Reputational Risk in the post-financial crisis era, part 4: Social media & corporate reputation
June 29th, 2009
For corporate communications specialists and reputation-minders in the post-financial crisis universe, distrust and dialogue converge most forcefully on the Internet, especially in the realm of social media. Social media comprise a loosely defined collection of blogs of all sizes and interests, and cyberspace gathering spots such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Alibaba, Craigslist, Orkut … the list is endless—and growing. Traditional media like newspapers, radio and television have seen their revenues plunge as advertisers follow their customers to the Web. more »
As social media becomes more and more integrated into all business functions, employers are faced with the increasingly complex task of utilizing these new forms of communication effectively without suffering legal consequences. To do so, many have begun implementing formal policies to protect against the risks and maximize the opportunities made available by social media. With this in mind, executives should consider the following step-by-step guide to creating effective social media policies: 
The advent of Twitter roused little curiosity in corporate communication circles until savvy consumers started taking aim at brands for bad service and poor products. As social media platforms transform into business tools and applications, business leaders are taking note and integrating strategies and platforms into company strategy plans.
In Barron’s magazine’s annual “Most Respected Companies” survey of institutional investors, the attributes that contribute to a company’s reputation have changed since the financial crisis, as demonstrated by the following statistics (% who chose each factor as most important): 
