Online Communication Strategies For Managers 9339203690, 9789339203696

Table of contents :
Title
Contents
1. Managing Our Online Identities
Google Yourself Today!
Online Indiscretions: Impact on Reputation
Different Generations: Different Notions
Crafting and Managing Your Online Identity
Tips for Managing Your Online Identity
Conclusion
2. Global Virtual Teams: Challenges and Solutions
What is a Global Virtual Team?
Challenges Faced by Global Virtual Teams
Coping with Challenges Posed by Computer- Mediated Platforms
Coping with Challenges Posed by Intercultural Differences
Virtual Team Leaders: Study Identifies Six Leadership Practices
Virtual Meetings
Virtual Presentations
Conclusion
3. Email @ Work
Communicating Emotions Accurately on Email
The Neutrality and Negativity Effect of Email Communication
Things to do while Composing and Replying to Email Messages
Things Not to do while Composing and Replying to an Email Message
Coping with Email Overload
Measures to Stop Email Overload
4. Professional Networking on LinkedIn
Networking for Professional Growth
Job Search and Professional Networking
Networking in the Twenty-First Century
LinkedIn for Professional Networking
LinkedIn’s Growth in India and Its Implications
5. Blogging Basics
Types of Bloggers
Why Blog?
Tips on Blogging
Can You Make Money from Blogging?
Conclusion
6. Microblogging: Twitter
Twitter History
Getting Started on Twitter
Companies Successful on Twitter and What We Can Learn from Them
Getting into Trouble for a Tweet
Tips for Twitter Users
7. Facebook: Friends, Fans, Likes and More
More than a Billion Users Strong
Facebook Profiles, Pages and Groups
Facebook Blunders: What not to do on the Social Networking Site
Conclusion
8. Role of Social Media in Crisis Communication
Traditional Crisis Communication Strategies
The Rise and Rise of Social Media
Social Media and Crisis Communication Management: Case Studies
Lessons in Online Crisis Communication
9. Men, Women and Online Communication
The Gender Gap in Internet Access
Men and Women in Online Spaces
Communication Patterns in Offline Spaces
Sexual Harassment: Online-Offline Intersections
Conclusion
10. Digital Ethics
What is Ethical Behavior?
Digital Deception
Linguistic Styles of Liars
Conclusion
Epilogue

Citation preview

Smeeta Mishra Mathukutty M Monippally

McGraw Hill Education (India) Private Limited NEW DELHI

New Delhi New York St Louis San Francisco Auckland Bogotá Caracas Kuala Lumpur Lisbon London Madrid Mexico City Milan Montreal San Juan Santiago Singapore Sydney Tokyo Toronto

Published by McGraw Hill Education (India) Private Limited, P-24, Green Park Extension, New Delhi 110 016 Online Communication Strategies for Managers Copyright © 2014, McGraw Hill Education (India) Private Limited No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise or stored in a database or retrieval system without the prior written permission of the publishers. The program listings (if any) may be entered, stored and executed in a computer system, but they may not be reproduced for publication. This edition can be exported from India only by the publishers, McGraw Hill Education (India) Private Limited Print Edition ISBN (13): 978-93-392-0369-6 ISBN (10): 93-392-0369-0 E-book Edition ISBN (13): 978-93-392-0370-2 ISBN (10): 93-392-0370-4 Managing Director: Kaushik Bellani Publishing Manager—Professional: Mitadru Basu Sr. Production Executive: Rita Sarkar General Manager—Sales and Business Development: S. Girish Product Manager—BGR: Priyanka Goel General Manager—Production: Rajender P. Ghansela Manager—Production: Reji Kumar Information contained in this work has been obtained by McGraw Hill Education (India), from sources believed to be reliable. However, neither McGraw Hill Education (India) nor its authors guarantee the accuracy or completeness of any information published herein, and neither McGraw Hill Education (India) nor its authors shall be responsible for any errors, omissions, or damages arising out of use of this information. This work is published with the understanding that McGraw Hill Education (India) and its authors are supplying information but are not attempting to render engineering or other professional services. If such services are required, the assistance of an appropriate professional should be sought. Typeset at Script Makers, 19, A1-B, DDA Market, Paschim Vihar, New Delhi 110063 and printed at *** Illustrations by: Siddharth Kalra Cover Design: Mukul Khattar Cover Printer: ***

To Samaira –SM Naomi and Neil –MMM

Acknowledgements We would like to thank all those individuals who participated in our research and shared their experiences in online communication with us. Siddharth Kalra patiently experimented with many ideas for the illustrations until we finally zeroed in on the most suitable ones for the themes discussed in the book. Rajesh Kannan read the manuscript several times and gave us valuable suggestions. Our anonymous reviewers also gave us helpful feedback. We would like to thank them for their invaluable contribution to this book. Mathukutty Monippally’s contribution to this book was made while he was a full time professor at IIM Ahmedabad. He is grateful to the institute for providing relevant facilities and support.

Smeeta Mishra Mathukutty M Monippally

Contents Acknowledgements Prologue

vii

xiii

1. Managing Our Online Identities Google Yourself Today! Online Indiscretions: Impact on Reputation Different Generations: Different Notions Crafting and Managing Your Online Identity Tips for Managing Your Online Identity Conclusion 2. Global Virtual Teams: Challenges and Solutions What is a Global Virtual Team? Challenges Faced by Global Virtual Teams Coping with Challenges Posed by ComputerMediated Platforms Coping with Challenges Posed by Intercultural Differences Virtual Team Leaders: Study Identifies Six Leadership Practices Virtual Meetings Virtual Presentations Conclusion 3. Email @ Work Communicating Emotions Accurately on Email The Neutrality and Negativity Effect of Email Communication Things to do while Composing and Replying to Email Messages Things Not to do while Composing and Replying to an Email Message Coping with Email Overload Measures to Stop Email Overload

3–21 3 4 6 10 13 18 23–47 23 24 32 34 37 39 41 45 49–73 51 52 57 62 66 68

x Contents

4. Professional Networking on LinkedIn Networking for Professional Growth Job Search and Professional Networking Networking in the Twenty-First Century LinkedIn for Professional Networking LinkedIn’s Growth in India and Its Implications 5. Blogging Basics Types of Bloggers Why Blog? Tips on Blogging Can You Make Money from Blogging? Conclusion 6. Microblogging: Twitter Twitter History Getting Started on Twitter Companies Successful on Twitter and What We Can Learn from Them Getting into Trouble for a Tweet Tips for Twitter Users 7. Facebook: Friends, Fans, Likes and More More than a Billion Users Strong Facebook Profiles, Pages and Groups Facebook Blunders: What not to do on the Social Networking Site Conclusion 8. Role of Social Media in Crisis Communication Traditional Crisis Communication Strategies The Rise and Rise of Social Media Social Media and Crisis Communication Management: Case Studies Lessons in Online Crisis Communication

75–101 76 78 82 82 98 103–123 105 105 110 118 119 125–149 126 129 138 143 145 151–175 151 152 166 171 177–203 178 181 183 195

Contents xi

9. Men, Women and Online Communication The Gender Gap in Internet Access Men and Women in Online Spaces Communication Patterns in Offline Spaces Sexual Harassment: Online-Offline Intersections Conclusion 10. Digital Ethics What is Ethical Behavior? Digital Deception Linguistic Styles of Liars Conclusion Epilogue

251

205–225 206 207 209 214 222 227–250 228 245 246 247

Prologue “Four more years,” tweeted Barack Obama after winning the U.S. presidential election on November 6, 2012. A picture of him hugging his wife Michelle accompanied the tweet. More than half a million of his followers re-tweeted his celebratory message taking it to even more people in their networks. Interestingly, several world leaders including the British Prime Minister David Cameron and then Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard congratulated Barack Obama on Twitter. This was extraordinary. According to Twitter’s official blog, the hours leading up to the declaration of the presidential election results on November 06, 2012, generated 31 million tweets, going up to an astounding 327,452 tweets a minute. This was a record for the social networking site that was barely seven years old at that time. This is not the way American presidents used to communicate with the public when they were elected or re-elected. They would announce their victory through the mass media, especially television. This was not the only change from tradition. Barack Obama’s initial bid for the White House in 2008 and his bid for re-election were both substantially aided by his embracing of non-traditional media, especially Facebook and Twitter. Barack Obama, 47 in 2008, was not part of the Facebook generation. But one of his key strategists was 24-year-old Chris Hughes, who co-founded Facebook (Fraser & Dutta, 2008). Obama took the young man’s advice seriously and got his key campaigners to engage millions of Americans through Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Flickr, Digg, BlackPlanet, LinkedIn, AsianAve, MiGente, YouTube, and e-mail. Barack Obama’s historic election in 2008 was the first American election fought on the Internet. In fact, Arianna Huffington, editor in chief of The Huffington Post, captured it well when she said in 2008, “Were it not for the Internet, Barack Obama would not be president. Were it not for the Internet, Barack Obama would not have been the nominee” (Miller, 2008). Her insightful comment points to a new and important role played by online communication. In the past, the big media – newspapers and television – were the channels leaders used to communicate with the masses. Emerging leaders had to court them to gain access to the public. The Internet has changed the power equation. Now anyone with an interesting idea anywhere on earth can reach out to everyone globally without the support of media moguls or a big advertising budget. In fact, big media step in once a tweet here or a Facebook update there creates an Internet sensation.

xiv Prologue

Take the case of the “Gangnam Style” music video by South Korean pop singer PSY which was released in July 2012. The video went viral on YouTube because people liked it and shared it in their networks through social media. Television and print media picked up the story and gave it wide coverage. Nobody, least of all PSY, expected such a phenomenal reception. “I didn’t even imagine ‘Gangnam Style’ would get 1 million views, let alone 1 billion views!” remarked PSY at the end of 2012 (Wood, 2012). Almost a year later, it remains the most-watched video on YouTube and is fast approaching 2 billion views. Attempting to answer what the popularity of the video says about our society, Hungarian digital culture writer Fruzsina Eördögh, points out that “Gangnam Style and its success is simply a by-product of our interconnected digital world as told through video, digital culture in the form of memes and GIFs, and last but not least, how music now spreads in the form of YouTube videos.” But it’s not just the world of musicians and politicians that thrives on social media. The corporate world does too. Corporates today use social media for engaging with customers, seeking their feedback, generating buzz when new products are launched, scouting for talent and much more. Many C-suite executives have large followings on social media. Wars between corporate giants and spats between customers and corporates are now fought on the Internet. Many companies are constantly monitoring social media sites so that they can catch any negative publicity instantaneously and respond appropriately in real time. Take the example of UK-based feminine hygiene company Bodyform’s response to a Facebook rant. On October 8, 2012, Richard Neil from Ireland wrote on his Facebook wall about his frustrations with his girlfriend’s behaviour whenever she had her period. He accused Bodyform of lying in its advertisements and making a woman’s period appear like a fun time for them. Neil wrote: ….As a child I watched your advertisements with interest as to how at this wonderful time of the month that the female gets to enjoy so many things, I felt a little jealous. I mean bike riding, rollercoasters, dancing, parachuting, why couldn’t I get to enjoy this time of joy and ‘blue water’ and wings !!....Then I got a girlfriend, was so happy and couldn’t wait for this joyous adventurous time of the month to happen .....you lied !! There was no joy, no extreme sports, no blue water spilling over wings and no rocking soundtrack oh no no no…. my lady changed from the loving, gentle, normal skin coloured lady to the little girl from the exorcist with added venom and extra 360 degree head spin. Thanks for setting me up for a fall bodyform...

The post attracted 80,000 likes in just 24 hours (Haines, 2012). Wary of negative publicity of the brand, Bodyform responded with a spoof on

Prologue xv

YouTube. Check it out. The video shows a fictional Bodyform boss sipping a glass of blue water and sarcastically apologizing to Richard Neil. She says: Hello Richard. I’m Caroline Williams, the CEO of Bodyform. We read your Facebook post with interest but also a sense of foreboding and I think it’s time we came clean. We lied to you, Richard. And, I want to say sorry. Sorry….The flagrant use of visualization such as skydiving, rollerblading and mountain biking – you forgot horse riding, Richard – are actually metaphors, they’re not real…I am sorry to be the one to tell you this but there’s no such a thing as a happy period. The reality is some people simply can’t handle the truth…. But you, Richard, have torn down that veil and exposed this myth. Thereby exposing every man to a reality we hoped they would never have to face. You did that, Richard. You. Well done. I just hope you can find it in your heart to forgive us…

The video went viral. By December 2012, it had received more than three-and-half million views on YouTube. Customers and critics loved the Bodyform response video, which brought the brand tremendous positive publicity. The Bodyform case illustrates how social media have changed the way corporates interact with customers. Everyone seems to be watching everyone else on the social media stage. The use of social media has even spread to the religious world. On December 12, 2012, Pope Benedict XVI joined Twitter and was available to answer people’s questions at #AskPontifix. A New York Times report points out that tweets from some evangelical Christian leaders “perform about 30 times as well as Twitter messages from pop culture powerhouses like Lady Gaga” (O’Leary, 2012). India is fast catching up. Spiritual leader, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, tweets @SriSrispeaks and had nearly 225,000 followers in September 2013. With the use of social media rising exponentially in all sectors, it was hardly surprising that Facebook went public on May 18, 2012. The social media company reached one billion active users on October 4, 2012. Facebook CEO and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg marked the day in the following words: “Helping a billion people connect is amazing, humbling and by far the thing that I am most proud of in my life” (Schroeder, 2012). A US-based study by Experian showed that 27% of users’ time online is spent on forums and social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram (Gaudin, 2013). The trend is no different in India. A Norton-commissioned survey conducted in February 2012 showed that an average Internet user in India spends about 9.7 hours a week on social networking sites (Press Trust of India, 2012). Indeed, online social networking is no longer a fad. It has become an integral part of our everyday lives. All these changes point to a significant empowerment of the average Internet user who can now communicate with the rest of the world from anywhere, at any time, using a host of mobile devices.

xvi Prologue

The changing times were well reflected in Time magazine’s choice of “you,” the ordinary citizen, as the “Person of the Year” in 2006. The 1923born magazine praised the average Internet user “for seizing the reins of the global media, for finding and framing the new digital democracy, for working for nothing and beating the pros at their own game” (Grossman, 2006). Time was celebrating the revolution brought about by Web 2.0 at the turn of the century. It is Web 2.0 that gave the ordinary user enormous power to reach the rest of the world, the kind of power once enjoyed exclusively by large media houses or individuals and organizations with deep pockets. Six years later, guess who won Time magazine’s 2012 poll for the most influential person? It was “Anonymous,” a hacker group that strongly opposes Internet censorship and surveillance. Of course, while the Web picked “Anonymous” as the most influential, Time magazine placed it at number 36 in the list of 100 most influential people in the world (Protalinski, 2012). Time magazine described the group in the following words: United, if at all, by a taste for shock, humor and disdain for authority, this leaderless Internet hive brain is plundering and playing in the electronic networks of an ever shifting enemies list: Arab dictatorships, the Vatican, banking and entertainment firms, the FBI and CIA, the security firm Stratfor and even San Francisco’s BART transport system (Protalinski, 2012).

Simon Maloy, research fellow at Media Matters, a research and information centre in the United States, commented that Time Magazine should probably switch from “Person of the Year” to “GIF of the Year” to stay relevant (Eördögh, 2012). The GIF, short for Graphics Interchange Format, is a bitmap image format that is used to create loops and has become very popular on the Internet due to its portability. The Oxford American Dictionaries chose “GIF” as the 2012 word of the year. In an interview, Katherine Martin, head of the US dictionaries program at Oxford, said, “The GIF has evolved from a medium for pop-cultural memes into a tool with serious applications including research and journalism, and its lexical identity is transforming to keep pace” (Erickson, 2012). Thus, the tremendous growth of the Internet has created a new digital world inhabited by technology-enabled netizens who are used to e-commerce, e-mail, video chat, and instant messaging as mere life routines. Each of these users, including organisations, has an online identity. But what many of us don’t realize is that one has to cultivate one’s online identity skilfully in today’s interconnected world. That is where Online Communication Strategies for Managers makes a contribution. This book begins with the importance of crafting well-baked online identities, especially during job search as more and more recruiters are scanning social media accounts of potential employees. In chapter 1,

Prologue xvii

“Managing Our Online Identities,” we explore various aspects of personal brand management on the Internet. Online indiscretions on the part of individuals and organizations highlight the need to be aware of the digital footprints we are leaving on the Web forever. We also discuss different notions of privacy held by people belonging to different generations and the challenges posed by the overlapping of our professional and personal lives on the Web. In such a context, the need for establishing, managing and protecting our online identity becomes paramount. Today, online impression management is a necessity rather than a choice and we need to take concrete steps in this direction. Many amongst us are probably part of a virtual team or will be part of one soon. Chapter 2, “Global Virtual Teams: Challenges and Solutions,” outlines ways in which we can address, some of the hurdles global virtual teams are facing today, such as less access to non-verbal cues, inconvenience created by team members working from different time zones, problems with languages and accents, inter-cultural differences, obstacles in creating trust in an online environment, etc. This chapter brings out the need to not just view cultures as either individualistic or collectivist but to view them as complex points on a continuum. Instead of labelling all nationals of a country as belonging to a particular cultural type, it’s important to be open to a person’s complex cultural orientations. In this chapter, we also identify leadership practices of successful virtual team leaders. A common problem that virtual team leaders face is retaining the interest of the team during virtual meetings and presentations. We list ways in which you can make virtual meetings and presentations more interesting and engaging. In chapter 3, “Email @ Work,” we focus on the most common form of online business communication – email. One of the aims of this chapter is to help you develop more awareness about what types of messages can be sent on email and when it is better to look for alternative channels. We discuss how our professional emails often reflect our emotions at work although we may not realize it. This chapter also deals with flaming, which refers to insulting behavior on the part of Internet users. It enumerates techniques which can be used to deal with angry online discussions and cyber-bullying with calm and poise. Apart from dealing with flaming and conflict, we also talk about ways in which you can draft effective email messages. Finally, we offer tips on how to avoid email overload. After discussing challenges global virtual teams are facing, and ways to draft professional email, we move to social media. The next five chapters deal with different aspects of social media usage. In chapter 4, we establish the importance of networking for professional success on LinkedIn. Titled “Professional networking via LinkedIn,” this chapter identifies best practices

xviii Prologue

in networking such as offering one’s services and knowledge generously to others rather than making the experience purely transactional in nature. We also explore the unique strengths of LinkedIn, such as, provision of virtually unlimited opportunities for enhancing professional growth and conducting focused job search. Chapter 5, “Blogging Basics,” includes views of corporate and business bloggers in India drawn from their own experiences in the Indian blogosphere. We offer concrete tips on blogging and share ways in which it can enhance an individual’s personal branding and thought leadership. This chapter also covers strategies for social media optimization so that you can increase traffic to your blog. We also introduce some of the precautions you need to take while blogging, whether you are an employee blogger or a top executive blogger. We start chapter 6, titled “Microblogging: Twitter,” with a historical overview of this popular social media site. After discussing the good and bad of Twitter usage, we offer detailed instructions on how to get started with Twitter. We also analyze cases about companies that are successful on Twitter and what we could learn from their best practices. Just like other social media, one has to be careful with what one posts on Twitter, especially when it comes to posting about one’s professional activities so that one doesn’t land in trouble. Then we focus on the elephant in the room: Facebook. In chapter 7, we discuss why Facebook should not be used merely for social networking but for professional networking as well. We delineate steps a manager can take to create and maintain an effective professional profile on Facebook. We identify and analyze the activities of companies successful on Facebook and show how those can be emulated by individual users. In this chapter titled, “Facebook: Friends, Fans, Likes and More,” we also offer a critical analysis of Facebook blunders, that is, an account of what not to do on this social media site. After discussing blogging, LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, we move on to explore the “Role of Social Media in Crisis Communication.” In this chapter, you will find an account of traditional communication strategies and how the rise of social media has changed some of these practices. You will find six case studies in crisis communication management involving social media. We analyze these cases and draw lessons from them. These cases bring out the need to start addressing the crisis before the damaging video or write-up goes viral on multiple social media platforms. This chapter also deals with issues such as who should be in charge of social media monitoring in various organizations, and who should speak when crisis hits, and through which channel.

Prologue xix

Our focus on social media does not take us away from the men and women using them. In chapter 9, we discuss gender and online business communication. We offer an account of the latest research on male and female styles of online communication and offer tips on how to improve communication between men and women. Titled “Men, Women and Online Communication,” this chapter also includes an account of gender stereotypes and how to fight them. It highlights the need to take preventive measures against workplace sexual harassment aided by the digital world. No discussion on online business communication can be complete without discussing what comprises ethical behavior on the Internet. Chapter 10, “Digital Ethics,” deals with the complications involved in defining ethics, especially business ethics. How has the advent and widespread use of social media affected the way we understand “ethical behavior”? What are the new meanings and implications business ethics acquires in the world of digital communication? We attempt to answer some of these questions in this chapter. We also discuss aspects of digital deception. We refer to some of the fierce debates on the right to privacy and anonymity on the Internet and its impact on online business communication. We conclude with a section on emerging trends in online business communication. It is difficult to predict what the next big thing will be in the digital world. As we all know, here, landscapes change incredibly fast. What we can say with certainty is that we are sure to lose out if we don’t learn to be agile and enlightened netizens. Smeeta Mishra Mathukutty M Monippally

References Albanesius, C. (2012, May 18). Facebook Goes Public at $38 Per Share. PC Magazine. Retrieved December 27, 2012, from http://www.pcmag.com/ article2/0,2817,2404587,00.asp Eördögh, F. (2012). What Gangnam Style’s 1 Billion Views Say About Modern Society. Retrieved December 27, 2012, from http://readwrite.com/2012/12/24/whatgangnam-styles-1-billion-views-say-about-modern-society Erickson, C. (2012, November 13). GIF tops YOLO as Oxford American Dictionary word of the year. Mashable.com. Retrieved December 27, 2012, from http://mashable. com/2012/11/12/gif-oxford-american-dictionary/ Fraser, M. & Dutta, S. (2008, November 7). Obama’s win means future elections must be fought online. The Guardian. Retrieved December 23, 2012, from http://www. guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/nov/07/barackobama-uselections2008

xx Prologue Gaudin, S. (2013, April 17). Americans spend 16 minutes of every hour online on social nets. Computerworld.com. Retrieved September 20, 2013, from http://www. computerworld.com/s/article/9238469/Americans_spend_16_minutes_of_every_ hour_online_on_social_nets Grossman, L. (2006, December 25). You — Yes, You — Are TIME’s Person of the Year. Time. Retrieved December 27, 2012, from http://www.time.com/time/magazine/arti cle/0,9171,1570810,00.html Haines, L. (2012, October 24). How Bodyform’s farting ‘CEO’ became a viral sensation. The Register. Retrieved December 27, 2012, from http://www.theregister. co.uk/2012/10/24/bodyform_video/ Miller, C. C. (2008). How Obama’s Internet campaign changed politics. The New York Times. Retrieved December 22, 2012, from http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/07/ how-obamas-internet-campaign-changed-politics/ O’Leary, A. (2012, June 2). Twitter dynamos, offering world of God’s love. The New York Times. Retrieved December 27, 2012, from http://www.nytimes. com/2012/06/02/technology/christian-leaders-are-powerhouses-on-twitter.html?_ r=0&pagewanted=print Press Trust of India (2012, March 28). Indians spend more time on social media than emails: Study. Economic Times. Retrieved September 20, 2013, from http://articles. economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-03-28/news/31249641_1_social-networkingtime-on-social-media-indians Protalinski, E. (2012, April 18) Time magazine readers name Anonymous ‘most influential person’. Retrieved December 24, 2012, from http://www.zdnet.com/blog/security/ time-magazine-readers-name-anonymous-most-influential-person/11603 Schroeder, S. (2012, October 4). Facebook hits one billion active users. Mashable.com. Retrieved December 27, 2012, from http://mashable.com/2012/10/04/facebook-onebillion/ Wills, A. (2012, December 23). Infographic: Biggest Social Media Moments of 2012. Mashable.com. Retrieved December 27, 2012, from http://mashable.com/2012/12/23/ social-media-2012/ Wood, M. (2012, December 22). ‘Gangnam Style’ exceeds 1 billion views on YouTube. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 22, 2012, from http://www.latimes.com/ entertainment/music/posts/la-et-ms-gangnam-style-exceeds-1-billion-views-onyoutube-20121222,0,5943874.story

“Google is no longer just a search engine. With your potential customers, future employers, and members of the media turning to Google for information about your business, Google has become a reputation engine.” - Andy Beal, Online Reputation Management Expert.

