Posts Tagged ‘ethics’

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What’s Your Code Of Ethics?

09.03.19

Ethics decisionsBruce Weinstein, in a Business Week column, suggests that along with energy, health, technology and other “Czars,” we need an Ethics Czar. What’s more, he suggests that that Ethics Czar should be you.

I’ve written a few times in the past couple of months about ethics in social media. Whether it’s ghost blogging, so-called “experts” coming out of the woodwork, Wikipedia entries, astro-turfing (here’s another recent example) or shameful “viral” strategies, I take a pretty dim view of shady online practices. So, this post resonated for me.

Weinstein suggests six parts to a code of ethical conduct:

  • Lead by example (do the right thing, be honest, own up when you screw up);
  • Praise generously (tell people when they’re doing a good job);
  • Criticize to build up, not break down (constructive criticism);
  • Be kind, unwind (relax on a regular basis);
  • Punish fairly (treat people equally);
  • If it is to be, it’s up to thee (take action when you see things that are wrong).

Code of Ethics for the Web

These principles translate nicely to the web – follow them and help to make your corner of the Internet a better place:

  1. Lead by example: Rule #1 – use common sense. If you wouldn’t want to see your tactics in the newspaper, reconsider whether they’re the right thing to do.
  2. Praise generously: The web is built on links. If you like something, say so and link to them. Tell people when you like what they write. Comment, link and contribute.
  3. Criticize to build up: A major part of our blogging policy at work is “do no harm.” That doesn’t mean we can’t criticize; however it does mean we should do it for the right reasons. When you criticize, do it from a constructive angle – offer tips to improve, or the other side to the argument. Don’t just shoot things down for the sake of it.
  4. Be kind, unwind: This is one principle at which I fail. Take time away from the stress of work, both online and offline. You’ll find that you’ll come back re-energized (or so I’ve heard).
  5. Punish fairly: As Weinstein noted, “one measure of good managers is the extent to which anger influences the way they punish employees.” If you’re angry, take a breath. Think it through.
  6. If it is to be, it’s up to thee: If you see something unethical, call it out… constructively.

What would you change?

(Image credit: getentrepreneurial.com)

Posted in: ethics

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Why Ghost Blogging Is Wrong

09.02.24

A few months ago, following a presentation I gave on ethics at Centennial College, I wrote a post on the ethics of ghost-writing in social media.

This past Sunday I decided, on a whim, to present a very similar session at PodCamp Toronto. At that session, Leesa Barnes, a fairly well-known person in the Canadian social media scene, started a heated conversation when she revealed that her blog is ghost-written. She gave a couple of reasons (I’m paraphrasing here; hopefully I’m doing them justice):

  1. She “hates” writing, so outsources that which she hates;
  2. As her business grows, she needs to free-up time for other tasks;
  3. Writing blog posts isn’t a part of the relationship-building process – that comes from replying to the comments (note: Leesa says she does this)
  4. She uses other tactics, such as video and audio, herself.

First-up, I want to thank Leesa for saying what she did. It sparked a dynamic conversation that continued throughout Sunday and into Monday, and I want to acknowledge that. It would have been a much less interesting session without her contribution.

I had a very interesting conversation with Leesa, Danny Brown and Lindsey Patten (and others along the way) about this on Sunday night (viewable here – taken from this search - the posts I saw; read from bottom to top).

Writing is part of blog relationship building

With that said, I think that having someone ghost-blog for you is misleading and wrong. I do think that writing the posts is a part of the relationship building process and, to quote a recent post from Leesa (entitled Why You Should Never Outsource Your Social Media Tasks & What You Should Delegate Instead):

Huh? When did outsourcing your relationships become okay?

Now, there’s a nuance here. I have no problem with multi-authored blogs where different authors are listed. I’m fine with guest posts (though I suggest not over-doing it). I have no ethical problems with delegating the writing when that is clearly and plainly disclosed (though I would argue the blog’s effectiveness would drop so it’s not a good approach). My problem is with undisclosed ghost-blogging.

Why undisclosed ghost blogging is wrong

Here are the reasons I think ghost blogging is a very, very bad idea. From my perspective:

  • People reading a blog expect the person listed as the author to be the one writing the post. This expectation is critical, and is a key difference between new and old media (where, for many people, this kind of practice long ago eroded the credibility of many tactics);
  • The danger of damage to your credibility and reputation if you get found out easily outweighs the benefits you get from hiding the true author;
  • The CEO doesn’t need to be the face of a company online. If your company has grown and the CEO needs to focus elsewhere, someone else could write, or you could set up a group blog;
  • There are plenty of other social media (and other online) tools out there. If authentic, transparent blogging doesn’t work for you, use a different tool;
  • Social media is built on trust. By misleading people as to the author, you lose the trust when that deception is revealed, especially if you’re an “expert” in this area. In another quote from the aforementioned post:

“Well, you know the old adage which is people do business with those they like and trust, right?”

