumers, subscribers etc).
There has always been a big discussion about corporate blogging….. empowering individuals within a corporate to communicate on behalf of the company. Often these were experienced individuals as writing a blog requires a long term commitment by the blogger. This experience helped individuals understand where the line was (and the main concerns related to leaking of corporate IP or internal project news – rather than being rude about customers!)
However, with forums, there is no commitment on behalf of the employee to learn any skills on how to use the facility….. and the damage can be done with one or two comments that get pulled out as press headlines.
Separating your job from your personal life
I am not on Facebook. I made this decision as a conscious decision to have a separate business and personal life. If I had a Facebook account lots of people I know from business (including you lot who read this blog) would want to link and be upset if I didn’t reciprocate. Likewise I have a couple of personal friends who are on my Linkedin account – but very few – most come from my “business life”. Of course, I have some (now) personal friends who have I come to know through my jobs or through business….. so it is not black and white!
Handling this better – learning from doctors
One thing for sure is that this scenario will occur many more times in the future until everyone is educated on the difference between a public and a private place on the web. I am not even sure if there is a private place on the web.
Perhaps we can learn from the medical industry where they have plenty of slang [See wikipedia] - e.g. FLK – Funny Looking Kid.
In many countries, facetious or insulting acronyms are now considered unethical and unacceptable, and patients can demand access to their medical records. Medical facilities risk being sued by patients offended by the descriptions.
There the practice of referring to patients using slang was greatly curtailed as a result of patients having access to their medical records (i.e. what was once private is now public).
Just a small point: you happily blogged about your wedding and posted silly pictures of yourself here a few months back.
Was that part of the process of injecting some humour into the blog or were you simply happy to share your joy with your loyal readers?
Hi Kevin
Sorry to break the news…. but those photos weren’t real!
Ah – the difference is that this is an environment that I can “control”. (which is the same argument that PR people at Virgin / BA will be using – they want control of the message – which in the modern media world – means control over the environment where the discussion takes place).
I do actually have a personal blog too – but not posted to it for a couple of years….. which reminds me, must take it down! [I have an intention to relaunch it though..... but as a non-personal personal "blog" - which I will explain over a beer sometime]
I notice a proliferation of B2B travel industry networking websites now…. although I “join” I don’t tend to discuss much. Much prefer to answer comments on this blog….. both because of the time issue (lack of it!) and because here at least I have the ability to mould the reading experience how I want it.
Hi Alex,
On “If an employee publishes a comment in a forum – or semi-public place – are they communicating on behalf of the company they work for – or themselves?” – difficult one. How they identify themselves is a big consideration, but BA/FBgate is very cut-and-dry here: they clearly identified themselves as representatives of the company (the group is ‘London Gatwick BA Ground Staff’) so BA would have no trouble proving they have brought the company into disrepute.
It’s the privacy and education thing I think is really interesting. There was incredible naivety going on here, and really the only way brands can prevent situations like this is by making sure employees know the risks, and where they stand. Hopefully it won’t lead to brands banning employee groups outright – I think for now the answer to “Would this have been a problem if there hadn’t been rude comments about customers?” is still no.
Hi Kevin
Also…… I don’t mind introducing a few “personal elements” into this blog – or elsewhere on the web. What I don’t fancy is letting everyone know what I am doing this weekend etc….. [But if you read this comment in a couple of years time, it is a matter of context..... so don't misquote this (in 2 years time!)].
Nathan – howabout a TW poll ! (on whether travel agents should use their personal profiles to “talk shop” on social networks like Facebook) (or whether the post work social evening is more appropriate!)
ps – this is another issue with the web! I am now writing disclaimers for 2 years time to ensure I am not misquoted when my personal context is different! That is funny.
Thankfully the beauty of social networks is that you either choose to dabble in them, or you don’t. There are no rules, which is a blessing and a curse.
Do i think creating a Facebook group for Travolution has helped my publication during its growth phase? Absolutely…
it’s here, since you asked: http://www.facebook.com/friends/?id=592145457#/group.php?gid=2399380798&ref=ts
nearly 400 members.
Do i think using my FB profile for both personal and business has worked raise the profile of Travolution? Yes, definitely.
The key point is that social networks are fantastically interactive process. You say that you don’t fancy letting everyone know what you’re doing this weekend, etc, etc. You know what – they probably don’t want to know either!
If people wanted to know that, they would look for it. if they don’t, chances are they wouldn’t even see the message, or care if they did.
you control the message, but you don’t control how people wish to read or interact with it.
but, frankly, that’s not an issue.
i’m not one of those who tries to convert people into suddenly becoming members of social networks, but equally those that do enjoy playing with social networks should not be treated like they are pariahs or do not understand the privacy-business argument.