“Er…tell me something. What were you doing in a place like that last night?”

Chapter 1

Managing Our Online Identities

Google Yourself Today! Every time you post a picture on Facebook or Orkut, do you visualize a future boss judging you by those pictures? Chances are, you do not have such morbid thoughts. Instead, you are eager to “show off ” your pictures to the people on your network. But the truth is that more and more HR executives are examining your online identity as an intrinsic part of their recruitment process. They know that your résumé only gives the official version of you. To get an idea of who you really are and what you do outside of work, they check out your social networking pages. One of the reasons more firms are checking out the online profiles of candidates before making hiring decisions is the popularity of social networking sites among Internet users, which is reflected in the Alexa Traffic Rankings of the top ten most-visited websites. In September 2013, the list included Google, Facebook, YouTube, Yahoo, Baidu, Wikipedia, QQ.COM, LinkedIn, Windows Live and Twitter. If you Google “list of social networking sites,” you will find a list compiled by Wikipedia based on the number of registered users. The top three in mid-2013 included Facebook with more than a billion registered users; followed by Twitter and Google+ with 500 million registered users each. LinkedIn ranked 8th with 200 million users while Orkut ranked 13th with 100 million users. The numbers are growing each day. Where does India stand on the Internet usage and social networking map? India has about 137 million Internet users making it the third largest Internet user-base in the world (Kemp, 2012). According to ComScore, a reputable firm that measures the digital world, 86% Indian Web users visit a social networking site. While Facebook is the most popular social networking site in India, LinkedIn holds the no. 2 position followed by Twitter. Meanwhile, Tumblr and Pinterest are emerging as the fastest growing networks. Although Internet penetration in India is quite low at 11%, the market shows tremendous potential for growth with cellphones and tablets becoming the preferred choice of Internet access among many Indians.

4 Online Communication Strategies for Managers

Anybody who uses the Internet, especially social media sites, has an online identity. In fact, he or she may even have multiple identities. Are you managing your online identity appropriately? Before we delve into strategies to manage your online identity, we need to first ask ourselves what comprises it. What is your online identity? Google yourself today to find out. You may be in for a surprise. Many things including pictures that you post online and promptly forget or even delete may stay on in the digital world in some shape or another. And, others may find a way to access them even before you know it. Your online identity is the sum total of all the digital footprints you leave on the Internet. It includes your postings on any social networking site such as Facebook, Orkut, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. It also includes blog postings, wiki postings, web pages and any other file posted on any website by you or anyone else about you.

Online Indiscretions: Impact on Reputation While maintaining a professional online image is important at all times, it becomes even more critical if you are job hunting. A recent survey in the United States showed that more than 40% of companies reconsidered a candidate based on the content of their online profiles (Roncero-Menendez, 2013). While positive content such as volunteering or donating to a charity cast a positive impression about a candidate, negative content such as use of profanities, errors in spelling and grammar, photographs of alcohol consumption, posts of a sexual nature, etc., harm a person’s chances of getting a job. With so many multinationals hiring in India, one cannot dismiss these trends as limited to the West alone. Online indiscretions have the potential of not only affecting our job search process but also resulting in the loss of our prized jobs. In their book titled “Throwing Sheep in the Boardroom: How Online Social Networking will Transform Your Life, Work and World,” Matthew Fraser and Soumitra Dutta (2008) discuss how online indiscretions can cause terrible reputational damage. According to them, reputations can be damaged online in primarily two ways: self-exhibition and shaming. As young people often go to any lengths to make their online profiles stand out, they may not realize that their online bragging might hurt them later in life. Shaming, on the other hand, refers to incidents when someone consciously attempts to destroy your reputation by exposing some aspect of your life you’d rather keep hidden. More specifically, we should not underestimate the dangers posed by impromptu social media updates. Take the case of Twitter. People on Twitter

Managing Our Online Identities 5

are constantly answering a simple question: what are they doing or thinking now? The messages or “tweets” as they are called should be no more than 140 characters. With our professional and personal contacts mingling in our online networks, imagine the impact of someone posting an offhand tweet about a boring meeting at work, an irritating boss or how one can’t wait to get out of office on a particular day. Let us discuss a few cases where people actually got into serious trouble for their social networking activities. An article titled “Facebook Entry Gets Office Worker fired” on CNET News narrates how a young woman in the United Kingdom was fired for posting on her Facebook wall that she found her job boring. Kimberly Swann’s employer informed her that based on her comments on Facebook, the company was ending her employment as it was evident that she was unhappy and did not enjoy her work. She claimed that she had not even mentioned the name of her employer online but the latter had obviously checked her Facebook pages (Matyszczyk, 2009). In another case, the president of a consulting company told The New York Times that he decided not to hire a candidate after going over his profile on Facebook (Finder, 2006). The candidate had described his interests as drugs, shooting and obsessive sex. The company president decided that a person who writes such things publicly, whether it’s true or not, is likely to have a flawed sense of judgment. Such stories are becoming more and more common. Take the case of a flight attendant working for Delta Airlines in the United States, who claimed that she was fired after she posted “inappropriate photos” of herself in uniform on her blog (Negroni, 2004). The media report stated that in one photograph, Ellen Simonetti’s skirt was hiked to mid-thigh as she perched on a seat inside the aircraft. Another photograph showed her leaning over the seats with her blouse partly unbuttoned. On her blog, Simonetti had masked Delta’s identity with a pseudonym “Anonymous International Airlines.” However, that did not stop the airline from firing her. Delta Airlines did not speak on the issue claiming it was an internal matter. Christine Negroni, The New York Times correspondent who reported on the incident, pointed out that although the content of such blogs “may be intended as personal ramblings for a like-minded audience,” such postings can “come back to haunt the authors.” There are also instances of people being deliberately provoked into doing things which are then publicized through social media such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. Here’s a story reported by CBC News (2006) from Canada: A teacher in Canada went on “stress leave” after a student provoked him to yell at her and got a fellow student to record the tirade. The 13-yearold girls then posted the video on YouTube much to the embarrassment of

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the teacher. The school responded by suspending the girls temporarily and banning the use of cell phones by students in the classroom. If you type “angry teacher” on the YouTube search engine, it will come up with a list of videos of similar incidents. Many of these videos have been viewed over 100,000 times. India is no stranger to such indiscretions on the Web. On January 26, 2012, a Naval Board of Inquiry recommended action against senior officers for posting classified information on social networking sites (Press Trust of India, 2012). The Indian Navy and Armed forces have issued guidelines against posting professional information on social networking sites. Such lapses are not restricted to our professional lives only. Our personal lives have also been affected by social networking activity. For example, a young man who posted his ex-girlfriend’s contact information on Facebook portraying her as a call girl after they broke up was fined Rs. 20,000 by a Delhi court (Garg, 2011). A Coimbatore woman put social networking to a more creative use when she used Facebook to trace her husband who had abandoned her and was planning to re-marry in Saudi Arabia (Subburaj, 2011). She knew her husband was active on Facebook. So she created a Facebook profile of a suitable bride and sent him love messages. She finally managed to get his contact details and informed the police. Jeff Jarvis, faculty at City University of New York and creator of the popular blog BuzzMachine, tells us that because we are all “Google-able,” we can no longer escape our past: “… this also means that you could do one stupid thing in life, forever memorialized in Google, and you are embarrassed in perpetuity” (Jarvis, 2007). Making a related point, Andy Beal, a known online reputation management expert, refers to Google as the “reputation engine” on his blog MarketingPilgrim. He explains, “Google is no longer just a search engine. With your potential customers, future employers, and members of the media turning to Google for information about your business, Google has become a reputation engine.” To further discuss the impact of Google on people’s careers and the recruitment process in specific, let us refer to a case titled “We Googled You” by Diane Coutu published in June 2007 issue of the Harvard Business Review.

Different Generations: Different Notions Commenting on the Harvard Business Review case “We Googled You”, summarized in box 2.1, John G. Palfrey Jr., law professor at Harvard Law School, makes an extremely insightful comment. According to him, problems arise due to the generation gap between today’s youth, who are “digital

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Box 2.1: Case Summary: “We Googled You” Fred Weston, the CEO of a luxury apparel retailer in the United States faces a dilemma on whether to hire Mimi Brewster to manage their first store in Shanghai as part of a major expansion plan in China. Mimi has the right qualifications and background. She had a Stanford MBA, relevant work experience and is even conversant in Mandarin and a local dialect. Mimi is familiar with China as she has grown up there before graduating in modern Chinese history from the University of California, Berkeley. However, the company’s senior HR personnel, Virginia Flanders, raises a red flag after Googling Mimi Brewster. It was standard practice for Virginia to scan the first 11 pages of Google results for each prospective candidate. On the ninth page, she found that Mimi had been a part of protests against the World Trade Organization. She narrowed the search further and found that Mini had also participated in protests against the Chinese government during her college days. Virginia alerted Fred that Mimi could get the company into trouble in China and it would be wise not to hire her. When Fred discussed the matter with his wife, Martha, she told him that “Internet postings are like tattoos” that don’t go away. However, Fred could not forget the fact that Mimi had the perfect credentials and that companies should not hire only those people who have played it safe all their lives. The case closes with Fred’s dilemma: “Should Fred hire Mimi despite her online history?” Source: Summarized from “We Googled You,” case written by Diane Coutu and published in the June 2007 issue of Harvard Business Review.

natives”, and today’s CEOs and senior HR executives who are primarily “digital immigrants” with little digital history. The law professor suggests that things will improve when digital natives rise up the corporate ladder and become CEOs and HR executives. Susan Eisner (2005) in an article titled “Managing Generation Y” points out that at present, our workforce comprises people who belong to four different generations: the Traditionalists (born before 1945); the Baby Boomers (born 1945-64); Generation X (born 1965-1980); and Generation Y (born after 1980). Of course, there exists some difference of opinion in academic literature on the start and end dates of each generation but most agree on the descriptive characteristics of each of these generations.

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While trying to understand different views on social networking, it’s important to take inter-generational differences into account. Eisner (2005) identifies broad characteristics of each generation. While Traditionalists prefer consistency and use a top-down management style, Baby Boomers tend to seek consensus and often micro-manage others. They often lack technological skills although they are social beings. Members of Generation X, on the other hand, are individualistic and self-reliant with strong technical abilities. Generation Y, comprising the newest entrant to our workforce and the students who fill the classes at business schools today, are most technologically adept compared to previous generations. This is a generation that is perennially connected, continually uploading and downloading information from the digital world. However, research also shows that their strong technical skills are not always matched by soft skills such as proactive listening, empathetic communication and being a team player. Meanwhile, a survey on “Generation Y’s Perception and Satisfaction Levels Towards Work” showed that this generation finds managers from previous generations lacking in the following areas: “ability to use technology, present opportunities to achieve high performance, lead, think critically/creatively, and provide incentives to achieve high performance” (Eisner, 2005). Having a good understanding of such inter-generational differences will help managers tailor their management strategies according to the needs and characteristics of each generation. Today’s youth, for instance, may have different notions of privacy than their previous generations. Debates about “how much information is too much” have often occupied pages of mainstream dailies in the West. For example, a New York Times article titled “When information becomes TMI [Too much information]” reports: Through MySpace, personal blogs, YouTube and the like, this generation has seemed to view the notion of personal privacy as a quaint anachronism. Details that those of less enlightened generations might have viewed as embarrassing — who you slept with last night, how many drinks you had before getting sick in your friend’s car, the petty reason you had dropped a friend or been fired from a job — are instead signature elements of one’s personal brand. To reveal, it has seemed, is to be (St. John, 2006).

Fraser and Dutta (2008) remind us that such revelations on the Internet have created norms that do not allow for a meaningful distinction between the private and the public: “The explosion of blogs, wikis and social media means that, at any instant, our personal privacy and reputational integrity can be exposed to unwelcome scrutiny. There is no place to hide” (p. 80). The issue has become so pressing for many that traditional media have often highlighted people’s concerns. For instance, National Public Radio (NPR), which serves as a national syndicator to a network of public radio

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stations in the United States, featured a discussion on “Protecting Your Privacy on Social Networking Sites” on its “Talk to the Nation” program in May 2010. The host of the program, Ira Faltow, raised some pertinent questions: Do we create social norms or do social networking sites such as Facebook create social norms? Do we ever wonder whether the information we post on social networking sites unintentionally slips into the public domain of the Web? One of the suggestions offered to the listeners of the program is to understand that the information we post on social networking sites might someday become publicly available on the Internet even though it might be “private” today. Another panelist pointed out that most users of social networking sites rarely read the terms of service or privacy policies. Michael Zimmer, an assistant professor in Information Studies at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, explained: When you ask users what they think a privacy policy means, most of them think it means that’s how the website is protecting their privacy, when in reality, those policies are almost exclusively talking about the ways that they don’t protect privacy, how they are going to use people’s data and collect their data (National Public Radio, 2010).

The panelists also advised listeners to at least set the privacy settings of their social networking accounts in a way that only trusted circles can see specific content. It would also help to request our friends and professional contacts to exercise caution when they post information about us online.

Watch the Impressions You Leave Online You will create a more effective online identity if you know what impressions you are leaving behind. Sam Gosling, a psychology professor at the University of Texas at Austin (UT) who does personality research, tells us how people form impressions about us in his book titled “Snoop: What Your Stuff Says About You.” Although he is primarily referring to physical environments, his tips can be applied to online platforms such as webpages and Facebook profiles. Gosling identifies three broad mechanisms by which people leave their personality and behavioral footprints: identity claims, feeling regulators and behavioral residue. Identity claims refer to texts or objects which make symbolic statements about our personality. They may be self-directed or other-directed. For instance, you may join a Facebook group of artists because you appreciate art or because you want people to perceive you as someone

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who is interested in the arts. Gosling explains that self-directed identity claims “reinforce how we see ourselves” while other-directed identity claims show how we want to be regarded by other people. The second element, feeling regulators, comprise text or objects that help us manage our thoughts and emotions. For instance, you might post your graduation picture on your Facebook profile because it makes you feel good and gives you a sense of achievement. Finally, behavioral residue refers to “traces left in the environment due to everyday actions” (p. 25). For example, behavioral residue may comprise the comments you post on your friend’s picture. It could also refer to your status updates, the time you log in, etc. As evident, the three elements are not mutually exclusive. They may overlap or work together to form impressions of our personalities. The UT professor points out that online environments are perhaps the “best of all places” to learn about people as there is a wide variety of information available about the person. Although an individual may be able to exercise a lot of control on what he posts on his Facebook profile, he will have less control on messages others post on his profile and the photos others flag. Gosling argues that although it is easy to give out a false impression online, it will be “difficult to emit those clues consistently enough to project a false identity” (p. 132). So if you are not an avid golf player, but you want to project a false impression to your boss, remember you won’t be able to fool everyone all the time. Source: Gosling, Sam (2009). Snoop: What Your Stuff Says About You. London: Profile Books.

Now, here’s an exercise for you. Visit your social networking profile and identify your identity claims, feeling regulators and behavioral residue. Then write a paragraph on what impressions you are likely to form on two different sets of audiences, your colleagues and your close friends, respectively.

Crafting and Managing Your Online Identity The purpose of discussing the impact of online indiscretions and intergenerational differences in the use of online technology is not to deter you from building your online identity. Instead, our goal is to support you in crafting and managing your online identity well. If you don’t take on the task of building your own online identity, you will be letting search engines like Google patch together a public profile for you. The worst part is you will have no control over what Google highlights about you and what it renders

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invisible. Ideally, you would want the world to know about your professional achievements and the crowning moments of your life. You don’t want that one moment when you let your guard down and embarrassed yourself to determine who you are as a person, as an employee or a business owner. However before we go into the ways in which you can establish and manage your online identity, let’s get acquainted with the views of a renowned sociologist on self-presentation.

Self Presentation: Advice from the Master We cannot talk about self-presentation, online or offline, and not refer to renowned sociologist Erving Goffman. In his classic book, “The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life,” Goffman argues that an individual’s expressiveness can be divided into two kinds of activity: “the expression that he gives and the expression that he gives off ” (p. 2). For instance, while making a business presentation, the way you present it – including your gestures, tone, clothing, and facial expression – may “give off” more clues about you and the content than the actual presentation itself. Your audience will be forming impressions about you from both the expressions you “give” explicitly and those you “give off ” implicitly. Many self-presentation studies in offline and online contexts use Goffman’s works as their theoretical framework. For instance, three researchers from Temple University in the United States investigated identity construction on Facebook and found that users claimed their identities implicitly rather than explicitly (Zhao, Grasmuck & Martin, 2008). These Facebook users asserted their identities not so much by making verbal declarations but by using indirect ways such as posting specific photographs on their profiles, “liking” specific content, displaying certain hobbies, becoming members of particular groups, and supporting specific causes. Of course, we all know that this online trend has been a part of our offline lives for long. In the digital world too, we need to take social norms into account while crafting our online identities. However, the rules change when we are in a completely anonymous environment where we may be free to take up any identity we like. But remember, social media platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Orkut are not anonymous environments as our online identities in these settings are anchored to our offline identities. Our colleagues, family members and friends may form a part of our network lists. Thus, in such an environment, we are not completely free to don any identity we like. Instead, we want to portray ourselves as socially desirable. We want to fit in. The need for social acceptance is not pressing for adults alone. Andra Siibak, a researcher in Estonia, who studied visual impression management

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among 11 to 18-year-olds, found that the children and youth in her sample took the “expectations of the reference group at hand” while selecting photographs for their online profiles. Thus, being aware of the expectations and norms of our “important others” whether they are colleagues, friends or family is a critical aspect of creating a favorable impression. Goffman believed that in our everyday lives we are like characters performing various roles on stage. The stage has a “front region” where the performance is given, and a “back region” where the performer may retire and be his relaxed self. Your Facebook profile may also be divided into front and back regions. While the messages posted on your wall may be the front region, the personal messages in your inbox may comprise the back region. The master sociologist also pointed out that when an individual has to “give off ” different impressions to different sets of audiences, it’s important he segregates them. While privacy settings enable a certain degree of audience segregation on social media sites, we all know that it is very difficult to keep our audiences completely separate. Sam Gosling, the American psychologist, shares the story of a freelance television producer Colleen Klutz, whose friend posted a picture of her on her MySpace profile. The picture showed her with halfclosed eyes. The caption indicated that she had consumed something illegal. Although the photo was a joke between two friends, Klutz soon realized that she was losing job offers from prospective employers who must have Googled her. She got the picture removed. “Her professional and personal worlds had collided,” remarks Gosling.

What is Your Personal Brand? One good way to answer this question is to list the qualities people generally associate with you. Are you known as someone who is trustworthy, responsible and hardworking or someone who is lazy, reckless and sloppy? Are you viewed as a team player or someone who only looks after his or her own interests only? Are you perceived as charming, charismatic and cheerful or someone who is often low on energy and enthusiasm? Answering all these questions will help you identify your brand. Of course, some believe usage of the word “brand” reduces people to commodities. If you also have a dislike for that word, why not substitute it with the word “reputation.” Most of us put in a lot of effort to create a good reputation and try our best to safeguard it all our lives. What is new today is that we have to protect not just our offline reputation, but our online one as well. Before you take steps to develop your personal brand on the Internet, you must remember that it is not disconnected from your offline personal brand. If your offline brand suffers from shortcomings, it will be difficult for you to

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create an effective brand online. There are people who imagine that they can use social media to quickly create a strong personal brand. Nothing could be further from the truth. It takes time to create and sustain a brand. In fact, a person has to maintain his brand image in all his professional interactions at all times. Consistency is vital to brand building. One must also realize that personal branding does not mean hiding our real selves and merely becoming someone people would like us to be. Hypocrisy can never help because it would be difficult to sustain a false image for a long time, especially on the Internet where transparency is the key. However, it does mean that we need to take a good look at our online profiles and find out if they truly reflect our skill sets and professional values. It also requires us to pause before we post something on the Internet that we might later regret. According to Clare Munn, the CEO and Founder of a social impact media company, personal brand management “requires us to be more thoughtful, more strategic and above all more willing to be transparent. Not about private topics, but certainly about areas we are wanting to be recognized for.” In the following section, we offer strategies you can adopt to manage your personal brand on the Internet.

Tips for Managing Your Online Identity 1. Google Yourself Regularly Google yourself as a matter of routine. You could do it once a week or once a month depending on the area of your work and the position you hold. Identify content you don’t want others to see. Remove it or change the privacy settings so that not everybody can see it. Go over your online albums and remove the pictures that an HR executive would find objectionable. Being pro-active about removing objectionable content does help as evident in the following example. Tien Nguyen, a student at the University of California was rarely invited for interviews although he signed up with many corporate recruiters who were interviewing on campus (Finder, 2006). On a friend’s suggestion, he Googled himself and found that one of the links that came up was an essay he wrote titled, “Lying your way to the top” on a website for college students. He got the essay removed and soon started to get interview calls.

2. Set Up a Google Alerts Query on “Your Name” You can monitor the Web by setting up a Google Alerts query on “your name.” This will enable you to get email updates whenever your name or any other query you set is published on the Internet. You can customize the results based on your need.

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3. Purchase Your Own Domain Name By purchasing your own domain name, you can control the information people see about you when they search for you. Your website www.yourname. com is likely to come up first in a Google search. It can also be the one-stop place where you post all your professional and career related documents. When you have a personal domain name, you don’t have to depend solely on your employer’s web page to introduce your professional life to the world. Your personal domain name can direct people wherever you like: to your blog, your personal portal, your LinkedIn or Twitter account. Having established the significance of purchasing your domain name, we must add that it’s best not to wait too much for buying it. Unless you have an unusual name, it’s likely that there are many other people with your name. So, before someone else gets your coveted domain name, just pick a domain name registrar and buy it. Don’t forget to compare the features a domain name registrar offers and its pricing with others before finally selecting one. You will also need to decide your domain name suffix such as .com, .org, .edu, .in, .net, .info, .biz, etc., depending on your identity and goals.

4. If You Have Too Many Social Media Accounts, Close A Few It would be impossible for you to maintain too many accounts. Choose a network according to your personality and need. For instance, if you do not have interesting things to say frequently, Twitter may not be the network for you. If your primary goal is to have a strong professional circle, LinkedIn may be better than Facebook. But then you could also use Facebook for professional networking if most of your professional contacts happen to use that platform.

5. Go Over Your “Friends” Lists Regularly on Social Media Accounts Some people acquire hundreds and thousands of friends on their Facebook and Orkut accounts. Often, they barely know many of them. The number game is used to show one’s popularity instead. But are you sure that you can trust all of them with your personal postings? Go over your friends list on your online profile and remove those you don’t think should be there. After the cleaning operation, do not add people to your friends circle unless you are sure those are the kinds of people you want to be associated with. Also, ensure that your mentors are a part of your online network so that they help you make the right choices in your career trajectory.

6. Recognize the Value of “Weak Ties” Recall the number of times you called up someone you had almost lost touch with to find out about a vacancy, a sales lead or to make a referral.

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Research shows that weak online friendships can serve an important function in our professional lives. For instance, three researchers at Michigan State University got together to explore the benefits of Facebook “friends” and identified three types of “social capital:” (a) “Bridging Social Capital” refers to large networks based on weak social ties from which one can draw upon resources from time to time such as information about a vacancy during a job search. (b) “Bonding Social Capital” refers to strong relationships with family and friends who can provide emotional support (c) “Maintained Social Capital” refers to maintenance of existing social capital after one moves from one place to another. For example, students moving from high school to college in a new place. On surveying 286 college students, the researchers found that while Facebook use was positively associated with all three forms of social capital, the strongest relationship existed between Facebook use and “Bridging Social Capital” or weak social ties (Ellison, Steinfield & Lampe, 2007). It is these weak social ties that serve as an invaluable resource especially during job searches and career transitions.

