So, if there were a way to create a context in which those comments could reside, then that would be the best response: a preemptive one. Hard to flame someone of solid reputation.

But, I think we should also account for the human instinct. Easy on the company side to look at it and say, “these people are crazy” and in that assume that we understand the full intent of the post.

I’m now imagining some sort of “spot quarantine” that employees could perceive before posting anywhere. It should be part of the culture to say, “Before I talk about my people in public …do I really want to do that.”

Even literally, for the protection of the poster and the company, I could imagine optional use of a “think” button appearing just after hitting “Submit” The normal prompts don’t really catch the human vibe …”proceed?” “post now?” “edit post?” “next?” NO.

“Think. You really wanna say that?”
ok. that would be a huge button.

On the other end, is the very locked down, uber controlled communications trap that social media strives to spring us from.

The concept of brand personality comes from the customer view of a corporation as an entity and do not see it as the collection of dozens, hundreds, or thousands of unique individuals, all with diverse opinions and ideas about what should be done and how. The company processes are in place to keep that behind the curtain, to preserve the perception of a collective brand entity.

To me, the medium used is irrelevant. People have played “You Bet Your Job” in various forms forever – selling corporate secrets, stealing millions in equipment and parts and fencing them, etc. If you divulge company secrets or violate an NDA, you get fired. Where you do it is kind of secondary after that to me. Companies are made up of adults and adults are responsible for their actions (well they’re supposed to be anyway). Many young people are learning the hard way that pictures of you at the kegger throwing up on Facebook might cost you a job or grad school interview.

Companies will probably ammend their guidelines to include statments made in electronic media as grounds for termination. Beyond that, people are on their own.

That said, how do companies live up to the ‘straight talk/open door’ mantra that Matt mentions above? Should they offer an “amnesty” forum where you can vent rationally without fear of retribution? What do you think?

It’s also very much a generational thing. By definition, most senior executives are exactly that — senior in age. An older generation is ALWAYS seen as less progressive and closed minded.

How about setting up an internal blog, forum or wiki? It could be a place where employees get to share their thoughts about external blog posts, practice interaction, and get feedback from the top–all valuable experience before they hit “post” on that next blog comment.