Now I am clearly an enthusiast of social media but there are a lot of skeptics and detractors - particularly in the enterprise social media space. Some skeptics simply don't think social networking is applicable for business or it wastes peoples' time. Others point to some legitimate examples of real harm being done in the consumer social networking world:
- The 13-year-old who committed suicide, allegedly because of comments made on MySpace
- The riot/party that was broken up by East Lansing, MI police who are claiming it was fueled by comments left on Facebook
And even the promoters of this brave new world speak often of its possibility to enable user revolutions and collective action. But what happens when mob mentality rules? Not all revolts are constructive, useful, or warranted.
In the corporate world, there are a lot more controls than on the consumer web but even things like conference attendees using social media to rebel against a speaker make some people cringe at that potential possibilities of social media going awry. And part of that fear is completely valid - no one wants to sponsor an event where the participants will create a hostile environment.
The point?!? I think all of us who see the potential in social media need to make sure we acknowledge the dark side of social technologies. To be philosophical - you cannot have positive without negative or good without bad.
Build social media war gaming scenarios. They will help think through the good - and the not so good - consequences of social media and get everyone on the same page with regards to governance, content boundaries, and disaster recovery.
What are your war game scenarios?
Link to original post