7. Have Positive and Professionally Relevant Content on Your Social Media Accounts Your professional online profile should be crafted in a way that it reflects the skills set important in your field. Use relevant keywords that will aid search engine optimization. Provide links. Let your profile reflect your energy and dynamism as a professional. Avoid posting extreme opinions on the Internet. It’s important to have a consistent brand image across various social media sites. Compare your various online profiles and check if they give out broadly the same impressions about you. Ensure that your Facebook and LinkedIn profile do not appear as though they belong to two different people. Your profile photo must look professional. Let your personality shine in the photographs you post online without compromising on professionalism. So, instead of posting pictures of wild parties, post pictures that enhance your professional profile on social networking sites. For instance, you could post pictures of you receiving an award, making a presentation, volunteering for a cause, chairing an event, etc. You could also post photographs of your hobbies and interests. Wherever applicable, you can also provide links to your blog or website that buttress your professional image.

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8. Reveal Just Enough Personal Information Online, Not More How much personal information you decide to reveal on the Internet depends to a great extent on the nature of your job profile, your career goals, your comfort level and your life circumstances (Beal & Strauss, 2008). As a general guideline, we believe sharing some personal information is a good strategy. It makes you appear more real. For example, you could share your hobbies and interests online. You may even have an unusual hobby that could highlight an interesting aspect of your personality. If you are a part of the top management, such information may even be picked up by others and highlighted. For instance, the Wikipedia entry on Anand Mahindra not only informs us that he is the Vice Chairman and Managing Director of one of India’s largest enterprises, Mahindra & Mahindra, but also that he loves listening to the Blues, has taken up sailing as a hobby and regularly uses Twitter. Sharing some personal information in your online profile can also help you make connections more easily. When you share multiple aspects of your personality online, you increase the chances of meeting people with similar interests who can help you get better at both work and play. At the same time, you must also remember that revealing too much can damage your career prospects and future goals.

9. Increase the Online Visibility of Your Personal Brand Blogging will increase your online visibility and help establish you as a thought leader and expert. Also, comment on other people’s blog posts. Write guest posts for an established blog with a large network. Do online reviews for important books in your field. Join online groups that have interests similar to yours. If you’re interested in a particular industry, look for a community that brings together people from that specific field. For example, academia.edu is a good online community for academics. Other such niche communities include Talentopoly.com for IT/Computer professionals, HR.com for human resources personnel, Care2.com for environmentalists, etc. Once you join a professional group, don’t remain a passive member. Participate. Post on their walls. Offer solutions to problems. Ask questions. Become an active member of that group. Always keep your audience in mind while posting anything online.

10. Pick the Best Time to Post on Social Media If you are an employee and your job responsibilities have nothing to do with social media, it’s best to post after business hours. If you post during work hours you may be sending the wrong message to your employer. With our

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professional and personal lives merging, you have no control over who is reading your posts and what they might infer from them. In such a scenario, it’s best to err on the side of caution. Of course, if you are self-employed or own a business, this guideline does not apply to you. You should post at times when your target audience is likely to be online. The best time to post will also depend on the social media platform you are using.

11. Anchor Your Online Networking on Reciprocity, Not Blatant Self-Promotion Online networking, like offline networking, is based on reciprocity and sharing. Don’t oversell your message. Instead, you should have something to offer to the person you are interacting with online. It could be industry insights or just a link to a useful resource. Something as basic as a “RT” on Twitter, a “like” on Facebook, or an “endorsement” on LinkedIn can help you start a conversation. Once you’ve made a contact, show your interest in establishing a mutually beneficial professional relationship. Nurture it over time. Become a valuable resource for your professional contacts and they will return the favor in time. If you are looking for a job, it’s good to approach people through a referral. LinkedIn makes it easy to ask for referrals. But don’t be demanding and pushy when you approach someone.

12. Control Your Privacy Settings With the government and corporates watching every move you make online, privacy might seem like an illusion. However, don’t dismiss the cherished value of individual privacy as impossible in today’s networked world. Instead, we should take as many precautions as possible to safeguard our online identities. One of the most important ways to do so is to control the privacy settings of our online accounts. A lot of people use default settings on their social media accounts and do not bother to protect the content they post. For instance, a recent study showed that 13 million Facebook users have never touched their privacy settings (Al-Greene, 2013). If you happen to be one of these people, explore the privacy settings option today. Set your privacy controls on all social media accounts according to your needs and the nature of content you post online. Better still just accept the reality that nothing you post on the Internet is ever completely private. So, don’t post anything online that you would not want the whole world to see. Secure your online accounts with two-step verification login processes. Be careful while using apps that compromise your personal information. While it’s difficult to keep our lives private in today’s world as anyone can Google us and find out more about us, Jarvis (2007) believes that what will protect us in the future is “mutually assured humiliation.” As everyone will

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have something they don’t want others to know on Google, all of us will forgive each other’s indiscretions. Until such a thing happens, it would be wise to be vigilant about our moves on the World Wild Web.

Conclusion Office environments all over the world and in India are rapidly changing. With more people accessing the Internet using mobile devices and tablets, they no longer have to depend on the office computer or Internet connection to stay connected. It is easy to make status updates on social networking sites from work. In fact, many of us even have our bosses and supervisors on our “friends” list on Facebook or our follower list on Twitter. The boundaries between our professional and personal lives are indeed blurring, and how much we let the two mingle has become more a matter of personal choice rather than a subject governed by company norms. In such a scenario, we need to be proactive about establishing a desirable online identity so that our professional image does not take a beating due to our lethargy or irresponsible behavior on the Internet. Thus, one of the primary aims of this chapter was to motivate you to build and manage your own online identity without allowing search engines to randomly put together bits and pieces of information about you on the Internet that might harm your professional image. We offered a host of strategies to help you in this endeavor. Some of these strategies include purchasing your personal domain name, monitoring online content about yourself regularly, posting professional content on social media accounts, revealing just enough personal information to make you appear real, recognizing the value of “weak ties,” following the principles of reciprocity in online networking rather than blatantly promoting your own agenda, increasing the visibility of your personal brand online and securing the information you post on the Internet. All these steps will take time to implement and even longer to show results. After all, creating and maintaining a personal brand online or offline is a laborious process. But the most important step is the first one you take in that direction.

References Alexa Traffic Rankings.(2012, January). Top Sites: The top 500 sites on the web. Retrieved February 2, 2012, from http://www.alexa.com/topsites. Al-Greene, B (2013). 13 million Facebook users haven’t touched their privacy settings. Mashable.com http://mashable.com/2013/04/30/facebook-graph-searchprivacy-infographic/ Beal, A. (2007, October). Google Reputation Management: Fix Your Google Reputation & Remove Negative Results. Marketing Pilgrim.Retrieved December

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15, 2011, from http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2007/10/google-reputationmanagement.html. Beal, A. & Strauss, J. (2008). Radically Transparent: Monitoring and Managing Reputations Online. Indianapolis: Wiley Publishing. CBC News (2006, November 24). Quebec school bans cellphones after YouTube video Teacher on stress leave, two students suspended. Retrieved November 28, 2012, from http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2006/11/24/you-tube.html ComScore (2013). India: Digital future in focus 2013: Key insights and digital trends shaping the Indian online space. Retrieved September 18, 2013, from http://www. slideshare.net/drneelesh/key-insights-and-digital-trends-shaping-the-indianonline-space Coutu, D. (2007, June). We Googled You. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved January 15, 2011, from http://hbr.org/2007/06/we-googled-you/ar/1 Ellison, N. B., Steinfield, C. & Lampe, C. (2007). The Benefits of Facebook “Friends:” Social Capital and College Students’ Use of Online Social Network Sites. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 12(4), article 1. Retrieved January 15, 2011, from http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol12/issue4/ellison.html Eisner, S. P. (2005, Autumn). Managing Generation Y. SAM Advanced Management Journal.70(4).Retrieved December 10, 2011, from http://www.freepatentsonline. com/article/SAM-Advanced-Management-Journal/140749015.html. Finder, A. (2006, June 11). For some, online persona undermines a resume. The New York Times. Retrieved February 1, 2012, from http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/11/ us/11recruit.html?pagewanted=all Fraser, M. & Dutta, S. (2008). Throwing Sheep in the Boardroom: How Online Social Networking Will Transform Your Life, Work and World. West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons. Garg, A. (2011, August 31). Youth fined for sharing Ex’s number on social network. The Times of India.Retrieved December 15, 2011, from http://timesofindia. indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Youth-fined-for-sharing-Exs-number-on-socialnetwork/articleshow/9802576.cms. Goffman, E. (1959). The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. New York: Anchor Books. Gosling, S. (2009). Snoop: What Your Stuff Says About You. Profile Books. London: Profile Books. Jarvis, J. (2007, December 3). Friendship on the web will thrive and make a fortune. The Guardian. Retrieved December 18, 2011, from guardian.co.uk/media/2007/ dec/03/mondaymediasection.facebook Kemp, S. (2012). Social, digital and mobile in India. Retrieved September 18, 2013, from http://wearesocial.net/blog/2012/11/social-digital-mobile-india-2/ Kornblum, J. & Marklein, M. B. (2006, March 8). What you say online could haunt you. USA Today. Retrieved January 10, 2012, from, http://www.usatoday.com/ tech/news/internetprivacy/2006-03-08-facebook-myspace_x.htm Matyszczyk, C. (2009, February 26). Facebook entry gets office worker fired. Retrieved December 1, 2011, fromhttp://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-10172931-71.html).

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Munn, C. (2012, September 14). Guide to personal brand management. The Huffington Post. Retrieved September 19, 2013, from http://www.huffingtonpost. com/clare-munn/personal-brand-management_b_1880758.html National Public Radio (2010, May 21). Protecting Your Privacy On Social Networking Sites. Retrieved February 1, 2011, from http://www.npr.org/templates/story/ story.php?storyId=127037413. Negroni, C. (2004, November 16). Fired Flight Attendant Finds Blogs Can Backfire. The New York Times .Retrieved December 20, 2011, from http://www.nytimes. com/2004/11/16/business/16pose.html. Press Trust of India (2012, January 28). Four Navy officers in dock over social websites indiscretion. The Times of India, Retrieved February 2, 2012, from http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/4-Navy-officers-in-dock-over-socialwebsites-indiscretion/articleshow/11641558.cms. Roncero-Menendez, S. (2013, September 17). The online activity that’s keeping you unemployed.Mashable.com. Retrieved September 19, 2013, from http://mashable.com/2013/09/16/online-activity-unemployment/?utm_cid=mashcom-fb-main-link Siibak, A. (2009). Constructing the self through the photo selection – Visual impression management on social networking websites.Cyberpsychology: Journal of PsychologicalResearch on Cyberspace, 3(1). Retrieved December 15, 2011, from http://www.cyberpsychology.eu/view.php?cisloclanku=2009061501 St. John, W. (2006, September 10). When information becomes T.M.I. The New York Times. Retrieved February 3, 2012, from http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/10/ fashion/10FACE.html Subburaj, A. (2011, May 27). Coimbatore woman traces absconding hubby on social networking site. The Times of India, Retrieved February 3, 2012, from http:// timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/coimbatore/Coimbatore-woman-tracesabsconding-hubby-on-social-networking-site/articleshow/8595669.cms. Zhao, S., Grasmuck, S. & Martin, J. (2008). Identity construction on Facebook: Digital employment in anchored relationships. Computers in Human Behavior, 24, 1816-1836.

Focus less on technology and more on connecting with your team members or your audience.

“Just why does he sound so cheerful at this hour?”

Chapter 2

Global Virtual Teams: Challenges and Solutions Even if you are a skilled driver and have a responsive car at your disposal, it is difficult to drive when the road is bad, visibility poor, and traffic chaotic. In spite of that, you are better off taking your friend in your car than on the pillion of your bicycle if you both need to reach your destination in good shape. You can generally go faster and more comfortably in a car. Now imagine that you are allowed to use only one leg to work the three floor pedals: clutch, brake, and accelerator. Driving your car on a bad road with chaotic traffic now becomes even more daunting. This gives you some idea of leading or being part of a virtual team: you have to do many things without some of the resources you take for granted. If it is a global virtual team that you are part of, the challenge is even harder. We know that leading or being part of a team is challenging even when all the members are in the same place and can meet face-to-face every day. Different members have different perspectives, different personal objectives, and different levels of talent and motivation. Still we work in teams because in most fields we can achieve a lot more when we work in teams than when we work on our own. While the differences among members can and do cause problems of managing talent and time, the diversity is also a source of great strength if the differences are handled well. What makes leading a virtual team extremely challenging is the difficulty in managing those differences when you are denied the tremendous advantages of co-location and face-toface communication. When the virtual team is global, there are additional hurdles created by differences in culture, time zone, and accessibility.

What is a Global Virtual Team? A team consists of people who depend on one another to achieve a common goal. We can divide teams into two broad sets: co-located and virtual. However, it’s not the use of technology alone that makes a team virtual as almost all teams use technology to some degree (Berry, 2011). What makes a team virtual is the degree of reliance on technology which increases when

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team members are located in different places. In such a case, face-to-face communication becomes near-impossible and the only practical choice team members have is to communicate on computer-mediated and other technology-aided platforms. Virtual communication is complex and multi-faceted. For instance, a virtual team that wants to interact at the same time although its members are located in different places may use teleconference, video conference, or instant messaging while a team that wants or is compelled to interact at different times could exchange emails. Yet another team could use a dedicated chat room to interact. Further, virtual teams may be located within the same country or in different countries. If they are located in the same country, intercultural differences may not pose any serious problems. However, if they are located across time zones, significant cultural issues are likely to come up. This chapter focuses on improving communication for such global virtual teams.

Challenges Faced by Global Virtual Teams More and more organizations are forming global virtual teams because they are interested in the best talent available globally and are convinced about the value of diversity. The growth in the number of virtual teams of all descriptions has been made faster by advances in technology that gives team members in far-flung areas many options to communicate with one another. While the benefits are significant, leaders and members of global virtual teams face many serious challenges. We shall discuss the more significant ones.

Less Access to Non-Verbal Cues and Unofficial Information Non-verbal cues are often not available to members of virtual teams unless they are video conferencing. Even then, the quality of the video might be poor making it difficult to catch a team member’s facial expressions such as a raised eyebrow or a twitch. Text-based online communication among virtual team members also prevents them from getting access to other para-verbal and non-verbal cues such as tone, gestures and other contextual cues which may lead to misinterpretation of a member’s intention or goal. However, there is an ongoing debate on whether the lack of nonverbal cues in textbased computer-mediated communication is actually a hindrance to task completion. Some believe the absence of non-verbal and other social and political cues keeps the team task focused, which is viewed by some as a “beneficial difference” (Berry, 2011).

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However, lack of physical presence can be a big deterrent at times. A pat on the back, a nod of approval at a meeting, a look into a co-worker’s eyes while convincing or persuading that person to do a certain task, are things face-toface teams often take for granted. Such everyday non-verbal communication among co-workers is a luxury for virtual team members. In many instances, team members are nothing more than a name and a voice attached to a piece of work. Of course, those with deep pockets can get access to non-verbal cues during a meeting if they are sitting in an “immersive suite” launched by Cisco. Fortune 500 companies such as Bank of America, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, and Royal Dutch Shell have already installed such suites (Bennett, 2012). These suites enable you to actually see a small twitch in the corner of a person’s lips while he is sitting in a different part of the globe without any transmission lag. You can also hear his voice clearly and catch minute changes in his tone. But such suites are expensive and you need several of them placed at various offices located across the globe. Apart from limited access to non-verbal cues, virtual teams may also find it difficult to get immediate feedback on an issue when they use email to communicate. Many hours may be spent worrying how a supervisor received a slightly controversial email or how a colleague reacted to a particular remark made online. Additionally, there is little scope for water cooler or hallway chats. Thus, it is difficult for virtual teams to get unofficial or offthe-record information. Moreover, some of the most bothersome issues at work are often resolved over a cup of coffee. Virtual teams do not have this option.

Discomfort with Technology Technology is a great enabler. But as French novelist Antoine de SaintExupery says, “The machine does not isolate man from the great problems of nature but plunges him more deeply into them.” Thus advanced technology, which is supposed to make communication faster and better, can stand in the way of effective communication. Some members might be less comfortable using specific technology than others. Their contributions to online discussions may be negligible not because they don’t have ideas but because they are not comfortable using the technology adopted by the rest of the team. Being recorded during a video conference may make them self-conscious. In a chat they may lose out because they cannot key in their response fast enough to retain the attention of the other members.

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Differences in Technological Resources at Various Sites While technology enables a virtual team to work round the clock from different locations, there will also be times when the network is down or there are other associated problems including power shutdowns in emerging countries. The lack of availability of ongoing technical support may also pose problems. There might also be major differences in the nature of technological resources available at the head office and at remote locations. As a result, the members operating from remote locations may feel like second-class citizens; this may impact the quality of their contribution.

Inconvenience Created by Different Time Zones Working across time zones does not help either. A New Delhi-based 27-yearold analyst who works for a finance firm in the United States often got calls from his supervisors around 1 a.m. He put up with them although he hated being woken up at night. His wife also hated these calls as they woke her up too and the couple often ended up fighting because of them. Finally, the young man had to put his hesitation aside and request his U.S.-based team members to call before 10 p.m. and they agreed to the condition. Another 29-year-old finance professional, whose job requires co-ordination among three sets of teams based in the United States, India and Australia, says his projects often get delayed as team members work in different time zones. “Different time-zones made communication difficult and much of the work needed a lot of to-and-fro exchange of data,” he says. “We initially tried to set up telephonic conferences which ended up at really odd hours. The way around it came in the form of emails which detailed all the work done on a day with instructions and next steps. The company’s internal chat client was also very helpful in resolving small issues at overlapping work hours.” The practical problems associated with team members operating from different time zones are made worse by different holiday patterns. While most countries have Sunday as the weekly holiday, Arab countries have opted for Friday and Israel for Saturday. National public holidays including bank holidays vary widely among countries. If team leaders fix up meetings without checking for these factors, some team members may not be able to participate or, if forced to participate on a day they ought to be free, may not contribute anything significant.

Problems with Languages and Accents Many global virtual teams are forced to use English as the medium of communication. Some members may have native or native-like proficiency, while others may struggle with English as a foreign language. They may

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not be able to contribute to a discussion meaningfully. Even if all members speak the language fluently, their vocabulary and accents may be different and difficult for others to understand. The difficulty in understanding others’ speech grows manifold when supporting non-verbal clues such as gestures, facial expressions, and lip movements are missing as in a conference call when one has to depend exclusively on disembodied voices. The result may be a lack of understanding or, worse still, misunderstanding. Finding it hard to understand others accents, some teams may prefer e-mail, which frees both the writer and the reader from having to act instantly. However, even email is not free from language problems. A word that is readily understood in one country may not make sense in another. Or a word may mean different things in different countries. It is said that during the Second World War some confusion was created among the leaders of the Allied forces by the word ‘table.’ In British English you table an item at a meeting when you want it discussed; in American English, if you table an item, you remove it from the agenda or delay it. A writer may not be aware of the different meanings certain words may have in other countries. Even if the words are chosen correctly, the style adopted can cause problems. A 28-year-old consultant says that misunderstandings often arise because people have different writing styles. “We [Indians] talk and write in a different manner than Westerners,” he says. He probably refers to the tendency many Indians have of not coming to the point quickly. They tend to present the background before coming to the point they want to make while many in the West prefer to make their point first and then present supporting evidence. While people from some countries write in a formal manner, others may prefer a conversational tone. Such differences in style may not impair understanding, but they can cause offence. If, for example, the writer uses an informal style when you expect a formal style and vice versa, you may understand the meaning but not welcome the way the message has been presented to you. A young man who works in the non-profit management sector reports that he often faces problems when he communicates online with people who are not well-versed in English. Apart from using simple words, sometimes he repeats information over the phone after sending out an email. What this young man may not realize is that his team members at the other end might find his repetitiveness offensive. In another case, a 26-year-old management consultant says he faces many language problems while communicating over email with his colleagues in Japan. He is trying to resolve the problem by communicating more content in a graphical way than merely focusing on

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text. It would be interesting to find out what his Japanese colleagues think of his attempt. Furthermore, certain words that a person uses in online communication may be offensive to their team members. As non-verbal cues are absent, it may be impossible for people to discover it. For instance, a 37-year-old man who heads strategy at an industrial product company says that he could never come to terms with people using the word “dude” online. “I find it belittling,” he says. “Most of the people in their mid-20s find it very cool though.” However, few people would actually send out an email specifying that they don’t like the use of this word.

Problems with Understanding Diverse Cultural Backgrounds A young management consultant says that he often adds, “just joking,” after cracking a joke to people from other cultures so that nobody misunderstands him. Humor is largely shaped by culture and he is afraid of offending people unintentionally. Some virtual workers add disclaimers after sentences because they are worried their point of view might be misinterpreted. This particular consultant, an Indian, adds statements such as “this is the Indian way” after making a remark that he feels has scope for misinterpretation. A 25-year-old man who recently graduated from a well-known management school in western India emailed his French friend that he now works with a firm in New Delhi and lives with his parents. The young man had met her as part of an exchange program at his alma mater and kept in touch with her. She was shocked by the news. She couldn’t understand why a well-employed adult would live with his parents. “Do they want to follow you?” she asked. She advised him to rent a separate apartment and live with his girl friend instead. The young man had to send another email explaining to her that it was a “pretty normal thing” for adult children to continue to live with their parents in India even after they graduate and get jobs. Culture is a minefield for any global team with members from countries that have fundamentally different cultural orientations. The communication problems become magnified in a virtual team because members are denied subtle non-verbal clues which generally help members of a co-located team understand others’ real meanings. Problems crop up in multiple ways. The first and most common problem is unthinkingly assuming that our practices are so reasonable that the rest

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of the world also shares them. It doesn’t even occur to us that there are different ways of looking at life than we do. Take, for example, our approach to punctuality. In India, we value punctuality but not to the extent where we get offended if some members join a meeting five or ten minutes late. In fact, the chairperson or the convener may be late too. We believe that while starting things on time is very useful, there are other factors that are equally important. German members of a team may feel insulted by those coming in late to a meeting unless there are truly exceptional circumstances preventing them from arriving on time. The Indian members may think that they are overreacting to something as simple as few minutes’ delay. Their annoyance provokes our annoyance and when they come together, the team’s performance is adversely affected. Secondly, we may interpret others’ behavior through the prism of our culture and get meanings that are far removed from what is intended. Many people in Asian cultures, for example, do not openly display their disagreement; their silence or absence of enthusiastic endorsement of an idea is supposed to convey their disagreement. A Western team member may, however, interpret the silence as agreement especially when all members have been asked to express any reservations they may have about a proposal. When an Asian member of a team finds that their disagreement (which they displayed through silence) has been disregarded, they may withdraw cooperation and cause the project to fail. Thirdly, people from different cultures will have different values. They may consider different values critical to the success of a project. For instance, while some team members may find discipline and respect for superiors important, others might give more importance to innovativeness and enthusiasm. Similarly, people from Asian and African cultures may look at contracts as somewhat flexible documents that broadly indicate the intention of two parties to do certain things in future. They may be willing to make changes in the terms of the contract if the circumstances change. People from Western cultures may insist on the terms of the contract being followed strictly irrespective of changes in circumstances. Such clashes in values can affect the morale and cohesiveness of a global virtual team. It has been observed that people interacting with foreign cultures may experience an acculturation curve even as they go through phases of euphoria followed by culture shock and leading to acculturation after the individual has adjusted to the new culture (Hofstede, 2009). However, each person may have a different experience with some not making it to the acculturation phase and terminating their overseas assignments due to extreme culture shock. If they are members of a global virtual team, they may stop contributing because of these factors and the leader or the other members may not even know the cause.

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Difficulty Creating Trust and Building Relationships Online If we analyse the kind of people we trust, at times blindly, we will find that most of these people are those we have seen and interacted with at close quarters. We have difficulty trusting strangers. It is not unusual to find people hiring members of their extended family or village or community when they need someone they can trust completely. Strictly speaking, familiarity does not guarantee trustworthiness. A brother, sister, cousin, friend, or neighbour can let you down and prove to be unworthy of the trust placed in them. Knowing them as people of flesh and blood, however, gives us some comfort. In a virtual team you often have nothing more than a name, a voice, and possibly a photograph to connect with. These things cannot replace a warm handshake or the look of interest and joy in the eyes. Team members may feel isolated as they do not enjoy the benefits of personally interacting with their co-workers. In any team, a lot of work gets done primarily because of the strength and warmth of the relationship among the members and between members and the leader rather than contracts, rules, and regulations. When the interaction among members is largely mediated through the computer or other digital devices, it is difficult to build and cement those relationships.

