The Transparancy of Social Media

We have all been cautioned, and many of us continue to caution our kids.  Be careful what you post on your social media pages.  Those posts last forever and it could lead to some embarrassment later.

Well, it seems that a failure to post can sometimes be just as embarrassing. 

This is a cautionary tale about just how public social media can be. 

A blogger named Michael Degusta did some research on Google+.  Not sure why, but he did.  And he dug up something mildly humorous, embarrassing for some, and a good reminder for the rest of us.

 

Degusta discovered that a large number of Google's top executives did not use the product that the company has decided will be its centerpiece going forward, Google+. 

By the time of the posting, three months after the site's launch, Google's Executive Chairman did not even have an account.  It's CEO had an account but only posted seven times and only once since mid-August.  Degusta found that of the 18 top executives at Google, eleven have either not joined the site or have never made a post on the site.  Another five of the top 18 barely use it at all. 

So what?   Well, if the top people at Google can't be bothered to use the site that they are pinning so much future growth upon, why should you?  What does this say in the very social world of social media, a world that revolves around the idea that people should connect and share? 

The social media world is transparent.  It is easy to see who is doing what or, as in this case, who is not doing what.  I suspect the folks at Google are a little red-faced over all this.  I am sure they'll survive but it is certainly a distraction to the successful launch of the site and they would have been better off without it. 

The lesson here for the rest of us?  If social media is in any way a part of your livelihood, use it wisely!  Be involved, but be careful.  Anything you post, or do not post, may be used against you in the court of public opinion.

It is fun to note that Mark Zuckerberg, the top man at Google+'s main competitor, Facebook, is a registered member on Google+.  I know.  I have him in one of my circles.  He doesn't post anything but he is there and that's more than you can say for Google's own top man, Eric Schmidt.

Don't forget folks, I'm looking for a marketing job in the Tampa Bay area.  You can learn more about me by viewing my complete profile (link is on the right) or searching my name on Linkedin, or Twitter, or Google+, or Facebook.