Alternatives

So, what options do you have if you really don’t want to write but realize that you shouldn’t have a blog ghost-written?

  • Multi-author: Have multiple people in your organization (or a group of friends, if it’s a personal site) write – under their own names. This way you can reduce the workload
  • Different blogger: Do you have to be the face of your company online, or is this an ego issue? If you don’t have to be that face, perhaps someone else could write it under their own name.
  • Disclosure: Include a note on each blog page that someone else writes the post, e.g. ”I don’t write these posts, but I do read them and I stand behind them.” I think it’s sub-optimal as some authenticity is lost, but it’s feasible.
  • Use different media: Do you really have to have a blog? How about using video, or micro-blogging, or any other social or “traditional” digital tactics? Blogs are just one tool.

If you’re thinking of having your blog ghost-written, reconsider. The risks outweigh the benefits.

Your take

I’m well aware that there’s plenty of debate on this issue, so I posted a quick poll online for people to take. At time of writing, with 78 responses only 19 per cent (15 people) thought undisclosed ghost blogging was ok.

What do you think? Take the poll, leave a comment and let’s debate this.

Posted in: 301, blogging, ethics, social media

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PodCamp Toronto 2009 – Bigger, Better?

09.02.23

I’m at the end of an exhausting but wonderful weekend. PodCamp Toronto 2009 was held over the last two days and, as an organizer, it was an immensely rewarding experience.

I’ll have posts on various topics from this year’s event throughout the week, so I’ll keep this post brief. 

First, a few interesting points about PodCamp Toronto this year:

  • More than double the size of PodCamp Toronto 2008 – between 500 and 600 people this year (over 500 confirmed)
  • Top trending topic on Twitter on both days; pretty much all day Saturday (see below)
  • Hundreds of photos posted on Flickr already
  • For a short time, PodCamp Toronto was “bigger than Jesus” (hat tip to Bob Goyetche and Mark Blevis) at one point this weekend

My Presentations

I gave two presentations this weekend. One was planned in advance – thinking about and doing social media measurement takes up a good chunk of my time nowadays, so it made sense to talk about it and I signed-up to present on that several months ago.

My second session was a little more impromptu – I woke up on Sunday morning and decided I felt like presenting again, so I signed-up to host a session on the ethics of social media PR. Happily, both sessions were well-attended and well-received.  The slides for each are embedded below.

PodCamp Toronto – Measuring Social Media
The Ethics Of Social Media PR View more presentations from Dave Fleet.

I’ll have more thoughts, and a couple of interviews, from PodCamp Toronto over the next few days. 

For now, if you went to PodCamp this weekend, what did you think? What was good/bad/indifferent?

Posted in: ethics, measurement, podcamp, podcamptoronto2009, public relations, social media

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The Ethics of Ghost-Writing in Social Media

08.11.13

ethics_session Last night I co-hosted a session on social media ethics with Michael O’Connor Clarke at the Talk Is Cheap 2 conference in Toronto.

Ethics is always guaranteed to generate discussion, as much of it comes down to where you draw your own personal line in the sand. To my delight we had a standing room-only crowd, and we got into some interesting discussions around the ethics involved in engaging using social media (slides are at the end of this post).

One of the more interesting discussions arose around the ethics of ghost writing online.

Ghost writing?

In case you’re not familiar with the terms, “ghost” writing in general refers to (usually professional) writers creating content and then attributing it to someone else.

Note: there’s a difference between ghost blogging, astroturfing (bad) and character blogs like Captain Morgan (dodgy execution – in fact they seem to have packed the blog itself in now – but ok ethically).

Undisclosed ghost blogging is unethical

Undisclosed ghost blogging, while tempered somewhat by the intention behind it, is unethical in my opinion.

Unlike ghost-written speeches, where the spokesperson lends their name and approval to the writing by actually saying the words, ghost-written blogs can be published without the named person ever seeing them. Think, for example, of Kanye West’s blog, which kept publishing posts even after he was arrested this year. The result: brand damage.

When you’re online and especially when using social media tools, I think the expectation is that when you see someone’s name on something then it’s actually that person. That’s the point of “social media,” right? It’s social. If I’m not building a relationship with the person I think I am, there’s something very wrong with that. What’s more, when it becomes apparent that you aren’t who you’re pretending to be, you lose all of the trust you’ve built up with me.

One participant asked why, if ghost blogging is bad, is ghost micro-blogging ok? Twitter accounts like Barack Obama and Stephen Harper aren’t written by those individuals (unless Harper likes to write in the third person), but the participant thought people seemed to think it was ok.

My response: it’s not ok.