Resolve Negative Emotional Vibes and Interpersonal Conflicts in Virtual Teams Effectively Communication of negative emotions among virtual team members in the early stages of team formation is not necessarily destructive and may help identify areas that need work such as getting familiar with technology. It may also help establish a culture of openness. That is one of the findings of three researchers, who explored the connection between time, conflict and emotional behavior, by analyzing online communication among members of 8 virtual teams over a period of one month. Ayoko, Konrad and Boyle (2012) found support for the basic tenets of classic development theory formulated by Bruce Tuckman in 1965. According to Tuckman, groups go through four stages of development: forming, storming, norming and performing. Of course, not all groups go through the four stages and some may not even reach the performing stage. The stages may not follow a linear pattern and the amount of time each group spends at each stage may vary. Despite these conditions, it may help team members to be aware of what phase they might be going

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through at a particular time so that they are more conscious of their own behaviors as well. When the trio analyzed online communication patterns of 8 virtual teams, they found that confusion and frustration about the task usually marked the first phase. In the second phase, negative emotions about task and technology took the form of interpersonal attacks – members also disagreed on ways in which the project should be conducted. The researchers point out that seeking feedback is a good strategy to overcome such interpersonal conflict especially in a virtual environment “where checking perceptions against non-verbal cues is not possible” (p. 168). When a member sought feedback, it also became easier for other members to express an alternative opinion without appearing to attack the individual at a personal level. Further, a person who is seeking feedback comes across as someone who is humble about his or her contributions. As regards the online communication of negative emotions, emotion management strategies can go a long way in controlling negative behavior. The researchers argue that it is important to differentiate between experiencing a negative emotion and ways of communicating it. Negative emotions need not be communicated in negative ways. Healthy communication of negative emotions may involve directing the emotion at the situation and not the individual. In case of virtual teams, the asynchronous nature of technologies such as email offers an opportunity to communicate a specific opinion in a positive way. You can, for example, draft a difficult e-mail, share it with someone for their comments, revise the original text based on those comments, and send it to the virtual team member towards whom you have a negative feeling. All this can be done in less than half an hour and prevent your e-mail communication from provoking negative emotions. However, one must remember that virtual teams have fewer resources than co-located teams in resolving interpersonal conflict and special care should be taken to curb the same in its early phases. Referring back to the study, the virtual teams tried to sort out internal conflicts even as some made efforts at reconciliation in the third phase. Others apologized for their misbehavior and tried to explain why they behaved in a specific way. In stage four, interactions stabilized and teams were engaged in achieving the goals of the project although each team’s performance level varied. In this stage, team members felt comfortable joking and sharing ideas. Teams that performed better had managed to regulate online communication of negative emotions and interpersonal conflict.

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Source: Ayoko, Oluremi B., Konrad, Alison M., Boyle, Maree V. (2012). Online work: Managing conflict and emotions for performance in virtual teams. European Management Journal, 30, 156-174.

Coping with Challenges Posed by Computer-Mediated Platforms Humanize a Cold Medium Grosse (2002) suggests that it is extremely important for members of global virtual teams to understand the advantages and limitations of technology. For instance, while it is easy to send data using an online tool, it is harder to send “parts of your heart” in order to motivate team members over the Internet (Roebuck, Brock & Moodie, 2004). To humanize a cold medium, members may exchange their own photographs so every member knows the “face” at the other end of the computer. To promote interpersonal communication, they may celebrate birthdays, anniversaries and their children’s achievements electronically (Grosse, 2002). Sharing a little bit of our personal selves with our co-workers online might contribute tremendously in forming a bond. Here’s an example. Recently, when the first author of this book was in the process of writing a chapter for a UK-based book editor, she discovered that it helped to share some information about her personal life and her family with the latter. Soon, emails between the two were not just about work and deadlines. There was much warmth and sharing although the two had never met and all the coordination about the book chapter happened over email.

Choose the Right Medium of Communication It is critical that members of a global virtual team choose the right channel to communicate whether it is instant messaging, email or chat rooms. Not only should one consider the strengths and limitations of each medium, but one should also keep the audience in mind while choosing the communication channel: “Generally, communication is easier among peers and teammates and more difficult between junior managers and bosses and people that are not well known. More opportunities exist for misunderstanding with different levels of employees and unfamiliar people” (Grosse, 2002, p. 27). Virtual teams don’t always need highly complex technological tools to communicate satisfactorily. Research shows that most virtual team members prefer basic email with attachments as the primary medium of

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communication (Berry, 2011). Email enables one to broadcast messages to a large number of people simultaneously while they can receive and respond at their convenience. This is of great help to members of virtual teams operating from different time zones. Another advantage of email is that the sender can attach large amounts of data consisting of text, audio, and video files. When Grosse (2002) interviewed global executives based in France, the United Kingdom and the United States with the purpose of getting insights on best practices of virtual teams, email often emerged as the preferred means of communication by teams comprising people from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds as it allows people time to compose and process messages. A British American finance manager for Intel in Singapore pointed out that email makes it easier to ask clarification questions as it may be difficult for people to orally admit that they do not understand a particular task or point.

Provide Adequate Technical Support It’s important to create a positive attitude towards technology in the organization. If an employee is resisting using a particular technology, the manager needs to provide timely support. Here is an example from a slightly different context. A senior gynaecologist with work experience both in India and abroad hated making presentations simply because she hated the technology associated with it. Although she was a brilliant doctor and a good communicator, she did not know how to use any presentation tools. Overall, she had an extremely negative attitude towards technology. Her hospital did not invest time and energy in training senior doctors on how to use presentation software but expected them to make presentations using them every month. While the young doctors had no problem meeting the expectation, the more experienced ones avoided it as much as possible. Thus, it’s important that organizations identify people who have negative attitudes towards technology and provide them adequate support and training. More importantly, members need to be given enough time to get used to a particular technological tool.

Leverage the Advantages of Technology Operating in a virtual environment offers many benefits. It can lead to a more open discussion of ideas as members may be less inhibited in expressing themselves online. According to Berry (2011), a significant advantage of asynchronous online communication is that it “allows for multiple threads or concurrent themes of conversation to occur from multiple contributors all at

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the same time, instead of being restricted to turn-taking (with communication blocking) as is common with synchronous face-to-face communication” (p. 193). Secondly, people can also express themselves without interruption and without the burden of competing for the same airtime by using asynchronous online communication. Further, performance evaluation may be easier in a virtual environment as all communication and outcomes are already documented and can be revisited at any time by the team leader. Moreover, in case of virtual teams, evaluation is “less confounded by personality or other non task behaviors and actions as with colocated teams, and so team members can be judged on what they actually accomplish rather than what they appear to be doing” (Kirkham et al., 2002, as cited in Berry, 2011).

Coping with Challenges Posed by Intercultural Differences Geert Hofstede, a well-known Dutch professor of Organizational Anthropology and International Management, defines culture as “software of the mind” comprising patterns of thinking, feeling, and mental programs. Hofstede identified four dimensions of national cultures after surveying values and attitudes of IBM employees in 50 countries. He found that employees across countries faced problems in the following areas: relationship with authority; relationship between individual and group; fulfilling expected gender roles and ways of dealing with uncertainty. Hofstede (2009) named these four dimensions: power distance; collectivism versus individualism; femininity versus masculinity; and uncertainty avoidance. He assigned each country a score on each cultural dimension. For instance, countries where hierarchies and social inequalities are more prevalent and tolerated such as India got a higher power distance score than those like Sweden where flat structures are widespread. Similarly, countries with collectivist cultures such as the Arab countries, India and Mexico among others ranked low on the individualism index while the United States topped the list with the highest score. While countries such as Sweden, Norway, Netherlands and Denmark were categorized as ones with most feminine cultures, Japan, Austria, Venezuela and Italy were identified as most masculine cultures in the study. India had a moderately masculine score. Masculine cultures were defined as ones where material success and progress are the dominant values in society whereas caring for people and relationships become more important in feminine cultures. Gender roles are more distinct in feminine cultures where men are supposed to be ambitious and tough while women are expected to be caring and family-focused. Finally, countries with high uncertainty avoidance

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scores such as Greece, Japan, France, South Korea, etc., shun ambiguity and prefer to have explicit rules. Hofstede ranked India and the United States as low uncertainty avoidance countries where there are fewer rules and more tolerance for diverse ideas. Hofstede pointed out that each dimension has its own advantages and disadvantages. For instance, countries with collectivist cultures may enjoy more employee commitment while those with individualistic cultures may have more mobility and innovation. However, researchers have also pointed out that it is imperative not to view cultures as either individualistic or collectivist but to view them as complex points on a continuum. Instead of labeling all nationals of a country as belonging to a particular cultural type, it’s critical to be open to a person’s complex cultural orientations. Iris Varner, a professor of international management, alerts people that it is important not to misinterpret research findings of intercultural communication scholars such as Geert Hofstede (1980), E T Hall (1959) and Fons Trompenaar (1998) by extrapolating the results of their studies to all people from a culture. She explains: Hofstede’s cultural dimensions are often used to develop cultural profiles of ‘the Chinese,’ ‘the Americans,’ ‘the Saudis,’ or ‘the Mexicans,’ yet Hofstede’s subjects were all male, all managers, and all from IBM. While cultures show certain general tendencies, such as group orientation or power distance, not all groups in a culture have the same characteristics (Varner, 2001, p. 107).

As individuals may not fit general cultural observations about a country’s culture, attempt to force fit them into a category would be a form of “sophisticated stereotyping” (Osland & Bird, 2000; as cited in Varner, 2001). One also needs to recognize the role of self-reference criterion in stereotyping people from other cultures. The fact is we simply cannot judge other cultures by using our own standards and values. Varner also advises people working at an intercultural level, not to pay too much attention to travel brochures, books on cultural taboos and national websites as they are likely to offer a static view of culture. As culture is a dynamic and living concept, it is important to go beyond relying on a list of specific cultural behaviors found in different countries. It’s necessary for people to understand why such behaviors exist and how cultural values and norms relate to business. Varner offers the example of the Japanese who tend to use both hands to receive a business card. She argues that it is highly unlikely that a foreigner doing business in Japan would fail to seal a deal because she took the card in one hand and put it in her pocket. Instead, it is important to realize why the Japanese pay so much attention to the card. It is because the card establishes the identity of a person in terms of the business hierarchy of an organization.

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Training for Intercultural Workers: Cultural Awareness Programs vs. Cultural Orientation Programs Researchers of organizational behavior, Julia Brandl and Anne-Katrin Neyer (2009) point out the need to train global virtual teams in a way that enhances their “capabilities in dealing with the unknown” rather than provide them with “ready-made concepts of culture” (p. 341). Those who communicate virtually with people from foreign cultures should be able to adjust quickly to unknown situations as they are interacting with people from varied cultural backgrounds, that too, in a technology-mediated context. When interacting in a computer-mediated intercultural environment, one may have to reorganize one’s “mental maps” to communicate effectively. Such an attempt will help in adapting one’s behavior to the new situation by recognizing when a specific type of behavior is appropriate. The person should also be open to revising his existing impressions of particular behaviors and people. Brandl and Neyer believe that cultural awareness programs which aim at changing a team member’s attitude towards new information and unknown situations are more effective than cultural orientation programs that usually offer general ideas about the collective culture of specific countries. Furthermore, they point out that training on cultural issues alone is not sufficient for global virtual teams as it does not address issues that are specific to working in both a computer-mediated and cross-cultural context. Members of global virtual teams operate under tremendous pressure to complete their projects and may not get a chance to clarify their interpretation of a co-worker’s cultural values. The researchers offer an example of a technology-mediated context: “If team members from Italy interact via teleconferencing with their colleagues from the United States, France, and Germany, it can be assumed that their main focus is to get their business done and not to learn about each other’s cultural backgrounds” (p. 346). Such circumstances may encourage a person to rely on general observations about a country’s culture although it may prove counterproductive in practice. When a person’s existing notions about a country’s culture clashes with what he or she experiences at work, it may lead to stress and anxiety. Other team members may also be offended if they find out they are being stereotyped on the basis of packaged views about their country’s culture rather than being recognized as individuals with complex cultural configurations.

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In such situations, cultural awareness programs can be a big help as they train individuals to deal with unexpected and unfamiliar situations. It makes people realize that cultural values of people can be “complex and inconsistent” and that there is no ready-made solution. Individuals are trained to expect a feeling of uncertainty in the beginning as they cannot use their own standards to predict other people’s behavior. They are also trained to be both resourceful and proactive in getting support whether it is by self-reflecting on feelings of anxiety and uncertainty or seeking counselling by experts. Finally, cultural awareness programs encourage virtual workers to behave as scientists and to learn by trials and evaluation of outcomes. Last but not least, Brandl and Neyer recommend that human resource managers use e-learning in cultural awareness programs so that participants feel more comfortable communicating inter-culturally in computer-mediated settings. Source: Brandl, Julia & Neyer, Anne-Katrin (2009, May-June), Applying cognitive adjustment theory to cross-cultural training for global virtual teams. Human Resource Management, 48(3), 341-353.

Some of this information can be gained through training but it is important to get the right type of training before one interacts at the intercultural level. Having a good team leader is also critical.

Virtual Team Leaders: Study Identifies Six Leadership Practices Leaders of virtual teams face special challenges as they have to do everything leaders of traditional teams do but without being physically present. Three researchers identified six leadership practices after interviewing 54 virtual team leaders representing 33 different companies from 14 different countries (Malhotra, Majchrzak & Rosen, 2007). They also conducted a web-based survey with the team members apart from following a virtual team through its life cycle at Boeing-Rocketdyne as part of their study. They found that leaders of successful virtual teams learn to establish and maintain trust through the use of communication technology. In the virtual context, trust is based on actions: “Because goodwill is hard to observe virtually, expectations about actions themselves need to be made as explicit as possible” (Malhotra, Majchrzak & Rosen, 2007, p. 61). Explicit norms inform team members about how to use technology. They regulate what team members can post online, how to post, who does the revisions, how much information about the team can be passed to outsiders, timings of audio conferences, etc. Successful team leaders often rotated timings

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of audio conferences so that everyone experienced the pain of attending a virtual meeting at odd hours. Team leaders leveraged the diversity of expertise available to them. Each member’s expertise was made known to the rest of the team. While some created electronic directories listing each member’s expertise, others created a skills matrix. Pairs of individuals were also assigned tasks so that they could know each other’s work styles better. Successful team leaders held regular virtual meetings after establishing robust pre-meeting, during-the-meeting and between-meetings practices. They monitored the team’s progress through the use of technology. As online communication is archived and team repositories record who contributes to them, who uses them and how often, team leaders could identify both high achievers and the slackers. Early intervention and effective training and mentoring helped the slackers improve. They also made changes in technology and tools in keeping with the evolving needs of the team. Effective team leaders ensured that the work of their virtual team was visible both within and outside the team. Finally, successful team leaders ensured that each member benefitted from participating in the team. For instance, one leader gave a “gold star” for good work which could be used at the time of promotion. They also praised good work of their team members to their local managers. Since there’s a lot of demand for the expertise of virtual team members both at the local and

Using “Vision Blogging” to Keep the Global Virtual Team Goal Oriented Fisher & Fisher (2012) observe that some global virtual team leaders they have worked with maintain a blog on their team webpage. Those leaders use the space to talk about achievements by different team members. The researchers call this “vision blogging” because the team leaders select examples of team members’ achievements relevant to their vision such as reducing the team’s carbon footprint or cost containment. But we can extend this idea to include blog posts on any achievements by individual team members because these posts will help members get to know and appreciate one another better. Concentrating exclusively on team members’ achievements that illustrate the leaders’ goals may be counterproductive; they may dishearten members with other achievements. Source: Fisher, K. & Fisher, M. (2012). Manager’s Guide to Virtual Teams. New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill

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international level, team leaders try to make it stimulating and fun for them so that they remained committed to their work.

Virtual Meetings In the School of Media and Communication at Bowling Green State University, Ohio, where the first author worked, early morning meetings in winter and difficult meetings meant the department chair would walk into the room with the most aromatic and tempting doughnuts on earth. She would also arrange for some steaming coffee. With the smell of doughnuts and coffee wafting in the air, the faculty forgot about the subzero temperatures outside and seemed to enjoy each other’s company already. After they settled in with their choicest doughnuts and the latest on the university grapevine, the department chair would remind them about the agenda of the meeting. While such gastronomic strategies are not possible in the case of virtual team meetings, a lot can be done to make things interesting and motivating for the members. Before we discuss ways to make virtual meetings better, a caveat is in order. It is not advisable to think of meetings in terms of a binary, that is, either have a virtual meeting or a face-to-face meeting. Instead, members could avail themselves of multiple channels for better communication (Burrus, 2008). Referring to the blurring line between meeting on site and meeting online, Cooney (2011) draws attention to current trends of convening hybrid meetings and simulcasts, archiving meetings on web sites, and the growing use of mobile devices and apps even in face-to-face meetings. A reasonable thing to do is to let the goal of the meeting determine which channel to use. Other factors to consider are duration of the meeting, number of attendees and budget. The market is flooded with various web meeting tools such as Adobe Connect Pro, GoToMeeting, Microsoft Office Live Meeting, WebEx Meeting Center, Vyew, etc. Again, choose a tool based on your need and comfort level. While some tools may be feature-rich, they may not be suitable for a beginner. Further, some tools may be more suitable for large conferences than small meetings. Whichever tool you pick, the virtual meetings you organize should not just be about sharing information. That is easily done over email and other asynchronous forms of online communication such as the company’s internal network. Instead, virtual team leaders should use meetings to motivate members and keep them excited about their work (Malhotra, Majchrzak & Rosen, 2007). They have to be creative because it is very easy to lose a member’s attention during the course of a virtual meeting. Members of a virtual team are likely to multitask during a meeting unless it is engrossing.

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A lot of planning is required to have a successful virtual meeting. The team leader or meeting manager must initiate an electronic discussion thread about the team’s current projects prior to the meeting. Areas that need discussion and clarification can be identified from these threads. Team members should also be invited to post their progress electronically. The timing of the meeting should also be circulated much in advance as members of virtual teams are located in different time zones. The team leader should start the meeting by “reconnecting with the ‘human side’ of each individual” as virtual teams are primarily task-focused and do not enjoy the benefits of casual interactions at the interpersonal level (Malhotra, Majchrzak & Rosen, 2007). This may be done by asking a question about a team member’s personal interest or concern. Of course, the team leader should not ask something that is too personal. She should also keep the cultural background of the person in mind while making small talk. Whichever medium one chooses to conduct a virtual meeting, it’s good to use video when available. Being visible to one’s team members is a goal to strive for as it helps communicate better. Using video helps people connect as it shows their facial expressions and gestures. Burrus (2008) explains: “There’s a reason why executives shake hands when meeting: The more senses involved, the higher the connection” (p. 64). Of course, you don’t need to stream video in high definition if your budget does not allow that. Even a webcam video might work in case of a meeting with a small team. Some people prefer using live video supported by their mobile devices. In case there’s a problem with bandwidth or the quality of pictures is not good, video can form just a small part of the meeting. During the meeting, it’s important to keep members involved using various interactive devices such as polling, structured texting, and open chat (Cooney, 2011). Instantaneous display of the results of polling or texting during the meeting will make it more interesting and dynamic for the participants. Members can also submit their questions or comments at any time during the meeting using open chat. Virtual team leaders should periodically remind the members about these tools and how they can be used at any time during the meeting. The actual presentation should be fast-paced and engaging. Do not prepare too many slides. Keep your content tight and the presentation brisk. Synchronize your slides with your comments. Since web meeting platforms allow screen sharing functions, you are free to show source documents, related websites and other printed material to your audience instead of boring them by showing them one Power Point slide after another. We will take up web presentations in the next section.

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A good way to end the meeting is by posting the action items in the team repository. While it is an excellent practice for the convener of a virtual meeting to share the minutes of the meeting mainly the action points, the deadlines, and the names of key members responsible for them - via e-mail immediately after the meeting, Fisher & Fisher (2012, p. 26) point to the risk of misunderstanding by certain members who might not have contributed actively to the discussion. They suggest that leaders ask the members to articulate what they are going to do. If there is any misunderstanding, it will come out when members themselves formulate the action points.

Virtual Presentations Online presentations may include video of you making the presentation or they may only include your slides without you being there to discuss the major points. If there’s video, it is better to use a HD video camera than a laptop webcam or cell phone camera. Whether you have video or not as part of your presentation, online presentations are different from offline ones as they pose specific challenges that must be overcome. Here are a few suggestions:

1. Connect with Your Audience, but Get Comfortable Using Online Tools First Wayne Turmel’s book titled “10 Steps to Successful Virtual Presentations” offers some great advice for everyone although he focuses primarily on sales professionals. He advises people to focus less on technology and more on making human connections with the audience. That said, he suggests people learn to use the technology first. How many times have you seen potentially great presentations ruined by the presenter’s lack of familiarity with the technology being used? If you want to avoid such a situation, spend some time learning to use the presentation tool first. Only when a person giving a virtual presentation is comfortable using the necessary tools, can she focus on more important things such as communication and connecting with the audience. So, it’s a good idea to get some training in virtual presentation tools and choose the one appropriate for your needs before preparing the actual presentation.

2. Choose the Tool That’s Right for You There are many online presentation tools available such as 280 Slides, SlideRocket, PreZentit, authorSTREAM, Empressr, Google Presentations,

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Vcasmo, SlideShare, Prezi, Zoho Show, etc., but you need to choose the one that caters to your requirements, taste, corporate image and presentation style.

SlideShare On May 9, 2013, online presentation platform, SlideShare, celebrated a big milestone: More than 10 million presentations had been uploaded on it. These presentations included how-to guides, financial reports, data pulls, motivational pieces, photo essays and more. Emphasizing that SlideShare is more than just the world’s largest collection of presentations, Joe Chernov, a content marketing expert, describes it as a “vibrant, mobile-friendly, Google-indexed community” frequented by journalists, bloggers, business owners, sales teams, C-level executives, designers, and many others. More than 50 million unique users visit SlideShare each month (Mayfield, 2013). Considered as the “YouTube for slideshows” by many, the company was acquired by LinkedIn in 2012. Users can upload presentations, videos and documents on it. Businesses can use SlideShare in a variety of ways. First, they can use it to tell their story. “Presentations make a company more three-dimensional and add personality,” says Ekaterina Walter, a social media strategist at Intel. It’s also easier to share financial and technical information in a presentation format. Apart from serving as a source of referral traffic and hub for leads, Chernov points out that SlideShare also serves as a great personal branding platform. Take the case of designer Jesse Desjardins whose presentation “You suck at Powerpoint!” went viral on SlideShare in 2010. Today, Desjardins is a SlideShare heavyweight and the head of social media for Australia Tourism. SlideShare is thus a great-avenue to showcase expertise and thought leadership. Some of the high-profile institutional users of SlideShare include The White House, NASA, IBM, Hewlett Packard, Pfizer, among many others. In mid-2013, SlideShare recognized the following individual power users for greatly contributing to the 10 million uploads on it: Beth Kanter, author, blogger and trainer; Steven Blank, lecturer at Stanford University; Rohit Bhargava, marketer, writer and professor; Robert Nyman, front end developer; Gwyneth Jones, blogger and public speaker; Reed Hastings, Netflix worker; and, Lee Aase, director of the Mayo Clinic Center for Social Media. Note that these leading professionals come from diverse sectors. Check out some of their presentations on SlideShare and try reverse engineering their strategies.

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While many tools allow you to upload Power Point slides and embed video or audio files to it, others let you start from scratch. While some tools are free, others charge a monthly fee. Still others offer both free and paid options. You can sign up for free trials of some of these tools to figure which one you are most comfortable using. Since SlideShare is the world’s largest community for sharing presentations online, a brief discussion about the slide-hosting website is necessary here.

