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Bypassing the firewall of cynicism

Guest blog post by Jack Herbert. Jack is currently the lead digital media adviser for national issues management firm CPR. In 2011 he gave a presentation on the Australian digital media landscape at a summit in London, returning with the latest news on social media trends in the UK and Europe. Prior to working for CPR, Jack worked for a number of state members of Parliament, including the former parliamentary secretary for education. He has a broad understanding of government and strong skills in communication consultation, stakeholder liaison and issues management. His experience includes political campaigning - comprised of marginal seat election tactics, government relations, media relations, and event management. Jack has also starred in Broadcast PR!

Is information overload and the onslaught of cons, scams, tricks and hoaxes associated with the online world generally, and social media in particular, sapping our will to engage with even genuine issues?

The Australian Twittersphere was recently flooded with requests to identify an anonymous Melbourne teenage girl who posted a suicide note on her tumblr blog. The tweet included an image of the teen, and requested assistance in tracking her down.

Within about 24 hours, the teen had been identified. One man, who remained anonymous, saw the tweet, accepted the challenge and dug deep into the pits of his social media networks and came up with a connection. From there contact with the family was made, and the girl received the help she clearly needed.

This was obviously a great outcome. But a frightening question is how many people before the Good Samaritan immediately dismissed the message as spam or a hoax? What if our lone hero failed in his efforts and nobody else accepted the challenge?

While not common, this has happened overseas. Last November, for instance, an 18-year-old American student took her life after posting 144 Twitter updates in six hours, chronicling a history of sexual abuse and stating she had reached the final straw.

At the other end of the scale are the entirely bogus appeals for help that conversely seem to galvanise enormous numbers of people into action.

One recent Twitter post to do the rounds contained a picture of a baby with a tumour and claimed that Twitter would donate $1 for every re-tweet. Tens of thousands of believers in corporate benevolence duly did.

Unlike the more malevolent online scams, which seek to part the gullible from their credit card details, identities and bank balances, there were no direct repercussions for the tens of thousands who retweeted the message. But the culture of cynicism fostered by even seemingly harmless scams like this may be promoting poor social media behaviour, and making it increasingly difficultly for genuine cases, like pleas for help from the suicidal, to be taken seriously.

Given the frequency which we as social media users are exposed to potential scams, it is no wonder that many immediately discard any suspicious message without a moment’s hesitation and without considering that the message may be legitimate.

The threat then becomes that we turn into a population of cynics. This has far-reaching consequences, particularly when it comes to sincere calls for help, and, in the PR industry, legitimate online campaigns.

The erosion of compassion and trust displayed by many internet users is also leading to a growing public suspicion about organisations. If Twitter itself can be seen as the face of a hoax, how can any consumer or target public be certain that any messages received from any organisation are legitimate?

This is a problem all online campaigns now face. Not only do communications professionals have to ensure that our message is reaching the target public, we now have to convince the disengaged and disenchanted that our message is not spam.

It is no longer good enough to assume that because your message appeals to the target, they will accept it as truth – we must put ourselves in the role of the cynic and shift the way we present our message.

This is the role of today’s PR practitioner operating in the social media sphere and the reason many organisations have a need for PR agencies to develop concepts and campaigns that bypass the cynic’s growing firewall of immediate message dismissal.

With more than 175 million Twitter users and 800 million Facebook users, it is inevitable that scammers will continue to infiltrate the online sphere with increasingly sophisticated cons for financial and informational gain.

There are lessons for organisations and individuals who use social media. Individuals need to develop the critical thinking skills to become engaged, rather than disengaged, social media users. They need to find a way to avoid being taken advantage of without withdrawing into an impenetrable shell of indifference.

As organisations, we must build trust through positive online engagement and genuine social media campaigns. Organisations that want to engage in social media marketing need to be acutely aware of their reputation given the heightened sense of scepticism that can prevail online. An organisation seen as credible in the real world is much more likely to be taken seriously in the shark-infested waters of the internet.

Fostering greater accountability and compassion from social media users will mean less scams, a safer online environment and greater cut-through for campaigns. And perhaps more cries for help will be answered.