I don’t think either of these accounts is ethically sound. Neither are the many accounts like them, whether political or non-political. The staffers are pretending to be someone they’re not. They aren’t ‘hurting’ anyone per se, but they are misleading them.

Disclose

The key point for me is simple: disclose what’s going on. Be transparent.

I’m not completely naive. I don’t expect every politician, most of whom are probably cynical about these tools, to use them personally. I’d love it if they did, but I’m ok with other people writing on their behalf. They just need to disclose that fact.

If these accounts, or the many similar ones to them, simply inserted a quick “Written on behalf of PM Harper by [name]” I’d be absolutely fine with it.

If your CEO doesn’t have time to blog, don’t offer to write it for him and pretend he did it. Either be open and have a disclaimer from him that acknowledges “I don’t write these posts, but I do read them and I stand behind them” or just have a company blog. Then again, consider whether blogging is the right forum for you.

Isn’t it obvious?

One argument that I heard last night is that no-one really believes it’s Obama on the other end of the account anyway.

On Twitter, that might be true as it’s still largely early adopters on here. They’re savvy about this kind of thing. However, I don’t think that excuses it. What’s more, if you consider ‘older’ social media platforms such as blogs, you’re not dealing with people who live and breathe this stuff – you’re dealing with people who are much more likely to take things at face value.

As I said earlier, much of this topic is personal. What do you think? Is ghost blogging unethical to you? Is ghost micro-blogging different?

Slides – The Ethics Of Social Media PR

(Image credit: George Saratlic via TwitPic)

Posted in: ethics, events, social media

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Eight Tips For Difficult Client Conversations

08.11.10

Kerri Birtch, our latest hire in the Toronto office of Thornley Fallis, wrote a post on the PR Girlz blog recently talking about the art of consulting from the perspective of a new account coordinator.

One of Kerri’s more insightful thoughts:

…it’s not nearly as easy as some might think.

Here’s why:

We work for them, but we may not always agree with everything they ask of us. I think the key is balancing their wants with what you as the consultant feel they need.

Kerri neatly summarizes one of the founding principles of our firm – we tell our clients what they need to hear, not what they want to hear.

Unfortunately, sometimes that means having difficult conversations with your clients. Here are seven tips for making those conversations as conflict-free and effective as possible.

1. Explain the implications of their approach

Organizations bring us in to offer our expertise in communications and social media. They aren’t necessarily experts in these areas. As a result, they may not realize the implications of some of the ideas they have. Chances are, they don’t really want to act ineffectively or unethically; they just don’t realize that they’ll be ineffective or unethical. Remembering this fact enables you to approach potentially awkward discussions delicately so you can avoid any embarrassment on either side.

2. Find other solutions

Try to avoid saying a straight “no” to the client if possible. If possible, come up with palatable alternatives that leave you closer to a solution than “no” would do.

3. Remember that they are the experts on their business

Your bright new idea may sound great to you, but remember that while you’ve studied-up on your clients, their expertise in their business is still an order of magnitude higher than your knowledge. They may know of factors that affect your work, about which you know nothing.

4. Don’t be afraid to disagree

Your clients may come to you with ideas that you believe simply won’t work. It’s your job to tell them that. Simply agreeing to implement ill-advised ideas does them – and you – no favours. It wastes their money and lowers your credibility, both with the client (who doesn’t see any good results) and perhaps with your media contacts (who see you pitching non-news to them).

You offer the best value for money when, rather than being a “yes man,” you offer useful, honest advice.

5. Think it through in advance

If you have the opportunity, take five or 10 minutes to think the conversation and your approach through in advance. Jot down a few notes if it helps. It’s much easier to have those tough conversations when your case is clear, organized and well presented.

6. Look to maximize the length of your relationship, not the budget

As I’ve often heard around the office, being a full-service agency it doesn’t mean we’ll suggest every service for our clients. Throwing-in a bunch of tactics that don’t fit the situation might maximize your short-term budget, but if you suggest the appropriate tactics you’re more likely to have a long-lasting relationship with a satisfied client.

7. Remember it’s their choice

This was something I learned early-on in my time in government: regardless of whether your client is a government minister or an organization, your job is to give them the best advice you possibly can, then carry out their wishes.

Sometimes clients will take your advice. However, sometimes they’ll listen, thank you and choose to approach things differently. When the latter happens, as long as it’s ethical, within your contract’s scope and budget and as long as you’ve explained the likely outcomes, you have to respect their decision and implement it to the full extent of your ability.

8. Stick to your principles

Sometimes you may be asked to do things that go against your principles. My advice is to politely but firmly stick to your principles. While doing so, respect point #1 above – they may not realize the implications of their approach.

If necessary, tell them you’ll get back to them on their ideas then talk it over with your manager, but don’t compromise on your principles.

How do you approach those difficult client conversations?

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