3. Put Major “Talking Points” on Your Slides, not All That You Have to Say If you will not be there to explain the slides, make them self-explanatory. However, you should not bury the slides with text either. Text-heavy slides can make your presentation both jarring and boring. Designer Jesse Desjardins, in a widely-shared presentation on SlideShare, says “Don’t vomit every piece of information on your slides.” Overall, it’s a good idea to put only the major “talking points” on each slide. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a talking point “as something that lends support to an argument.” Reciting bullet points verbatim from a slide is a really bad idea. Most people prefer to read it themselves than have someone read it out to them. Nancy Duarte, author of the book “The HBR Guide to Persuasive Presentations” offers a fine analogy. “Think of your slides as billboards,” she says. “When people drive, they only briefly take their eyes off their main focus – the road – to process billboard information. Similarly, your audience should focus intently on what you’re saying, looking only briefly at your slides when you display them.”

4. The Layout of Your Slides Should Follow a Visual Hierarchy The text on your slides should follow a clear visual hierarchy so that your audience can identify the most important element on it the moment they set their eyes on it. Also, leave some white space on each slide. It will allow the text to breathe.Choose your font size keeping in mind the width of the screen and the distance at which your audience will be seated. While a simple, nonserif font like Arial often works best, you could also choose more attractive fonts created by known designers. Google “beautiful fonts” and download the fonts that best suit your presentation topic, goal of your presentation and the nature of your audience. But remember the font you downloaded may not be available on your client’s computer. So look into such compatibility issues before selecting a rarely-used but beautiful font.

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5. Use Visuals that Aid Your Message in the Presentation Visuals help deliver your message with more punch. In fact, sometimes, you could use a visual without any accompanying words for maximum impact. Many good presenters follow the principles of minimalist design whereby a few simple elements can be used to create a powerful impact. Too much glitz will not only distract the audience, but also make it difficult to upload the presentation online. Follow a consistent visual style: Use the same color scheme, types of illustrations and images throughout so that your entire presentation looks like one cohesive unit instead of appearing disjointed.

6. Follow a Color Scheme in Your Presentation First, identify your color biases, if any. Do you tend to select a certain color scheme without taking into consideration the goal of your presentation and the cultural values of your audience? Visual communication expert Mike Parkinson suggests if the goal of your presentation is to make a sale or gain trust, use a color scheme the audience is familiar with and trusts. You could use your client’s corporate colors, for instance, wherever applicable. However, if the goal of your presentation is to market your own organization, use your own corporate colors. Whichever colors you finally pick, never pick colors that clash when placed next to each other such as orange text on a blue background or red text on a green background. Try out a variety of color schemes before developing a palette for an important presentation. As a general rule, dark text and graphics on light backgrounds and light text and graphics on dark backgrounds usually work best.

7. Make Your Presentation Easy to Navigate and Easily Accessible Tailor the content structure of your presentation according to the type of your audience. While senior executives prefer to get the summary of the presentation upfront, others may give you the time necessary to develop a good story and deliver the punch at the end of your presentation. Also, make it easy for people to navigate your presentation. If your presentation has a lot of text, provide a search facility. Detailed information is best put in the appendices rather than in the main body of the text. Finally, make sure your audience has the software necessary to access your presentation. If you are reaching out to people with limited access to technology, use MS word documents (“Creating virtual,” 2006).

8. Practice before Presenting Make sure you rehearse before the actual presentation. Wayne Turmel (2011) warns us that rehearsing a presentation is not about flipping through the

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slides muttering the content to ourselves. Instead, you need to go online and rehearse every step from start to finish. You have to get comfortable multitasking: you should be able to present, use the online tool effectively and interact with your audience all at the same time.

Conclusion While the number of virtual teams across the globe continue to multiply, companies need to focus on surmounting the many challenges they face in terms of communication and collaboration. One cannot afford to forget the fact that members of virtual teams have less access to non-verbal cues and unofficial information. They also have to cope with differences in the degree of comfort each member exhibits with the use of particular software tools and the differences in the availability of technological resources at various sites. The inconvenience created by members working in different time zones poses another important challenge. People with different cultural backgrounds may face problems associated with languages and accents. Resolving negative emotional vibes and interpersonal conflicts in virtual teams may seem arduous to many team leaders and managers. All these factors are likely to create hurdles in building trust among members of a virtual team. This chapter offered some solutions to those challenges such as warming up the cold medium of technology by humanizing it, choosing the right medium of communication while keeping the nature of audience in mind and providing continuous technical support to those who are uncomfortable with the use of technology. Further, cultural awareness programs may be used to train intercultural workers. Virtual team leaders should inculcate leadership practices that have proven to be effective in online team management. Instead of using virtual meetings to simply share information, team leaders should view them as opportunities to motivate members. One of the biggest challenges of virtual meetings is to keep members involved. The team leader should use interactive strategies such as polling and texting during the meeting. Use of video whenever possible also provides team members with a means to connect among each other. Those making virtual presentations should spend considerable time getting comfortable with the software tool they intend to use. Such software tools should be chosen keeping the comfort level and personality of the presenter in mind.

References Bennett, D. (2011, February 21-27). I’ll have my robots talk to your robots. Bloomberg Businessweek, 417, 52-61.

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Berry, G. R. (2011, April). Enhancing effectiveness on virtual teams: Understanding why traditional team skills are not sufficient. Journal of Business Communication, 48(2), 186 -206. Brandl, J. & Neyer, A. (2009, May-June). Applying cognitive adjustment theory to cross-cultural training for global virtual teams. Human Resource Management, 48(3), 341-353. Burrus, D. (2008). Set goals before your next meeting. Securitymagazine.com. Retrieved June 24, 2012, from http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-185292973.html Chernov, J. (2012). 8 ways to get the biggest marketing bang out of SlideShare. Mashable.com. Retrieved September 12, 2013, from http://mashable.com/2012/05/07/ tips-marketing-slideshare-linkedin/ Cooney, B. (2011, November 11). 6 ways to create great virtual meetings: How to create online events that excel. Retrieved June 24, 2012, from http://meetingsnet.com/ pharma meeting-planning/6-ways-create-great-virtual-meetings. Creating virtual or online presentations (2006). Give great Presentations: How to speak confidently and make your point, London: A&C Black, 47-59. Retrieved June 20, 2012, from http://www.scribd.com/doc/40167042/Give-Great-PresentationsHow-to-Speak Confidently-and-Make-Your-Point Desjardins, J. (2010). You Suck at Powerpoint!: 5 shocking design mistakes you need to avoid. Retrieved September 12, 2013, from http://www.slideshare.net/jessedee/ you-suck-at-powerpoint Duarte, N. (2012). Do your slides pass the glance test? HBR Blog Network. Retrieved September 12, 2013, from http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/10/do_your_slides_pass_ the_glance_test.html Fisher, K. & Fisher, M. (2012). Managers guide to virtual teams. New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill. Grosse, C. U. (2002). Managing communication within virtual intercultural teams. Business Communication Quarterly, 65(4), 22-38. Hofstede, G. (2009). Cultures and Organizations: Intercultural cooperation and its importance for survival. London: Profile Books. Malhotra, A., Majchrzak, A. & Rosen, B. (2007). Leading Virtual Teams. Academy of Management Perspectives. Academy of Management Perspectives, 21(1), 60-70 Mayfield, R. (2013). 10 million presentations uploaded to SlideShare. SlideShare.net. Retrieved September 12, 2013, from http://blog.slideshare.net/2013/05/09/10million-presentations-uploaded-to-slideshare/ Parkinson, M. (n.d.). 3 steps to choosing the best presentation colors. Retrieved September 12, 2013, from http://www.presentationxpert.com/3-steps-to-choosingthe-best-presentation-colors Roebuck, D. B., Brock, S. J. & Moodie, D. R. (2004, September). Using a simulation to explore the challenges of communicating in a virtual team.Business Communication Quarterly, 67(3), 359-367. Turmel, W. (2011). 10 steps to successful virtual presentations.American Society for Training & Development.

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Varner, I. I. (2001, March). Teaching intercultural management communication: Where are we? Where do we go? Business Communication Quarterly, 64(1), 99-111 Walter, E. (2011). 7 ways businesses can get more social with SlideShare. Mashable. com. Retrieved September 12, 2013, from http://mashable.com/2011/12/22/ slideshare-social-tips/

“Hello! Mind the keyboard.”

Chapter 3

Email @ Work Recently, the Delhi editor of a well-known national newspaper received the following email from a prospective intern. The email annoyed him a lot and he shared it with the first author of this book when she called him to discuss student internships. To protect both their identities, let’s call the editor Anurag and the intern Armaan. Here’s how it started with the first email coming from the intern: Hi Anurag, This is Armaan - I will be starting a 2 month internship at the New Delhi bureau on August 6th. MN recommended that I get in touch before I start out and passed on your contact details. I look forward to working with you. Is there any equipment or anything that I should bring with me before I start? What kind of work will I be doing to start out? Regards, Armaan

The editor sent the following reply: Dear Armaan, All you need to do is to get your laptop. Best, Anurag

And, here’s the reply from the intern. Hi Anurag, Thanks for the response. I have a laptop, but it is massive and heavy - more a desktop in laptop form. It is not mobile enough for me to use for reporting on the field. However, I will have the laptop at home. What do you think? What will I need the laptop for exactly? Best, Armaan

50 Online Communication Strategies for Managers Anurag did not want to voice his irritation via email and chose not to reply. Armaan had no idea that he had offended the editor. Anurag remarked, “If this guy does not know the use of a laptop, I wonder what he will do as an intern.” The poor intern had made a bad impression even before he joined the newspaper.

What went wrong here? The intern possibly assumed that he will go to the field with his reporter’s notebook, get back to office and use the desktop computer there to file his stories. What he did not realize is that office desktops which give access to the newspaper’s entire national network are only used by staff. Interns file their stories on their own laptops. He may have also needed the laptop to file stories from the field and email them to the editor. The intern should have done a little homework before sending the second email. The editor, who is an extremely busy person and gets a dozen requests for internships every week, had clearly written off this particular intern. Now imagine the two having the same conversation face to face. When Armaan brought up the silly question about the laptop, Anurag would have frowned or shown some sign of irritation on his face. Armaan would have got the clue that he has said something inappropriate and changed course. Or, Anurag would have probably just said “To file stories, what else?” The matter would have ended there. If you analyse Armaan’s email, we can also detect a high degree of laziness although he appears eager for the internship. It takes but a few seconds to shoot an email to anyone with a general question such as “What will I need the laptop for exactly?” It will take the reader many minutes to answer such a question adequately becauses he doesn’t know enough about the student’s background to give him a pointed answer. Even if he has the time to answer such a general question, why should he? Can’t he do a bit of research to find out what an intern in a media company is expected to do? Many thoughtlessly ask questions that cannot be answered. Here is an email a professor of communication received from an ambitious B Tech student aspiring to do an MBA at IIM-Ahmedabad and become someone like “Indra Nui”: sir, i want to study in iima, at present i am studying B.TECH(BIO-TECHNOLOGY) 3rd year........ so please tell me how to prepare....... plzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz........... i am very interested in business.....i want to even become a famous business administrator like INDRA NUI. so please help me get into IIMA by your valuable advices & directions...........i am waiting for your reply....

What can the professor write in answer? Any answer to a general question like this can provoke further questions or requests for clarification. Many recipients of such e-mails respond by deleting them.

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While emails are easy to send and extremely cost effective, they pose a variety of challenges. As a primarily text-based medium, email does not offer non-verbal cues such as facial expressions or gestures. You cannot see the look in one’s eyes when you read his email or catch a change in tone in an email message unless it’s made explicit verbally. You cannot even get immediate feedback unlike in the case of face-to-face communication. This is the reason it is important to develop an awareness of challenges associated with email communication before knowing the specifics on how to send more effective emails, respond appropriately to email messages and cope with email overload. Hence, we will first take you behind the scenes and then provide you a list of dos and don’ts about professional emails. Let’s start with one of the most difficult things first. As you go through your work day, you may experience a variety of emotions: Anger, disgust, resentment, excitement, satisfaction, etc. Some of these emotions find their way into your email messages. The handicaps associated with email communication make it extremely difficult to accurately communicate complex matters such as emotions. Of course, emotions are difficult to convey accurately even face to face. But miscommunication of emotions is more likely on email than in face-to-face communication due to absence of non-verbal cues and immediate feedback (Byron, 2008). How then can we communicate emotions accurately on email?

Communicating Emotions Accurately on Email Kristin Byron, a researcher at Syracuse University, New York, tells us that we should be aware of the fact that others may be perceiving emotional content in the emails we send although we may not intend to communicate any emotion in our professional emails. Such a sense of awareness will help us communicate more accurately. She lists a host of factors that may influence how accurately emotion in emails is perceived by the receiver. How long the sender and receiver know each other, their relative positional status, age, gender, the social context including the presence or absence of shared norms regarding email use, how the sender encodes meaning in his message, etc., are all pertinent factors in determining effective communication of emotion in emails. Byron (2008) points out that one of the best ways to communicate emotion in emails is to verbalize it. For instance, a manager may express happiness with a team member for completing a project on time by actually including the sentence “I am happy….” in her email. The sender should also be aware that additional factors such as response time, length of the message, degree of formality as depicted in tone, choice of words, etc., may all contribute to communication or miscommunication of emotion in an email message.

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Increasing the rate and amount of feedback can also help communicate accurately. It is also a good idea for the sender to repeat important information. The receiver, on her part, may ask clarifying questions or confirm whether her interpretation of the message is accurate in case of doubt. Some believe emoticons may also help in communicating emotion accurately. However, Krohn (2004) suggests that one should limit usage of emoticons to the younger generation. According to him, if your boss or colleague happens to be someone who was born before 1964, it is best not to use emoticons with this person. However, common emoticons may be used for Generation Xers (those born between 1964 and 1980). Finally, they may be used generously with Millenials (those born after 1980). However, we believe it is best to avoid emoticons altogether in professional email. The only exception should be where your recipient regularly uses them and welcomes them.

The Neutrality and Negativity Effect of Email Communication According to Byron (2008), as most professional email is serious and task focused, people are likely to perceive positive emails as more neutral than what the sender meant them to be. The sharing of positive emotions can boost our relationships with our colleagues and supervisors. For example, if our subordinate does a good job, we should be able to show our enthusiasm in our email messages. Otherwise, he might get the impression that we are not happy with his performance and will be confused as to what went wrong. Just as positive emotions may appear as neutral, research shows that due to the lack of non-verbal cues, emails that contain negative information may be perceived as more negative than what the sender meant them to be. For example, let’s say a manager conveys her disappointment with a team member on a specific project via email. He is likely to read more into the email and feel that she is probably upset with his overall work at the firm and not just that particular project. Such a situation is likely to harm his performance level. In fact, the negativity effect can escalate conflict between the sender and recipient of email messages. We will deal with negative emails in detail in the section on flaming. For now, we must remember that being aware of possibilities such as the neutrality and negativity effect may enable us to craft our email messages with more care.

Egocentrism can Harm the Accuracy of Email Messages Research in the field of social psychology shows that people believe they can communicate over email more effectively than they actually can (Kruger et al., 2005). After conducting a five-part study, Kruger et al., suggest that such

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overconfidence is likely to be a result of “egocentrism” which refers to our tendency to judge messages on the basis of our own experiences and values without taking into account the other’s perspective. In fact, it is a natural tendency in many of us to focus excessively on our own value systems and judge other’s actions on the basis of the same. Also, we tend to believe that what we intend to communicate over email is obvious to the recipient. It may not be. The recipient is likely to filter our message based on his own experiences and beliefs. Thus, it is important to take the email receiver’s perspective into account while drafting email messages. Here is an example of an email exchange between a team member and her manager, who also happened to be a close friend and mentor. Let’s call the team member “Maya” and the manager “Sunaina.” Both had been working together for several years. They often discussed issues concerning their personal lives. While Maya was based in Delhi, Sunaina worked out of the Mumbai office. Maya, 37, had spent about 10 years working in the U.S. and the U.K. before returning to India. One day, 48-year-old Sunaina emailed Maya that she was feeling extremely depressed about certain things plaguing her personal life. Maya wrote back the following email: Dear Sunaina, I am so sorry you are going through a difficult phase. But I am sure you will come out of it soon. But if things are getting too difficult to cope with, I suggest you see a therapist. Talking about one’s problems with a professional really helps. Best, Maya.

Sunaina was highly offended upon receiving Maya’s email. She wrote back: Maya, How can you even say such a thing? You want me to see a psychiatrist? You think I am mad. I can’t believe you made such a suggestion. Sunaina.

Maya was shocked. She had lived abroad for 10 years where people often saw therapists. It was considered a healthy thing to do there. Even in India, a couple of Maya’s friends were in therapy. She thought it was an acceptable suggestion to make based on her own values and experiences. However, Sunaina was brought up in an environment where seeing a therapist was equated with having a mental health issue, more specifically, madness. The issue created so much distance between Maya and Sunaina that Maya eventually decided to move to another department. It was difficult for either

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of them to understand that they were evaluating each other based on their own value systems. Had one of them attempted to understand the other’s perspective, their rift would not have reached such an impasse. In fact, once the misunderstanding started, they should have just called each other and cleared the mess instead of continuing to express their disappointment over email. Their failure to communicate effectively is by no means exceptional. There seems to be something about the e-mail channel that makes the senders and recipients stick to it even when explanations fail to improve clarity and acceptance. It is partly because the offending mail may have been copied to others; the recipient feels that the explanation should go to everyone. Unfortunately, some of those copied on an e-mail may intrude by adding their own comments making the situation worse. Even when no one is copied (as in the case of Maya and Sunaina), the recipient tends to respond via e-mail because she may have accessed it at a time when the other person is not accessible on the phone. Whatever the reason, many people waste time and destroy relationships by sticking to e-mail exchanges when they should be exploring other channels including face-to-face meetings.

Flaming and Conflict When we are sitting alone in front of the computer screen, we may end up writing things that we would either say very diplomatically or not say at all in face-to-face communication. We may feel less inhibited in online communication as we are not visible while typing messages. The computer screen may give us a false sense of anonymity or security. We also don’t get the benefit of feedback as and when we compose our messages. We are alone and there is no one to correct us while we are writing. When we express such extreme emotion in our email messages or use inappropriate language, we are indulging in flaming. Based on previous research, Goleman (2007) writes about the “neural mechanics” of flaming, which he describes as the online equivalent of road rage: In face-to-face interaction, the brain reads a continual cascade of emotional signs and social cues, instantaneously using them to guide our next move so that the encounter goes well….And in email there are no channels for voice, facial expression or other cues from the person who will receive what we say.

So what exactly constitutes flaming? Anna Turnage, a researcher at North Carolina State University, tested what constitutes a flame for email users. Her study showed that email messages that show hostility, aggression, intimidation, offensiveness and use uninhibited language can be considered flames. Other characteristics including use of profanities, writing in all

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capital letters, excessive use of exclamation marks or question marks in email messages may also be considered flaming. Interestingly, Turnage also found that the overall tone of the email message is more critical in determining how it is perceived than the use of specific words or symbols. Further, age and work experience can influence how a person reacts to a particular email message. Flaming can occur in interpersonal communication or take on a more public character when several people join in to create a chain of flames, especially on public discussion boards. You only have to Google “online flaming examples” to come across nasty exchanges revolving around technology. For instance, you can witness flame wars among people who use competing operating systems such as Windows, Mac-OS or Linux. You can also see flame wars between fans of Star Trek and Star Wars. Here’s an example of flaming at the level of interpersonal communication in a South Delhi office. The names have been changed to protect their identity: Kailash, Next time you take my chair in the cabin, I will slap you. You a** ****. I like sitting in the corner. But whenever I am late to work, I find you sitting there. Why the hell can’t you get it? Manglesh

This example does not need any explanation. It shows how aggressive one can get over email. Of course, Kailash did not give in. He replied in an equally aggressive manner and refused to budge from the corner seat. The two of them had a war of words, not just online but offline as well, until their supervisor was forced to intervene and sort it out. This brings us to the rather obvious, but often overlooked conclusion that people who are already in conflict should avoid using email to resolve it. While email facilitates communication, it may easily escalate conflict due to the lack of social cues and the very speed of the medium. As mentioned earlier, when there is ongoing tension in a personal or professional relationship, people are more likely to perceive even neutral email messages as negative. Turnage (2008) recommends one be as polite as possible on email and discuss issues over the phone or in person when dealing with emotive or critical issues. If the meaning or intent of an email message is not clear, it’s best to pick up the phone and seek clarification rather than start an email chain. The following section offers guidelines about conveying bad news on email, if at all.

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We will now share with you more specific tips on effective emailing. We begin with suggestions for you while composing and replying to an email message. While some of these may appear commonsensical, we often fail to follow them in our everyday work life either due to laziness or lack of initiative. Let’s try and change that now.

Conveying Bad News on Email: Think Again Sometimes managers use email to convey bad news. It distances them from the news and helps them avoid emotional distress. It may also help them avoid taking blame for mistakes committed either by them or the management. Others who use email to convey bad news might be just too pre-occupied with their own problems or plain insensitive to realize the impact of such behavior on the receiver of the email. A manager should strive to balance “efficiency of communication with sensitivity to its impact” while choosing a medium to convey bad news (Timmerman & Harrison, 2005). First, a manager should take into account how bad news will affect the recipient from the latter’s perspective before deciding how to convey such information. If the recipient is likely to be very disturbed by the news, email is clearly not the medium to use. However, if the explanation offered for the bad news is extremely complex, email may be better as it allows a person to read at his own pace. Again, it’s better to combine such an email message with a phone call or a talk in person. Thirdly, the type of explanation offered for the bad news also influences which medium to use. Timmerman & Harrison list four types of explanations. A causal explanation is one which lessens the manager’s responsibility for the negative outcome by putting the blame on external factors. Here’s an example. Suppose a manager refuses to give a salary hike and blames it on the economy for such a move, that’s a causal explanation. A referential explanation would reframe the negative outcome by providing a different standard of comparison for evaluating the outcome. For example, a manager might point out that although he has refused to give a pay hike, he is still better than those managers who are firing subordinates due to the bad economy. He could also add that things will be better soon. An ideological type of explanation appeals to larger goals such as the good of the organization to justify a particular action. Finally, a penitential or apology explanation has the manager acknowledging the negative outcome and expressing remorse for the same.

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The researchers suggest using a sensitive and detailed causal explanation while using email as the medium for conveying bad news as other types of explanations require dialogue to reframe the action or outcome. Previous research has also shown that explanations are usually more effective when they take the form of an excuse (causal type) than a justification (referential or ideological). The fourth consideration a manager should take into account while choosing a medium to convey bad news is the quality of his relationship with the subordinate. If he enjoys goodwill and credibility with the recipient, he need not worry too much about being perceived as unfair while communicating bad news and may opt for a lean medium such as email. Source: Timmerman, P. D & Harrison, W. (2005). The discretionary use of electronic media: Four considerations for bad news bearers. Journal of Business Communication, 42(4), 379-389.

Things to Do while Composing and Replying to Email Messages a. Add Your Attachment before You Compose Your Email How many times have you sent a long email detailing your work in the attached document, but forgotten to attach the document itself? Chances are all of us have done this sometime or the other. What follows? Either the recipient sends a terse reminder asking us to attach the document or we realize our own mistake and send another email with the attached document. Both options give an impression of sloppiness. We can deal with this problem by attaching the document before composing the email or attaching it when we key in the word “attach” in the body of the email.

b. To Begin With, Address the Person Formally When you are just getting to know a person, address that person formally until you are asked to do differently. Address the recipient as Dear Mr. Kohli or Dear Ms. Kapoor till more informal ways of addressing become acceptable. Cultural conditioning often plays a role in the way people like to be addressed. While senior managers and vice presidents of small and big firms in Western cultures prefer to be addressed by their first names, the case may be very different in the Indian context where “sir” and “ma’am” are usually preferred. Tellingly, modes of address may have many meanings and connotations and it is best to know what is most acceptable in a particular

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culture. For example, when an Indian student went to the United States to pursue her Ph.D., she discovered for the first time that “ma’am” is also used to refer to a brothel owner apart from being used as a polite form of address for a woman. Thus, how you address your recipient must be based on the latter’s preferences, not yours. Take the time to find out what is the norm in your firm, especially if you have recently joined. Once, an assistant professor addressed the director of her institute in New Delhi with his official title, i.e., Dear Professor XYZ, in a letter. When his secretary saw the letter, he lifted his eyebrows above the rim of his glasses and said most ceremoniously: “You must address him as sir and sir only.” The petrified young academic quickly made the correction.

c. Use Appropriate Tone and Active Voice Business communication guru David Silverman (2009) wrote the following in one of his posts on the Harvard Business Review blog: “[The] tone of voice does not carry through the keyboard — no matter how expensive or tactile responsive it is.” That is the reason you have to communicate your tone with a careful use of words. Then, read and re-read it to make sure the recipient won’t misunderstand what you meant. Adjust your tone and vocabulary according to your audience’s preferences. Do not use SMS lingo or chat room abbreviations in professional email. But for most emails, do use a conversational tone. Use active voice. Write short sentences. Use action words. Sentences with subject-verb-object formats work best. Passive voice and long sentences can also get in the way of effective communication via email. However, when email is merely a transmission mode for formal memos, letters, reports, etc., you need to adhere to more traditional writing styles and tones. You can incorporate non-verbal cues by modifying the tone of your email accordingly (Munter et al., 2003). For example, to show deference to a superior, you may use words such as “This might work…” or “I was wondering if this would work” after offering your suggestion.

d. Use Specific Subject Lines that Summarize the Content of Your Email Do not leave the subject line of a professional email message blank. You must not simply “describe” the content of your email in the subject line. Instead, you must “summarize” it in a way that the main purpose of the email comes

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through (Robbins, 2004). For example, do not write subject lines such as “Meeting,” “Delayed,” “Postponed,” “Favor,” etc. Make it more specific. When you are writing about a meeting, for instance, say what the email is specifically about. For instance, the subject line might read “Meeting at 3 p.m. Tuesday.” If you need the recipient to act on something, use verbs. For instance, you may write “Please revise report ASAP.” Do revise the subject line of an email chain when the topic changes or moves to something new. If your message has nothing to do with the subject line which points to something that has already been sorted out, there is a danger that the reader might not read the mail. The danger is greater when your e-mail is accessed on a small handheld device in unhelpful conditions. Finally, do not give subject lines that mislead or do not give complete information about the content of the email. Here’s an example of such an email an assistant professor in Communication received from a student with the subject line “new baby girl.” Let’s call the student – Laila. Dear Ma’am, My husband and I have a new baby girl. I had a normal delivery. I am now in my parents’ home and will be returning to Delhi after a month or more. Also, please take a look at the abstract for my thesis that I am attaching to this email. Regards, Laila

The faculty member was excited about the news and she congratulated Laila on the birth of her child, but missed the part about the abstract. The student had to send her teacher a reminder in a separate email a month later. Had Laila sent two separate emails, her work would not have been delayed. Limiting one’s email to one main topic is better for purposes of clarity. If you have two or more topics to deal with in the body of an email whose subject line doesn’t cover all of them, you must number them. When the first paragraph appears with a number at the start, the reader knows that there will be at least one more paragraph and will scroll down looking for it.

e. Start Your Email with the Main Point; but Don’t Forget to Offer Context at the Outset When one does not offer context of the email at the outset, the recipient may be forced to wade through a chain of messages to locate it. Here’s an example of an email that gives no clue about the context.

60 Online Communication Strategies for Managers Dear S, I think that will work. Let’s do it. Best, Nilesh

The recipient of this email had to look up a previous email from Nilesh, which he sent almost a week before this one, to find out what he was talking about. All it takes is a few words or one sentence to give the context of a particular email. Once you remind the recipient of the context of the email, you can write your main point. If you require the recipient to do something, state it upfront. If you do not do this, the content of your email message may not be fully understood. Here, for example, is an email sent by a manager representing an IT services company to a business school professor. The names have been masked to protect the identities of the people and the company. The reader doesn’t know until the last paragraph what the purpose of the e-mail is. The subject line, “Corporate training,” is vague too. Dear Professor, By way of introduction I am Santrupt Singh, represent Swan Infotech Private Limited, an Ahmedabad- based IT services company. Swan’s tryst with excellence in customer relations began in year 2000. Today, Swan has emerged as one of the most respected names in Information technology circuit in state of Gujarat, India. With its decades old successful service delivery track record, process and innovation culture powered by technology professionals. Swan has Offices in India (Ahmedabad), USA, UK, and is expanding its wings to achieve PAN India Development centers/business centers in coming few years time. The Swan is a member of NSSACOM, AMA, FICCI, CII, GESIA, and Indo-American chamber of commerce. Microsoft certified Gold partner, Intel software partner, CMMI Level 3, ISO 900:2008, ISO27001:2005.For more details please visit www. swan-infotech.com We are currently having below requirements: - Corporate trainer/training programs for Swan managers (Entry-Middle-Senior levels) - We also look for faculty members/Trainers who can impart specific “need based training through lectures/work shops” customized to our needs – in their own individual capacity. I would be looking forward for your prompt assistance on above requirement.

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Please do let me know if I can be of any further help. Have a nice day. Santrupt

It is not clear either from the subject line or from the first two-thirds of the e-mail why Santrupt is writing to the professor. Even at the end of the e-mail, it is not clear exactly what Santrupt wants the professor to do. If he wanted the professor to design a corporate training program in, say, change management, he should have started the e-mail with: We would like to have a corporate training program in change management that you design and conduct for our senior managers. (OR We would be happy if you would design and conduct a corporate training program in change management for our senior managers.) We, Swan Infotech Private Limited, are one of the most respected information technology companies in Gujarat…

Here the reader knows right at the start what the writer wants. If he is not interested in designing and conducting training program in change management for any company, he can decline the request right away. If he is interested, but has not heard of Swan Infotech, the brief description following will help him. We often skim through emails and if your main point is the last thing in your message or is buried in the middle of it, the recipient may just miss it. And, considering the avalanche of emails one receives every single day, it becomes a real possibility.

f. Structure Your Email Message for Easy Processing Email messages should contain short paragraphs and each paragraph should not contain more than one main point. If there’s a host of information in your email message, number each one of them. Munter, Rogers and Rymer (2003) point out that emails must be written in a manner that gives them “high skim value.” If there’s a variety of information in your email message, use headings. Use bullet points to distinctly mark each one. Use regular fonts. Avoid graphics and color fonts. Here’s an example of an email message from an American CEO of a start up firm to his employees. Let’s call him Harish. The CEO was obviously unhappy with the output of his employees and wanted to know the reason for their behavior. This is how he framed it: Hi everyone – There are 4 possible reasons why you did not submit many clips with takeaways today. Can you respond with which ones of these apply to you, and any other feedback you have?

62 Online Communication Strategies for Managers 1. You did not read/come across news items during the day for the companies you lead 2. Did not think clipping tool was important to use 3. Did not think clipping tool was easy to use 4. You have not downloaded the clipping tool yet to your browser (the tool can be found at this URL) Please include your supervisor and me in your response Best, Harish

Harish has done a good job structuring his email message although it has a marked informal tone in keeping with start-up culture. You may also notice the hint of sarcasm. But leaving the tone aside, there is a clear beginning, middle and end in the email message. Instead of writing a long email admonishing his employees, his email carries four points that will help him identify the problem. The email shows that one need not compromise structure no matter what the message.

g. Proofread Your Email Messages You can send routine emails after just running your eyes over them. But while sending important emails, make sure you review every word. Edit it wherever necessary and always run a spell check before sending it. Use black text and standard fonts such as Times New Roman, Calibri, and Arial.

h. Respond to Important Messages Promptly Delay in responding may be perceived as unprofessional behavior. When on vacation, set up an automatic reply for those who email you during that period. When you return, respond to the most recent emails first. Some believe old emails can wait till you take care of the most recently sent ones. In fact, some older emails will have become irrelevant by the time you start responding: An invitation to an event, for instance, that is over. It probably doesn’t make any difference whether your apologies go to the sender two days after the event or five days. Others believe it may be more sensible to scan the unread emails to identify the more urgent-looking ones and replying to them first instead of going from last to first or first to last.

Things Not to do while Composing and Replying to an Email Message a. Do not Write an Email Message when you are Angry or Upset In the section on flaming, we discussed how things can go wrong if you compose an email when you are angry or upset. If you’ve already written an

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email when you are upset, save it as a draft but do not send it. If you send it, chances are you will regret it. Re-read it after a day or two and send it only if it passes the “comfort test” (Munter et al., 2003). In fact, make all important emails pass the comfort test before clicking the send button: Don’t e-mail anything unless you would be comfortable with your colleagues, your boss, or a reporter reading it. Assume that anything you e-mail can be printed, forwarded or faxed, or downloaded and shown anywhere. Nothing on email is confidential or private, even your deleted messages (Munter et al., 2003, p. 34).

If you cannot wait for a day or two to send your response, the minimum you should do is to show the draft to a friend and seek her advice. Being more objective, she may be able to point out words you need to drop or insert to create the most appropriate tone. Here is an example of an email communication between two team members who worked on the same project at a medium-sized firm. Let’s call them Ravi and Vishal. While Ravi did most of the work on the project, Vishal did little. Ravi would take work home and stay up until the wee hours trying to meet the deadline for the project. Ravi resented the fact that Vishal hardly worked but always took credit for the effort he was putting in. However, it was difficult for Ravi to voice his feelings. After the project was complete, Vishal insisted that he would present the final report before their supervisor. Ravi reluctantly agreed. Vishal made it appear as if he was the one who had burnt the midnight oil. Their boss was very happy with the presentation and congratulated Vishal for the well-written report. Ravi was angry with both Vishal and his boss. He was upset that his boss could not see through the games Vishal played. That night, when he sat alone in front of the computer, he decided to tell Vishal his true feelings. Vishal, You are a mediocre little worm. You always take credit for the work that I put in. People like you should be thrown out of the office. I am shocked that even our boss is wearing blinders and is unable to see what is truly going on. I thought at least he was better than that. Ravi.

The next morning when Vishal saw this email message, he forwarded it to their boss claiming that Ravi had an inferiority complex which interfered with his performance. The supervisor called Ravi and Vishal for a meeting. Ravi could not say a word in his defence as he had always found it difficult to assert himself. He got a warning from his boss to keep his anger in check and behave appropriately at work. Had Ravi taken up the matter with his boss in

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person earlier, it would have helped to resolve the situation. Ravi should not have written the email to Vishal when he was hurt and angry. It’s better not to complain or air grievances on email. Such messages are best delivered in person and privately. If, however, circumstances compel you to complain using email, think three times before copying it to anyone. You might think that you can hit someone hard by copying it to a few others. If you do so, you are most likely to hurt yourself more.

b. Do Not Include Jokes in Professional Email Communication Jokes are best left for face-to-face communication. What is humor to you might sound like criticism to another. Or, it may even leave your recipient wondering just what you are talking about. Commenting on the near impossibility of communicating humor accurately on email, business writing guru David Silverman in the blogpost titled “The Funny Email: No one’s Laughing” gives an example of an email exchange between him and a friend where both kept missing each other’s attempt at being humorous. He concludes the post with the following remark: Luckily, Nick is a friend. He wasn’t insulted, just confused. If he had been a more remotely related business connection, I might just have gotten myself unfriended on LinkedIn — and could certainly have reduced his respect for me…. In the future, I might be better served to reserve the humor for a phone call or in person. That way, when there’s stunned silence on the other end of the line or on the far side of the conference table, I could say, ‘I think you may not realize how funny I consider myself to be, and, given that, I believe I will stop now’ (Silverman, 2009).

c. Do Not Use Archaic or Regional English, Especially when You are Emailing International Clients Colonial and colloquial English might work with some government departments or public companies but it no longer works with corporates, especially multinational companies. The British Raj is a thing of the past. We don’t need to perpetuate its legacy by speaking and writing using archaic words in long drawn sentences. Phrases such as “I beg to inform you,” “Your humble servant” or “The public are hereby informed” cannot be a part of email messages. Neither can typical Indian usages of English be a part of our email correspondence with international clients. Phrases such as “You are coming, no,” “I told her only” or “I simply emailed the person” will confuse your international clients. In fact, such usages are no longer acceptable in India today. Here are a few examples of common usages of English in India and their more standard versions

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1. Respected sir Dear sir 2. Myself Ravi Kapoor I am Ravi Kapoor 3. I am liking this project I like this project/I enjoy working on this project 4. I am actually from India I am from India. (Do not overuse words such as obviously, actually, generally, etc.) 5. You will be intimated soon. You will be informed soon. 6. Looking forward to talking to you I look forward to talking with you.

d. Do Not Forward Emails Indiscriminately When you send out an e-mail, you should not assume that it will be read only by the persons you have sent it to. It may be forwarded. Once an e-mail leaves your system, you have no control over it. You should not, however, forward e-mails that you receive unless you are reasonably sure that the sender will have no objection. This is because many senders of e-mail assume that it is confidential, meant only for the person(s) they have sent it to. Do not betray their trust. Some organisations such as Yale University’s library have a policy that staff can forward email only after getting the original sender’s permission. This act, they believe, testifies to the sender’s personal integrity (“Email netiquette,” n.d.). This is an excellent guideline for you to follow. The only exception may be purely informational e-mail with no emotional or strategic implications.

e. Do Not Automatically Reply to All While responding to an email sent to or copied to several people, do not automatically reply to all. The corollary is also true. Do not automatically reply only to the sender if the email is copied to others. Decide who should get your response – only the sender of the original mail, the sender and everyone else copied on the original mail, or the sender and a few of those copied on the original mail – and respond accordingly.

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f. Do Not Clutter Your Signature Block Add a signature block with your contact information but do not clutter it with quotations, advertisements, and other unnecessary information. Also, do not have a signature block that is more than four to five lines or you might be perceived as a narcissist. Just include your full name, your company, phone numbers and a link to your website for those who want more detailed information.

Coping with Email Overload Do you worry about a full inbox when you get to work every morning? Does the sheer number of email messages in your inbox frustrate you? Do you get tired replying to email messages during your work hours? If your answer to any of these questions is yes, you are coping with email overload. Stever Robbins (2004) points out that email has transferred the costs of communication from the sender to the receiver: Before email, senders shouldered the burden of mail. Writing, stamping, and mailing a letter was a lot of work. Plus, each new addressee meant more postage, so we thought hard about whom to send things to….E-mail bludgeoned that system in no time. With free sending to an infinite number of people now a reality, every little thought and impulse becomes instant communication. Our most pathetic meanderings become deep thoughts that we happily blast to six dozen colleagues who surely can’t wait. On the receiving end, we collect these gems of wisdom from the dozens around us. The result: Inbox overload.

Researchers at a naval postgraduate school in the United States got together with five managers in the U.S. Department of Army and identified factors that contribute to email overload which can cause stress and decreased satisfaction at the workplace. Focus group discussions among the managers brought out five factors that they believed contributed to email overload (Thomas & King, 2006). ∑ As emails are easily sent, copied and forwarded, requests for tasks multiply in no time. ∑ Many of these tasks may be highly complex requiring more time than what is actually available for completing them even as more emails with requests for tasks keep accumulating. ∑ The medium breaks the boundaries between one’s personal and professional workspace as people can be reached at any hour of the day or during weekends using emails. No matter where one is, email keeps piling in the inbox. ∑ The expectation of immediacy makes it worse as the pressure to respond makes people respond to them as soon as they receive them.

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∑ Email users often end up multitasking, checking and responding to emails from their mobile devices while attending a meeting or even when they were on vacation. Such multitasking eventually affects the quality of their work. Don’t let email overload transform you into an email addict. Don’t be tempted to constantly check your email messages at work unless that is your primary responsibility. Peter Bregman, in a Harvard Business Review blog post, writes about how people get addicted to email as a way to distract themselves from anything uncomfortable or boring: I’ve come to the conclusion that I use email to distract myself. Whenever I feel the least bit uneasy, I check my email. Stuck while writing an article? Bored on a phone call? Standing in an elevator, frustrated in a meeting, anxious about an interaction? Might as well check email. It’s an ever-present, easy-access way to avoid my feelings of discomfort. What makes it so compelling is that it’s so compelling. I wonder what’s waiting for me in my inbox? It’s scintillating. It also feels legitimate, even responsible. I’m working.

In fact, email overload has become such a dreaded problem that some firms and their leaders have taken extreme measures to put an end to it. Here are two such examples. Robbins (2004) gives an example of a CEO who actually charges her staff five dollars from their budget for each mail she receives. And, believe it or not, her strategy works. She now receives fewer emails and her staff are resolving more problems on their own. BBC News carried a story in December 2011 on how Thierry Borton, CEO of French IT Services giant, Atos, has vowed to ban internal email in his company by the end of 2013. He took this decision after he saw the amount of time his employees were spending on email. An in depth study on his firm showed that his employees were receiving an average of 100 emails a day, out of which only 15 percent were useful. But the employees kept checking their emails throughout the day as they were worried they would miss something important. While Borton considers external email or email between organizations and instant messaging necessary, he is extremely critical of internal emailing (BBC News, 2011a). Other firms have taken not-so-extreme measures. After employees at Volkswagen-Germany complained of email blurring the boundaries between their work and personal lives, the firm has agreed not to send email after work hours to some of its employees. Of course, the rule does not apply to members of the senior management (BBC News, 2011b). Henkel, makers of Persil washing powder, declared an email “amnesty” for workers between Christmas and New Year (BBC News, 2011b). You don’t need to take extreme measures to cope with email overload. What you need to do is discipline yourself by following certain practices. You need to train

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yourself and train your colleagues to be efficient with email. You also need to manage your inbox better. Some of you might know there’s an online movement geared towards attaining the blissful state called “Inbox Zero” (Ingram, 2010). You may not really get to “Inbox Zero” but the measures mentioned below will definitely stop email overload:

Measures to Stop Email Overload 1. Let People Know You are Struggling with Email Overload Talk to colleagues who send you too many emails on a regular basis. Tell them you are trying to control email overload and to update/copy you on regular matters only when necessary. Also, let people know you may not reply to every email. Respond only to those emails that warrant a response. Let people know that they may not get an immediate response as you only check email during certain times of the day. Tell people who regularly send you long emails to refrain from doing so.

2. Turn off Social Media Notifications You will save a lot of time not having to delete each Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn notification before you do important email. Use your rules and spam filters in your email client to automatically delete them from your inbox or file them separately. Unsubscribe from newsletters wherever possible.

3. Don’t take Decisions on Complex Matters over Email Discussion of complex matters over email is likely to start a long email chain with the sender and receiver providing a dozen justifications and explanations for their proposed action leading to unnecessary waste of time and energy. Not leaving an electronic trail when discussing sensitive matters is also advisable. So when you need to discuss something complex, pick up the phone instead. Or, if you can, meet in person.

4. Reply, Save or Delete Emails at the Earliest When you receive an email message, take one of the following actions immediately – reply to it, save it in the designated folder or delete it. Don’t just let it hang around in the inbox. If you find yourself responding several times on the same topic, calling may be a more efficient way to go about it.

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5. Write Short Replies Digg founder Kevin Rose advises us to limit email replies to three sentences or less. He makes an interesting suggestion. Write “Sent from my iPhone” under the shortest messages as people don’t expect you to type long messages using a phone keypad (Ingram, 2010). You may even misspell a few words to make it look more real. He offers an example: “This all looks great!! +1! Sent from iPhone.” Of course, Gigaom’s Matthew Ingram suggests you don’t follow Rose’s devious suggestion if you don’t have an iPhone as you will soon get caught.

6. Schedule Specific Time to Check Your Email For instance, you may schedule 15 minute blocks four times a day to check your email, depending on how many emails you get a day. Of course, if you are a member of a virtual team or checking email is a primary task for you due to the nature of your role, this suggestion will not work for you.

7. Use Folders/Labels/Filters and Start a Filing System File each email in its specific folder the moment you read it. For instance, you may have folders based on the timeline of emails such as “Immediate action” or “Waiting” for those messages where you have to wait to send a reply. Or, you may have folders classified according to projects. Another related suggestion from Digg founder Kevin Rose: Create a “VIP filter” for your boss and other important people (Ingram, 2010). Make sure you attend to this folder first thing in the morning as it will have your most important messages. Just remember not to have more than five to six folders as it beats the purpose.

8. If You can Afford it, Take a Complete Email Sabbatical Danah Boyd, a known Internet researcher, did not set an automatic reply when she went on a vacation. Instead, she asked people not to email her at all till the date she returned from her vacation. Here’s an excerpt from the vacation message posted on her blog titled “apophenia: making connections where none previously existed.” I’m on Vacation (till January 10). …..During this period, I will be properly off the grid. No email, no internets, no nothing. More importantly, during this period, I will be taking an Email Sabbatical. What this means is that my INBOX will not be receiving any email. None.

70 Online Communication Strategies for Managers Zilch. All headed off to /dev/null for a cruel digital death. If you need to reach me, email me after January 10. I know that asking for people’s patience on this one is hard, particularly for those of you who don’t know me and think that I’m a cruel evil diva for needing a break. But I’m a workaholic who works constantly during the year. In order to function, I need to take time off. And the only way to get a proper break is to vacation just as hard as I work. And this means saying goodbye to email and, more importantly, not letting myself anxiously worry about all that’s waiting for me when I return. Vacations are precious. Life is precious. Have an amazing holiday season and I look forward to seeing you in the new year!

9. Training If you feel your team needs training in email etiquette, go ahead and send them for training. You may even get experts to create tailored training programs aimed at resolving problems specific to your organization. Make it easier for people to respect and follow email etiquettes at work. To conclude, email, as a channel of communication, is unmatched in its speed, reach, and ease of operation. As a result, many people email thoughtlessly. They also try to achieve through this channel many things that it is incapable of. They ask even strangers for information and advice that cannot be easily dispensed through this channel. As a result, they annoy and alienate their recipients. The email’s strength – written text that can reach the addressee in seconds wherever they are – is also its weakness. It is devoid of nearly all the nonverbal cues that people depend heavily on during oral communication. The first casualty, therefore, is communication of emotions. We have to verbalise many emotions that are taken for granted in oral communication. And articulating emotions appropriately in the absence of feedback is extremely difficult. Not surprisingly, many fail to do a good job of verbalising their emotions. They tend to make egocentric assumptions about the recipients’ expectations and end up annoying them and bringing down the efficiency of communication because the recipients are likely to filter the message through the sieve of their own experiences and beliefs. The lesson is clear: if your email provokes emotions that are different from what you expect, pick up the phone or meet the person rather than try to sort things out through more elaborate email messages. The computer screen gives us a false sense of anonymity or security. This may tempt us, when we are angry or upset, to put into an e-mail

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words and phrases which we are unlikely to use in face-to-face or telephone conversations. The result is flaming, the online equivalent of road rage. To make the most of this wonderful channel and to avoid its pitfalls, here are a few dos and don’ts. Dos a. Add your attachment before you compose your email b. To begin with, address the person formally c. Use appropriate tone and active voice d. Use specific subject lines that summarize the content of your email e. Start your email with the main point; but don’t forget to offer context at the outset f. Structure your email message for easy processing g. Proofread your email messages h. Respond to important messages promptly Don’ts a. Do not write an email message when you are angry or upset b. Do not include jokes in professional email communication c. Do not use archaic or regional English, especially when emailing international clients d. Do not automatically reply to all e. Do not clutter your signature block One of the problems associated with this easy-to-use channel is that a lot of unnecessary e-mail is created leading to bulging inboxes and e-mail overload. Here are a few measures to stop email overload: a. Let people know you are stuggling with email overload b. Turn off social media notifications c. Don’t take decisions on complex matters over email d. Reply, save or delete emails at the earliest e. Write short replies f. Schedule specific time to check your email g. Use folders/labels/filters and start a filing system h. If you can afford it, take a complete email sabbatical

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References BBC News (2011a, December 6). Atos boss Thierry Breton defends his internal email ban. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16055310?print=true BBC News (2011b, December 23). Volkswagen turns off Blackberry email after work hours. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16314901 Boyd, D. (2001) I’m on Vacation!! (Until January 10). danah boyd: apophenia. Retrieved fromhttp://www.zephoria.org/thoughts/archives/2011/12/15/vacation. html Bregman, P. (2012). Coping with email overload. Harvard Business Review Blog. Retrieved from http://blogs.hbr.org/bregman/2012/04/coping-with-emailoverload.html Byron, K. (2008). Carrying too heavy a load? The communication and miscommunication of emotion by email.Academy of Management Review, 33(2), 309-327. Email netiquette (n.d.). Staff Training and Organizational Development at Yale University Library. Retrieved from http://www.library.yale.edu/training/netiquette/index. html Gallo, A. (2012, February 21). Stop email overload. Harvard Business Review Blog Network. Retrieved from http://blogs.hbr.org/hmu/2012/02/stop-emailoverload-1.html Goleman, D. (2007, February 20). Flame first, think later: New clues to e-mail misbehavior. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes. com/2007/02/20/health/psychology/20essa.html Ingram, M. (2010, August 18). Kevin Rose tells you how to get to inbox zero, Gigaom. Retrieved from http://gigaom.com/2010/08/18/kevin-rose-tells-you-how-toget-to-inbox-zero/ Krohn, Franklin B. (2004). A generational approach to using emoticons as nonverbal communication.Technical Writing and Communication. 34(4), 321-328. Munter, M., Rogers, Priscilla S., & Rymer, J. (2003). Business e-mail: Guidelines for users. Business Communication Quarterly, 66(1), 26-40. Timmerman, P.D. & Harrison, W. (2005). The discretionary use of electronic media: Four considerations for bad news bearers. Journal of Business Communication, 42(4), 379-389 Kruger, J., Epley, N., Parker, J. & Zhi-Wen, Ng (2005). Egocentrism over e-mail: Can we communicate as well as we think? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 89(6), 925-936. Robbins, S. (2004). Tips for mastering e-mail overload. Harvard Business School: Working Knowledge for Business Leaders. Retrieved fromhttp://hbswk.hbs.edu/ archive/4438.html Turnage, A. K. (2008). Email flaming behaviors and organizational conflict. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13, 43-59.

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Thomas, G. F. & King, C.L.(2006, July). Reconceptualizing electronic mail overload. Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 20(3), 1-36. Silverman, D. (2009a, May 11). How to keep your email inbox under control. Harvard Business Review Blog Network. Retrieved fromhttp://blogs.hbr.org/ silverman/2009/05/how-to-keep-your-email-under-c.html Silverman, D. (2009b, July 23). The funny email? No one’s laughing. Harvard Business Review Blog Network. Retrieved from http://blogs.hbr.org/silverman/2009/07/ that-funny-email-no-ones-laugh.html

"You are the one I selected after going over your LinkedIn profile?"

Chapter 4

Professional Networking on LinkedIn Let’s leave today’s world of business for a few moments and examine one of the oldest practices in human history – forging alliances through marriage. Friends and relatives of young men and women looked around in their social circles for a suitable matrimonial match. ‘Suitable match’ covered several characteristics: race, culture, language, trade, finance, and social standing apart from body type, height, and complexion. Those friends and relatives explored only the larger communities they belonged to or were familiar with and knowledgeable about. The exploration was by no means restricted to their immediate circles; the search often led to strangers connected within the larger community through friends and friends of friends or relatives and their friends and relatives. The connection, however tenuous and indirect, gave them confidence to proceed. They knew there were other communities but were not comfortable with or confident about looking for a suitable match from any of those communities. Being part of a community gave them a level of comfort about identifying someone as a good match for one of their young men or women. There may have been more attractive matches and more advantageous alliances elsewhere, but people did not want to take a risk by going outside their own larger community defined by their race, region, and social circles. While this practice of members of a community identifying potential partners for their young men and women – we call it ‘arranged marriage’ – was and is still prevalent in many communities, especially in Asia, another method of match-finding has emerged in recent centuries. Young men and women look out on their own for potential soul mates without tying themselves down in advance to their own community, race, social rung, or financial status. In theory, they are open to suitable partners from among millions of eligible men and women belonging to different races, regions, languages, and cultures anywhere on earth. But if you look at the choices they actually make, you find a dramatic shrinking of that world of potential mates. The partner so chosen is nearly always a classmate, a co-worker, a neighbor or someone from one’s social or professional network. Somehow their search for partners is influenced deeply by the networks they belong to.

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We can’t avoid networking even if we set out to. Being part of a network is as natural and as useful as being part of a family, which, incidentally, is our very first social network. Membership gives everyone a high level of visibility within the group and several privileges including a claim on the time and resources of other members. People generally have a soft corner for members of one’s own group especially when they have had an opportunity to interact with one another. This is as true of professional and business networks as of social ones. In a study of business networking in the Industrial Revolution in 19th-century UK, Robinson Pearson and David Richardson (2001, p. 657), for instance, note that “moral attitudes and value systems shared by members of the network ... can reduce the risk, and therefore also the cost, of commercial transactions.” Economic actors, they add, “prefer to deal with individuals of known repute.” It is not surprising that both job search by individual professionals and talent search by growing organizations leverage the power and reach of networks, as we shall see later in this chapter. Your connections help you locate and obtain suitable jobs which may or may not have been advertised; similarly, you guide your connections to the good openings you are aware of within your own organization or elsewhere.

Networking for Professional Growth A professional network is an excellent example of the beautiful coexistence of competition and collaboration which stimulates envy, innovation, and determination in equal measures. We cannot stand alone in a profession and do well; we have to network with others in order to grow and get ahead. We need to interact with fellow professionals to refine our own thinking, to answer some of our questions, to validate our views, to test our inventions, and to expose ourselves to different perspectives. We need to be challenged by fellow professionals so that we can sharpen our ideas and practice. We need to benchmark our ideas and achievements against the best in our field. If we join a professional network as a novice, informal guidance is a natural benefit. This is a modern version of the mediaeval guilds that groomed their members from raw artisans to master craftsmen. Leading members of a network will naturally have greater influence on its activities than ordinary members. What is noteworthy, however, is that irrespective of their position, everyone has influence over members of their network. It is in everyone’s interest to promote the network – everyone does well when the network does well. Bob Burg (n.d.), author of Endless Referrals, says on his homepage, “All things being equal, people will do business with, and send business to those

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people they know, like, and trust.” His words neatly sum up the reason why we should network: members of a network get special treatment when they approach fellow members as opposed to strangers. Burg is talking about getting business; it is equally applicable to getting free professional help or advice of the highest quality from members of the same network. Networking does indeed help people land good jobs and find buyers for products and services, but it is not – it ought not to be – the main objective, which should be professional growth. Landing a good job or getting buyers for your services is one of the welcome consequences of that professional growth. The main manifestation of professional growth is that you become a valuable, and therefore influential, member of the profession. You cannot achieve it if you are not connected to a reasonably large number of fellow professionals. Once you are a valuable member of a small network, there will be requests for connection from people you don’t know but are connected to some of the people you know. Thus your network can grow gradually like a tree. There will be a strong trunk and a few large branches which are then connected to smaller branches and twigs. The tree needs those small branches and leaves but none of them are as critical as the trunk or the main branches. Here it is pertinent to examine two of Robert Cialdini’s (1993) six principles of influence: reciprocity and social proof. The urge to reciprocate a favor received is so strong, says Cialdini, that we often go out of our way and return far more than we have received. One of the things that bind members of a network is this relationship driven by reciprocity. Everyone gains; everyone feels obliged to reciprocate. The other principle of influence relevant to networking is social proof. We are influenced by what members of our network do, avoid, and aspire

Network Magic for Job Seekers In an article in Business Communication Quarterly, Thomas Clark (2009) writes about one of his students who wanted to work in Nashville, Tennessee. She sent out over 100 cold-call letters seeking employment in that town but received not a single invitation for interview. Then she asked the Alumni Office of her university (Xavier University, Cincinnati, Ohio) for names of graduates who worked in communications, her area of specialisation, in Nashville. She received four names; she called each one of them indicating that they had a Xavier education in common. Each call elicited an interview call and one led to a job offer.

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for. Often we cannot influence others directly if they don’t belong to our network, if they are not connected to us. They may not even notice us. We can, however, reach out to them through mutual connections. If you are a complete outsider, you are unlikely to be able to influence them unless you have extraordinary achievements that are widely publicized. William Byham (2010) provides another compelling reason why networking is essential for business success. Business has become so global and complex in the new millennium that no individual will have all the knowledge and skills required to perform their jobs well. Networking with the right people is the only way out, argues Byham. Thus, if you are a professional, you need to network to thrive professionally. That is why Erin Binns (2013) has titled her advice to young lawyers in the following words: “LinkedIn® or Locked out.” Her choice of LinkedIn as the network to belong to is apt because it is the best, biggest, and the most vibrant online professional networking platform as of now. Not being part of LinkedIn may therefore lock you out of many opportunities for professional growth including finding the right employer at the right time.

Job Search and Professional Networking Landing a suitable job or a consulting assignment is one of the legitimate objectives of professional networking although a single-minded pursuit of employment or lucrative assignments can put off members of your network. You carry great weight as a candidate when you are ‘discovered’ as a suitable person to fill a vacancy or to take up a consulting assignment. An influential member of your network, if impressed by your profile and achievements, may recommend your name to a recruiter who consults her. Thus once you establish a desirable image in your professional network, jobs and assignments will come looking for you. If, however, you try too hard, you may put off recruiters and other members of your network because you may appear to be pestering them driven solely by benefits that come to you. As Phyllis Korkky (2013) observes, many recruiters don’t advertise their positions. Instead, they search online for the right kind of candidate. Therefore, if you are not accessible online, especially on social media platforms, you may be shut out of a major and growing section of the job market. There are several online platforms on which you can freely upload evidence of your professional achievements, of the quality of your thinking, and of the impact of your communication, which reassure recruiters. LinkedIn, however, has a definite edge over other platforms because it is by far the largest network of professionals, and is the clear market leader.

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We shall look, later in this chapter, at how to use this platform to spot and land a suitable job. A curriculum vitae or a profile, however detailed, does not give a complete picture. It is likely to be constructed in such a way that only the positive aspects are projected and any negatives are suppressed or played down. This is why recruiters generally look for references to supplement and validate claims made in it. If the people – bosses, colleagues, and subordinates – the candidate has worked with vouch for a person, the recommendations may be taken seriously. LinkedIn provides for display of recommendations and endorsements from members of the network. The value of such recommendations naturally depends on the standing the recommenders have in the network. Belonging to a powerful and growing network thus helps the members grow professionally and receive desirable job offers.

How to Network Networking has somehow acquired a bad name. This activity is often associated with self-obsessed go-getters, people who are concerned only about what they can get out of others. This is a caricature of true networking. A good networker gets a lot not because he aggressively pursues it but because he gives a lot without calculating what he can get in return. Here is the way Reid Hoffman (co-founder and chairman of LinkedIn) and Ben Casnocha (2012), authors of The Start-Up of You, contrast what they call “old-school networkers” with genuine networkers: Old-school networkers are transactional. They pursue relationships thinking solely about what other people can do for them. Relationship builders, on the other hand, try to help others first. They don’t keep score. And they prioritize high-quality relationships over a large number of connections.

Hoffman and Casnocha identify two fundamental abilities that we need in order to build genuine relationships that form the bedrock of a healthy network: to see the world from the other’s perspective and to explore how one can be of help to others. The authors are not naively suggesting an otherworldly saintliness that ignores one’s own needs; they are talking about the basic requirement of giving generously without expecting anything specific in return. If you give someone something expecting something specific in return, it’s a business transaction, like providing goods or services in return for payment, not an act of relationship building. In a relationship, you give what you have. In the process you – your skills and your influence – grow; others in the network reciprocate. “Networking is a life skill, rather than something you do only when you want something,” says Robyn Henderson (2005). She goes on to say

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How to Move Mountains A young boy was walking with his father along a country road. When they came across a very large tree branch the boy asked, “Do you think I could move that branch?” His father answered, “If you use all your strength, I’m sure you can.” So the boy tried mightily to lift, pull and push the branch but he couldn’t move it. Discouraged he said, “Dad, you were wrong. I can’t do it.” His dad said, “Try again.” This time, as the boy struggled with the branch his father joined him and together they pushed the branch aside. “Son,” the father said, “the first time you didn’t use all your strength. You didn’t ask me to help.” Reproduced from USECA [United States Elite Coaches Association] Newsletter, August 2003 that the principles of networking are based on three universal laws: The law of abundance (there is plenty of opportunities for everyone), the law of reciprocity (give generously and you will receive even more generously), and the law of giving without expectation (help others achieve their goals without being too calculative). According to her, the basic philosophy of great networkers is to treat everyone the way they would like to be treated. There is a remarkable degree of similarity between Henderson’s ideas of how to network and those of Hoffman and Casnocha. This is not surprising because while many things around us including technology change fast, the fundamental principles of building human relationships don’t change. And networking is one such fundamental human characteristic. The means and scope of networking may change over time as technology evolves but the heart of networking does not. Hoffman and Casnocha (2012) cite an interesting study conducted by OkCupid, a free online dating site. OkCupid analyzed 500,000 first messages sent by a man or a woman to a potential suitor. The messages with the highest response rate included phrases such as “You mention …” or “I noticed that …” What is magical about these phrases? They clearly indicate that the writer had read the potential suitor’s profile. It is obvious to the reader that the writer is interested in him/her. This is reciprocated. The messages that do not elicit a warm response tend to focus on the self and to project it rather than on the recipient. We come back to the idea that we mentioned a little while ago: to develop a network you have to take interest in others. If you are self-obsessed, others – especially those outside your close network – may not care even to respond to your messages let alone do something for you.

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The Efficient Networker A network is not something that is built overnight or with a couple of e-mails. It is built on relationships that are nurtured over time. Relationships with others cannot, however, be built and nurtured unless they know you and value you. Internet-based networking platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn make the first part – getting noticed by others – easier than ever in the past. We shall deal with this aspect of networking later in this chapter. Creating a positive impression on other members of the network and commanding their respect has nothing to do with the particular platform you use. It depends on your attitude. We shall turn to it now. The efficient networker does not restrict his circle to those he knows very well and lives or works with. These people are important, but efficient networkers go beyond that comfort zone. He uses his existing connections to get introduced to those he believes he should be connected to. Some people from outside his immediate circle, especially the influential ones, are likely to open up his horizon substantially. Wharton professor Adam Grant (2013) provides research findings to support his claim that in a network, weak ties (virtual strangers who are friends and acquaintances of one’s current friends and acquaintances) and dormant ties (friends and acquaintances from the past with whom one has lost touch) tend to be far more useful than strong ties (contacts in the immediate circle with whom one regularly interacts). Grant goes on to cite the example of Adam Rifkin, Fortune’s best networker in 2011, who keeps “going back to people who I haven’t talked to in a while” and derives tremendous benefits. Grant’s explanation is that people in our immediate circle are likely to have information and perspectives similar to ours while the weak and dormant ties are likely to have different and potentially novel information, perspectives, and contacts. The efficient networker cares for the welfare of those she is connected to. This is manifested by the display of courtesy due to others. She, for example, promptly returns phone calls and e-mails from those connections and provides any help that she can. She is not so self-centered as to respond only to those contacts she thinks will benefit her. The efficient networker keeps track of her connections and offers them useful information or contacts. If, for example, he comes across a research article or news item which he believes will be of use to someone in his network, he sends it to them without being asked. The recipients appreciate this unsolicited favor – this is not the same as the mindless forwarding of email to everyone in one’s address book. Such thoughtful support for one’s contacts keeps the relationship warm, well-oiled. The old saying, “Out of sight, out of mind,” is true of networking. The efficient networker prevents

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that phenomenon by regularly getting in touch with different members of the network with something that is likely to interest and benefit them. The efficient networker comes across opportunities relevant to her from time to time because of her contacts. She can either use them or, if not interested, pass them on to some other contacts, who might be grateful to her. She may not get anything in return immediately, but in unanticipated ways she will get help from unexpected sources. This is because when one is a giver rather than a taker, others reciprocate by being givers. Finally, the efficient networker uses multiple channels of communication when feasible instead of relying exclusively on the inexpensive and easy-touse electronic channel. He, for example, telephones some of the contacts or even meets them while visiting the city where they live. This takes the relationship to a higher level. In other words, he cultivates the network.

Networking in the Twenty-First Century We have noted that networking is as old as humanity. Successful professionals, entrepreneurs, and politicians have always nurtured suitable networks. The principles of networking have also remained stable. What has been changing is the methodology of networking because it depends on the prevalent communication technology, which molds people’s expectations. Before the invention of the telephone, for example, time-consuming personal visits and specially delivered letters were the common means of networking. The emergence of the telephone made long-distance networking feasible for a large number of people. The advent of the Internet, especially the development of Web 2.0, towards the end of the twentieth century, transformed communication technology yet again. Social networking via the Internet started in earnest in the 1990s because of Web 2.0, which made it possible for many people to connect inexpensively with anyone across geographical and cultural barriers. Wikipedia lists about 200 online networking services that started since 1990, most of them in the second half of the 1990s. Of these the most successful ones are Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. We talk elsewhere about Twitter (Chapter 6) and Facebook (Chapter 7); here we focus on LinkedIn, the professional networking platform.

LinkedIn for Professional Networking “Facebook’s a place you go to find people you know. LinkedIn is a place you go to find people you don’t know,” says Alex Klein (2012). While this claim is not literally true, it points to the fundamental difference between LinkedIn

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and the other popular social networking platforms. It also supports the general impression that great networking skills demonstrated on Facebook or Twitter may not necessarily be transferred to LinkedIn. They all involve networking, but the behavior expected on the LinkedIn platform is more professional than social. The conversations on LinkedIn are less colorful and less emotion laden than the posts on Facebook and Twitter. While exploring the use of social media and networking in the marketing classroom, McCorkle & McCorkle (2012) started with the assumption that students used to networking on Facebook would easily transfer those skills to LinkedIn. But their experience proved them wrong. They came to the conclusion “that the more professional environment of LinkedIn and its linkages to business practice requires a much different and more professional approach to social networking than previously learned from using Facebook…” Therefore they recommend that students be given help and direction to network with LinkedIn. The great strength of LinkedIn is that it helps its members start with professionals they know well and are connected (first degree contacts), and through them get connected to their network (second degree contacts), and through them connect with yet more professionals in their network (third degree contacts). As the introductions and connections take place online, the professionals in your network need not go out of their way to introduce you to their connections. Compared to the limited opportunities in the past for professional networking, LinkedIn offers everyone virtually free and limitless opportunities to connect with professionals globally. This is why Haydn Shaughnessy (2012) finds LinkedIn a “networker’s paradise.” Anyone who is 18 years or older and has an email ID can upload their profile and start the process of connecting with others. Once a profile is up, it can be accessed fully or partially by others with the help of keywords. These keywords can be names (say, Ranjit Sharma, Kalpana Punaikar), professions or occupations (say, lawyer, accountant, social media manager), specializations (say, intellectual property, knee replacement), groups (say, Agnes School Alums, crime reporters), organizations (say, IIM Ahmedabad, Physical Research Laboratory) and so on. Those who are interested in connecting with you because of your accomplishments or anything else can send you a request to add you to their professional network. If they don’t know you, they can approach you through someone who may be in your network as well as theirs. It’s that simple. The LinkedIn platform also encourages you to form special interest groups (e.g. Indian Management Teachers, Spanish Language and Literature, Mountaineering); these groups can help members grow professionally by exploring new ideas, sharing problems, asking for and receiving solutions to

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practical as well as theoretical problems. The great advantage of the digital platform is that it does not recognize geographical barriers. Those who form or are active in special-interest groups and forums develop their personal brand because through their posts targeted at members of such groups, they get noticed. If a group shows potential to grow large, LinkedIn gives a helping hand by suggesting its membership to others (“Groups you might like”) whose interests are somewhat similar. Once there are regular conversations, special-interest groups are also picked up by search engines. Thus getting discovered as a valuable professional is easier once your group gains prominence. The user profiles uploaded by members (over 225 million in August 2013, and growing steadily in number) are the heart of LinkedIn for all the stakeholders – individuals interested in professional networking, organizations and headhunters looking to hire talent, and LinkedIn trying to be a profitable business. There are a few dos and don’ts for professionals interested in getting the best out of this great online platform. Before we discuss them, however, we shall take a quick look at how headhunters and HR departments of companies on the one hand and LinkedIn on the other view and use the growing network. That will help us avoid some of the mistakes many members of LinkedIn make in their anxiety to grow their network quickly.

Why do Companies and Headhunters Love LinkedIn? When you apply to a company for a job, you submit your resume. If you register with independent recruiters (or job portals such as www.monster. com and www.naukri.com), you willingly submit your resume to them. Thus both headhunters and HR departments of companies have a collection of resumes to process and choose from. The crucial difference between those resumes and the millions of profiles uploaded on LinkedIn is that the first two sets are exclusively from active job seekers while the LinkedIn collection contains resumes of both job seekers and of a large number of successful professionals who are well employed and so would not consider sending out resumes. The biographical details of professionals who are well settled in their current job and are not actively looking for a new job may, however, be more valuable to HR departments and headhunters than those of active jobseekers. The rare combination of active and passive job seekers is what makes LinkedIn a far more attractive destination than standard job portals for recruiters. This is what prompts HR departments and headhunters to

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buy LinkedIn’s pricy Talent Solutions, built around LinkedIn Recruiter. Victor Luckerson (2012) cites Aaron Aders, the CEO of a search engine optimization consulting company: The most valuable employee is typically one that already has a job. So the nice thing about LinkedIn is even if people are currently working, you still have access to their profile. We call it having a deep bench — having a list of people for key positions in our company so that if someone’s let go or they’re transitioning, we’ve made some contact with [people] that we can call on and possibly pull the trigger on to hire.

Aders is happy paying for Talent Solutions because he says it brought down his company’s recruiting expenses by over 80 percent. His company is among thousands of organizations of all types and sizes turning to LinkedIn for high-quality hiring at a fraction of their traditional costs of spotting and attracting the best talent. In a sense, subscribers who upload their resumes on LinkedIn are like quadrupeds in a cattle fair and recruiters are like customers who pay for entry and viewing rights. They can go around, inspect every head of cattle on display, and identify the ones they are interested in buying. Of course, there is a big difference: while the cattle have no say about who may take them away, the professionals who subscribe to LinkedIn’s free or premium accounts are free to spurn any job offers made by recruiters. Thus, for job seekers it is a blessing that they don’t have to invest any money to attract potential recruiters; for those who are happily employed, unsolicited job offers are a minor nuisance to be put up with to enjoy the tremendous advantage derived from being in a network of professionals. It is also possible that an unsolicited job offer opens up a wonderful avenue that a happily employed professional may have missed. In any case, it may please the professional to know that she is in demand in the job market even if she doesn’t want to change her job. Headhunters and HR departments of companies of all sizes are interested in the profiles uploaded on LinkedIn. The main implication for you is that you should make your profile attractive and easily discoverable through keyword search. Many companies including those that buy Talent Solutions also promote themselves via LinkedIn pages. In their profile they provide information about themselves, their products, and services apart from job openings. You can follow companies that interest you. If you do, you will get to know as soon as any positions you are interested in open up. Similarly, you will get to know about any major moves – such as launch of new products or services, opening of new branches, acquisitions, and so on – made by the companies you follow. Such information will be vital if you are interested in a job at that company and are called for interview.

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What does LinkedIn do with Your Profile? LinkedIn is not a charity but a for-profit business. It makes money from the profiles that millions of professionals upload voluntarily and update religiously. As we have seen above, the eager buyers of its services are HR departments and headhunters who want easy access to all these profiles. LinkedIn’s business model is built on the congruence of interests of subscribers who want to be noticed and buyers of the information they volunteer. LinkedIn has three revenue streams. According to the financial results of the first quarter of 2013 announced by LinkedIn on May 02, 2013 (http:// investors.linkedin.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=761589), the revenue was $324.7 million. Out of this, 57 per cent ($184.3 million) came from Talent Solutions; 23 per cent came from Marketing Solutions; and 20 per cent ($65.6 million) from Premium Subscriptions. Thus it is obvious that LinkedIn Recruiter (the heart of Talent Solutions), which allows companies and independent recruiters to search the entire network and to contact every subscriber through InMail, is LinkedIn’s cash cow. The $184.3 million that LinkedIn made by selling Talent Solutions to companies and independent recruiters in the first quarter of 2013 represents an increase of 80% compared to the corresponding quarter of 2012. Obviously, companies find access to millions of professionals well worth the fee they pay for it. This sentiment is echoed clearly in the following quote from Eric P. Yaeger, Sr. Technical Recruiter, Nokia Corporation, displayed on LinkedIn’s Talent Solutions web page (http://business.linkedin.com/talentsolutions/products.html): “LinkedIn Recruiter is flat out the best sourcing/ networking/recruiting tool period. I can’t imagine doing my job without it!” When LinkedIn makes it easy for you to connect with virtually anyone you wish to be connected to, reminds you relentlessly of any invitations that you have not responded to, suggests names of people you might like to connect with, arouses your curiosity by indicating the names of people who viewed your profile, introduces new features to make connections easier even with reluctant but highly accomplished professionals, and on the whole hustles you, its main objective is to raise the number of profiles uploaded and viewed because that is what strengthens its three revenue streams. And LinkedIn seems to have got the recipe right because, according to Forbes, says Alex Klein (2012) “for every hour a Facebook user spends on the site, Team Zuck makes 6.2 cents. LinkedIn makes 20 times that: $1.30 per user per hour.” Nupur Anand (2013) reports in the newspaper DNA (Daily News Analysis) that for an annual fee of INR 250,000 a recruiter can get full access to all the profiles uploaded from India; the fee goes up to INR 475,000 to get access to the entire LinkedIn database of profiles for a year. A recruiter who buys

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the Talent Solutions can also communicate with the owners of the profiles through LinkedIn’s InMail. Premium subscriptions are subscriptions for which members pay. If you pay an annual fee for membership, there are many advantages, the main one being that you can view the full profile of everyone in your entire network, that is, the first, second, and third degree connections and of everyone who has viewed your profile. If you have a basic, free membership, your access is restricted in many respects but recruiters and holders of premium subscriptions have full access to you. As we have seen above, LinkedIn gets about 20 percent of its income from premium subscriptions. Naturally, a concerted attempt is made on the site to sell premium membership. The third revenue stream is Marketing Solutions, essentially allowing companies and individuals to advertise on the site. For advertising to be effective, and therefore attractive to advertisers, LinkedIn has to make sure that there are plenty of visitors to the site and that they linger. Through various email messages, some of them targeted squarely at human vanity, LinkedIn urges members to keep visiting the site and spending time there. For example, as you login, LinkedIn tells you that a certain number of people have viewed your profile. You are curious about their identity and click on the hyperlink which takes you to their profiles. If you are not already connected to them, you are urged to connect. Similarly, LinkedIn makes it easy for members to endorse others on the network for skills and expertise. As soon as a member endorses one of your skills, LinkedIn alerts you. It tells you who endorsed you, and with the help of hyperlink encourages you not only to find out what skills have been endorsed by whom but also to visit their profiles. Another way in which LinkedIn makes repeated visits worthwhile for members is the creation of an ecosystem that promotes professional growth through group discussions and debates. One of the biggest attractions in 2013 is an ever-growing set of short articles by globally recognized leaders from different spheres. Bill Gates, Richard Branson (Founder of Virgin Group), and Barack Obama are among those influencers who have shared on LinkedIn their views on life, leadership, and success. Quoting Daniel Roth, LinkedIn’s executive editor, Kaufman (2013) says that LinkedIn’s news products experienced an eightfold increase in traffic since ‘Influencers’ was introduced in October 2012. A post from a top thought leader may attract over 100,000 views. This is a win-win move for both LinkedIn and the members who visit the site – LinkedIn makes advertising money from increased traffic and the subscribers get an opportunity to grow professionally, to follow thought leaders, to impress fellow professionals

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through their contributions to the ongoing discussion, to be noticed by recruiters, and to land desirable jobs and assignments. Implications of LinkedIn’s Business Model Members need to keep in mind, however, that LinkedIn is a for-profit company whose merchandise is the profiles that they supply voluntarily. The company has to make money even as it offers its basic services free to subscribers. Members should therefore be prepared for the data they upload being sold and their privacy being compromised. Some privacy settings may stop fellow subscribers from viewing a full profile but not those who pay for Talent Solutions. Apart from this, there are other risks when you upload data on the LinkedIn site as on any other Internet site: hacking. As Catherine Shu (2013) points out in a Techcrunch.com post, nearly 6.5 million encrypted passwords of LinkedIn users were compromised in June 2012. Exactly a year later, LinkedIn suffered an outage due possibly to a hijacking of its DNS (Domain Name System, which translates Internet domain names to IP addresses) and redirecting of its domain name to a different IP address. Interestingly, even as LinkedIn was struggling with the hacking of its DNS, Facebook admitted on June 21, 2013, that because of a security bug, the personal account information, phone numbers, and email IDs of nearly six million accounts were exposed (Facebook Security, 2013). Privacy is indeed a mirage in the online world. Members will therefore do well to ensure that their profiles and updates are good and safe enough for anyone to view and they don’t upload any really sensitive information assuming that it is safe and password-protected. Dos and Don’ts of Networking via LinkedIn The popular networking platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn are evolving so fast that it is pointless to give specific advice on what to do with or how to manage a particular feature. These companies tweak the features frequently in response to a variety of factors including advances in technology, pressure from shareholders, emergence of new business opportunities, and demand from customers. LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner said in February 2013, “Our success enabled us to materially accelerate the speed with which we released new products from once every two weeks for the entire site to as much as twice per day for each individual product” (cited by Hempel, 2013). Therefore we shall limit our suggestions largely to the basic processes of professional networking with some inevitable references to the features in LinkedIn as of 2013.

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Dos

1. Invest time and effort in making your profile professionally attractive Your profile is what strangers encounter long before they meet you, if ever. In a large number of cases, the profile will determine whether those strangers will make the effort to get in touch with you. Make it as professionally attractive as you can, never making any false claims. All the precautions required when you develop your resume for submission to potential recruiters are equally relevant in the presentation of your profile on LinkedIn. Many recruiters check out your LinkedIn profile before they interview you. If there are glaring discrepancies between the LinkedIn profile and the resume that you have submitted to them, you may have a lot of explaining to do at the time of the interview. If they choose not to call you for an interview because of those discrepancies, you may not even know why you did not get that call. Upload a professional quality photograph that presents you unmistakably as a professional. The objective is not to present yourself as glamorous but as professional. The photograph can be a double-edged sword because, the photograph gives away personal details such as your race and appearance, which can bring in positive or negative bias in recruiters. Not inserting a photograph is not a good option either because it leads to unnecessary, often negative, speculation about your reason for avoiding the photograph when everybody is providing one. The best solution may be to include a professionally taken photograph that projects you as a professional. Pay attention to the headline – this is the line just below your name in the LinkedIn profile. Describe yourself briefly and truthfully– under ten words. This headline signals the kind of person you are. If you skip the line, as some do, what visitors scanning profiles looking for suitable professionals to connect with see is just your name and your country of residence: Ram Kumar, India. It is unlikely to attract anyone. A generalized headline such as ‘Project Manager’ or ‘Student’ without any further details is better than no headline, but is still of little use in attracting any particular type of connections. Compare this with a headline such as “project manager [at XYZ company] specializing in major electrical installations.” Now a visitor gets a better idea and can decide whether to visit your profile. After the headline, the next section you need to address is the summary. Here, you tell the world about your work, expertise, training, experience and achievements in a couple of hundred words. Even as you list your laurels, don’t forget to offer a glimpse of your personality in the summary. If you need inspiration, go over the summaries written by social influencers. You’ll find influencers listed under the “Interests” tab in the navigation bar.

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While writing the descriptions of the various jobs you’ve held, use language that is easy for others (especially, recruiters) to skim. For example, Jeff Weiner, CEO at LinkedIn, offered the following description for his current job: Connecting the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful. Since joining the company in December, 2008, LinkedIn has increased its membership base from 33 million to over 238 million members, increased revenue by over 15x, and rapidly expanded its global platform to include 19 languages and operate in 26 cities around the world.

Note how the succinct description powerfully conveys the kind of work Weiner does. Recently, LinkedIn added a new tool to the summary, experience and education sections which lets you upload a video, image or document to give a better idea of your expertise to potential recruiters. So, if you work in the financial services sector, you could use the tool to upload a presentation of your fiscal predictions. Or, if you are a television journalist, you could showcase one of your top stories. Just make sure what you highlight showcases your best efforts.

2. Make it easy for others to find you Within the broad framework of a truthful portrayal of your profile, you have to strive to include achievements that are likely to interest fellow professionals. Often this involves choosing appropriate keywords – words that refer to areas of your interest on the one hand and your achievements on the other – which help search engines bring the right kind of traffic to your profile. But beware! Filling your profile with buzzwords will not help. According to Katy Steinmetz (2012), here are LinkedIn’s top ten overused buzzwords in 2012: i. Creative ii. Organizational iii. Effective iv. Motivated v. Extensive experience vi. Track record vii. Innovative viii. Responsible ix. Analytical x. Problem solving

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The trouble with depending on such words is that they are so broad as to be virtually meaningless. And, because thousands of people use them, they don’t set you apart from the rest. Yet, such keywords help people reach you through online search. You therefore need a combination of such or similar words and specific achievements or actions that demonstrate what you mean by “innovative,” “creative,” and “problem-solving.” This, incidentally, is equally applicable to resumes you send out to potential employers. They all want evidence of achievements, not an avalanche of tall claims. If you have a name (for example, Rahul Sharma, Sneha Gupta) that you share with hundreds of people, it is hard for others to reach you on LinkedIn. Well-chosen keywords will help others find you. If you act early enough, you may be able to get for yourself an easy-on-the-eye URL, which you can then display on your CV and even business card. (When you subscribe, LinkedIn assigns you your unique URL. It appears just below your profile picture. It may not be a particularly elegant string. You can edit it and make it simpler, shorter, and more intuitive.)

3. Nurture a few strategically important connections Identify a few influential individuals you wish to connect with because they are good for your professional growth and perhaps for career development. These individuals need not be – and often are not – among your first degree connections. You should, however, be able to get some of your first degree connections to introduce you to the distant ones you want to connect with. Follow the social media accounts of movers and shakers in your field. Comment on articles they write. Offer your insights. This is a sure way to get noticed by the professionals you want to connect with. Once you are noticed for the right reason, getting connected becomes easier. Even if your primary objective in joining LinkedIn is job search, you should not skip this useful step. A great way to keep in touch with someone is by offering them links or information that you believe will be of interest and great use to them. This is not the same as forwarding emails at one stroke to a large number of connections, some of whom may get annoyed at such spamming and use a filter to send all your future communications straight to the Trash folder. Choose any link that you want to send to a contact the same way you would choose a birthday gift for a special friend. Customize a cover note to tell the recipient why you are sending it to her. She is bound to appreciate the gesture and the time you invest. Even an occasional email just to say hello is useful. The connections you nurture with special care need not be part of your original, first level network. They could be connections of connections. One way of nurturing a few special connections is meeting them when you travel to their place in connection with work or leisure.

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Don’t hesitate to reach out to someone you know but have not kept in touch with for a long time. You could start out by telling them how you found them online. May be, you came across that person’s profile on LinkedIn or it came up on a Google search. Follow it up with a short update about your life and work.

4. Send out invitations according to a strategic plan Identify a few influential individuals you wish to connect with because they are good for your professional growth and perhaps for career development. These individuals need not be – and often are not – among your first degree connections. You should, however, be able to get some of your first degree connections to introduce you to the distant ones you want to connect with.

5. Develop brand YOU Let your connections know what you are good at. You may be a professional manager or a student or an entrepreneur. Others need to notice you and respect you. What impression does your profile create? Be particularly cautious in the claims you make in your LinkedIn profile about your achievements. In your anxiety to create an excellent impression on others, you may be tempted to present yourself as more competent, more qualified, and/or more experienced than you are (see, for example, Levine, Kim, & Hamel, 2010; George, Marett, & Tilly, 2004; and Feldman, Forrest, & Happ, 2002). Deception is never a good idea; it is particularly bad to attempt it in a LinkedIn profile because it is, for all practical purposes, a public document. Someone in your network may easily detect your false claims. An important factor that you have to take into account when uploading and updating your profile, notes Korkky (2013), is the likelihood that the recruiter will access your profile and other supporting evidence on their smartphone rather than their laptop or desktop. You must access your own profile from a mobile phone to check what it looks like to a stranger. Make any changes needed to ensure that your profile is impressive irrespective of the device on which it may be viewed.

5. Post updates from time to time Share with your network any event or information that might be of professional interest to them; this keeps bringing up your name through their news feed. Some of the updates can be about new skills or qualifications you have acquired.

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6. Join – preferably form and lead – a special interest group The larger your group, the greater your scope for professional growth. Once you form a group, there are a few things you can do to help it grow. Neal Schaffer, author of Maximising LinkedIn For Sales and Social Media Marketing, suggests the following (cited by Shaughnessy, 2012) ∑ Introduce it on your website ∑ Introduce it in your email newsletter ∑ Blog about it ∑ Purchase LinkedIn Ads ∑ Individually reach out to your clients/partners ∑ Promote through LinkedIn status updates ∑ Recruit Brand Ambassadors to help spread the word

7. Follow a few organizations Follow a few companies that you admire and perhaps hope to join someday. There are more than two million companies present on LinkedIn. From LinkedIn’s homepage you can easily search for them. You are bound to find some companies interesting enough to follow regularly. Reading the regular updates on the company page will prepare you for interviews you may have with their HR managers because awareness about the company you are interviewing for is one of the most important things that recruiters look for in candidates for employment. You are also likely to find some connections among the employees of the company you are interested in joining. You may discover that some of them live in your own city. You may be able to find out more about the company and working conditions from those connections. Don’ts

1. Don’t convert your LinkedIn profile into a job appeal Focus on yourself as a professional capable of making a contribution in certain fields rather than as a desperate job seeker. Of course you need a job to grow in your profession and you are interested in getting good job offers. But the best job offers are the ones that come to you without your asking.

2. Don’t send out generic requests for connection LinkedIn is so eager to scale up its membership and page views that it makes sending out invitations extremely easy. It helpfully provides certain generic

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requests that you can use to invite others to connect with you. It will send out invitations on your behalf if you give it access to your contacts. Some members do so unwittingly. They don’t realize what they have done until they receive acceptance of their invitations from people they barely recognize. Don’t fall for it! Customize each invitation you send out; otherwise you run the risk of being rebuffed. Some of those invitees, who see no reason why they should accept your invitation to get connected, may label your invitation as spam. Only the so-called “open networkers” accept mechanical invitations from all and sundry. Imagine that you get an invitation like the following from a total stranger: Rahul Bharat Motera wants to connect with you on LinkedIn. View Profile Accept What thoughts does it trigger? Most likely: Who is this guy? Why on earth should I view his profile and connect with him? What action does it trigger? Most likely: Ignore/delete. Imagine that the invitation from the same Bharat Motera took the following shape: Dear Mr Malhotra (assuming that you are Rahul Malhotra) I follow your fascinating blog posts on organic farming. I would like to connect with you on LinkedIn. Bharat Motera The reference to the blog establishes a connection which you did not know existed. That is often enough to prompt you to accept the invitation. An alternative is to send an e-mail explaining why you would like to connect with someone before sending him a generic request via LinkedIn.

3. Don’t be a mindless collector of contacts Quantity is likely to come at the expense of quality. Those connections may be superficial. While you can claim a large network, don’t be surprised if none of them responds to your appeal for professional help. In fact, LinkedIn does not approve of members inviting total strangers to be part of their network. When several invitees respond to an invitation saying that they don’t know the inviter, LinkedIn is likely to “restrict” his account. Kelly Constanza (2013) says that she received the following message from LinkedIn:

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Your account has been restricted because a significant number of LinkedIn users whom you have invited to your network have indicated that they don’t know you. Don’t invite people with whom you have no prior relationship to join your network.

Her response was: “I thought the point was to LINK to people I DON’T know. If I already know you then what’s the point?” Constanza is right; you join LinkedIn so that you can expand your network to those you don’t know. Constanza is wrong; you have to reach people you don’t know through people you know. In this respect the LinkedIn network is no different from the traditional, pre-digital networks. For example, Michael Dell, chairman and CEO at Dell, has posted the following advice for those who want to connect with him on LinkedIn: “Please do not request to connect with me unless we know each other or have worked together.” As of May 2013, LinkedIn allows a member to have a maximum of 3,000 connections. Except for those who want a large captive audience for their advertising messages, this is far too big a number. You cannot meaningfully interact with such a large number.

4. Don’t post lazy questions These are questions that can be asked without any effort whatsoever. They are characterized by vagueness and lack of background information. Here, for example, is a question posted by a young professional, a faculty member at a business school: “What should I do to improve my communication?” This is a lazy question that can be asked without any effort whatsoever. It, however, is virtually impossible even for an expert to answer. The writer of the question did not bother to think through his communication challenge; he did not share with the network any background information other than that the seeker of advice was a faculty member at a business school. Appropriate answers can be given only when the questions are specific and the seeker of advice provides enough background information. You are likely to get an answer if the question is like the following: “Anyone in town who can speak English and Mandarin fluently?” “How can we shorten URLs?”

5. Finally, don’t put all your career eggs in the LinkedIn basket We have been talking about the marvelous virtues of LinkedIn as a free and easily accessible online platform to display your professional achievements, to get noticed among the professionals who matter most to you, to sell your ideas, and to advance your career. But it will be foolish to devote a lot of time every day to LinkedIn and depend exclusively on it to lift your career. Just don’t do it!

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Similarly, while using LinkedIn for conducting a job search is an excellent idea, depending on it exclusively and not talking to actual people is not a good strategy. Leverage all the opportunities that LinkedIn offers but keep in touch with recruiters, influencers and people who have recently found jobs in real life as well. Pick up the phone and call them. Visit someone who has recently found a job and discuss their experience. In the following pages, we offer tips on how to conduct a job search on LinkedIn. These are valid as of September 2013. But remember that LinkedIn is an extremely dynamic professional networking platform and the features change often. How to do a Job Search on LinkedIn Before you apply for a job, make sure your profile is complete and the endorsements and recommendations are perfectly in place. If you’re unemployed and actively job searching, you could write “In Transition” in the job title section. When you click on the “Jobs” tab on the navigation bar on LinkedIn, it gives you the option of either conducting a “basic search” using job title, key words and company name or an “advanced search” which lets you customize every detail. It is better to use the advanced search option unless you want to cast an extremely wide net. The advanced job search option enables you to narrow your job search to a particular industry and job functions. You can also use the advanced search option to look for a job in a specific geographical area by entering the PIN code and specifying the range, say within 50 kilometres, of that particular area. The advanced search option also enables you to search for job listings by company, job title, experience level, date on which the ad was posted on LinkedIn, your salary expectations and relationships with your connections. Thus, if you are interested in looking for a job specifically at companies where you know people, you would click on 1st connection or 2nd connection in the category “Relationships” while conducting your job search. This option helps get referrals as well. While all these facilities are freely available to all users who have a basic (unpaid) account on LinkedIn, one needs to have a premium (paid) account in order to use salary as a category in the job search process. Clicking on the “Jobs” tab on the banner also brings up two lists of companies prepared by LinkedIn for each user keeping in mind his or her area of work, activities and interests. While the first list includes “Jobs You May be Interested In,” the second one is titled “Discover Jobs in Your Network.” Right below the title of the first list is a bell icon that lets you set email alerts so that LinkedIn can inform you whenever jobs are posted by a company you are interested in. Clicking on the company logo or the position takes you to the job ad, which provides details of the job description, desired

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skills, company information, etc. To the right of the page is a tab that lets you save the details of the job ad. Another tab gives you the option of applying for that job and informs you about the number of people who have already applied for that position. If you apply for a job via LinkedIn, the site will let you edit your profile in keeping with the requirements of the position and add a cover letter. The second list includes information regarding the number of open positions in companies where your “connections” on LinkedIn work. This information gives every job seeker an opportunity to reach out to his or her connections for a referral. While clicking on the company logo takes you to the company’s LinkedIn page, clicking on the number of jobs brings up a list of the available positions. Apart from using the job search option on LinkedIn, identifying companies based on your area of work is a good way to explore new opportunities. Click on the “Interests” tab in the navigation and select “Companies.” You can search for companies based on location, industry, size, the number of followers a company has on LinkedIn, your connections, etc. The “Interests” tab on the navigation bar also enables you to follow companies that interest you. Based on your profile information, LinkedIn also suggests companies that you may be interested in following. Most importantly, before you begin your job search on LinkedIn, remember to set your job search activities to private so that they are not broadcast to your connections, your current employer and colleagues. In order to do that, hover over your picture on the top right corner of the screen, click on Privacy and Settings in the Accounts and Settings list, and turn off your activity broadcasts. How to apply for a Job on LinkedIn When you click on a job listing, it provides you with the details of the job description, desired skills and experience for that job, company description, etc. When you view the job ad, the page gives you the following options: * Apply Now * Save Job * View Saved jobs * Share Job: LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter * Follow company. LinkedIn also lets you know if you are connected to someone working at that company so you can request a referral. Although the site provides a template which can be used to request a referral, it’s best to personalize such requests. If the job listing gives you the option of applying for the job directly through LinkedIn and you choose to do so, your profile will be forwarded

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to the HR/recruiting manager. LinkedIn also gives you the option of adding a cover letter. However, some job listings may not offer such an option. In such a case, you will be forwarded to the company website and you will need to follow the instructions given in the job posting. When you look at a specific job post on LinkedIn, the site also comes up with a list of similar jobs in order to make the job search easy for you. Further, it provides a list of jobs that were viewed by people who happened to look up the particular posting you clicked on.

LinkedIn’s Growth in India and its Implications In May 2013, LinkedIn announced that the number of its registered members in India crossed 20 million. This confirms India’s position as the holder of the second largest contingent of LinkedIn members, the first being the United States. This number also confirms the company’s remarkable growth when we consider that LinkedIn opened its office in the country as late as November 2009. In an official LinkedIn post, Russell (2013) identifies IT services, computer software, and accounting as the three most popular industries for LinkedIn users in India. Many Indian companies also use the services of LinkedIn both to promote themselves and to hire managers. What are the implications of these developments for professionals in India? There are at least two important ones. First, professionals cannot ignore LinkedIn anymore if they want to grow professionally and get good job offers. If you are a professional in IT services, computer software, and financial services, it is almost certain that your potential employers expect you to have a LinkedIn profile. Not having one might lead to not being contacted for any of the numerous job openings in these fields that are no longer advertised. Even if you are not in one of these fields, not having a LinkedIn profile can hurt – you may give the unintended and possibly incorrect impression of being uncomfortable with technology and therefore underprepared for the challenges of the new age. Thus it may be unwise not to maintain an up-to-date LinkedIn profile irrespective of whether you have any ideological objections to the way the uploaded profiles are commercially exploited by LinkedIn. Even if you are a contented 55-year-old CEO of a large company and are not looking for any new job opportunities, you may want to have an active LinkedIn profile because it gives you tremendous opportunities for influencing a large number of professionals and establishing your leadership through your posts and updates. The LinkedIn platform is such that you may be able to extend your influence beyond the borders and become a global

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thought leader. As a consequence, global head hunters may reach out to you and give you an international arena to display your talent. Second, being discovered by recruiters and fellow professionals will become harder because of the ever larger number of professionals and organizations signing up as members. Uploading a profile does not automatically bring recruiters or followers to you. You have to invest time and effort in differentiating yourself from a large number of competitors and being noticed for the right reasons. Although you are operating from within the Indian borders, the nature of the LinkedIn platform is such that you necessarily become a global player. Accordingly, your competition is that much tougher. The welcome consequence is that rising up to the challenge makes you a more accomplished professional.

References Anand, N. (2013, May 15). Your LinkedIn profile is often sold to recruiters. DNA [Daily News Analysis].Retrieved May 16, 2013 http://www.dnaindia.com/ money/1834818/report-your-linkedin-profile-is-often-sold-to-recruiters Binns.E. (2013). LinkedIn® or locked Out. Student Lawyer, 41(5). Retrieved May 19, 2013 http://www.americanbar.org/publications/student_lawyer/2012-13/jan/ linked_in.html Burg, B. (n.d.). Bob Burg: Author and Speaker. Retrieved May 16, 2013 from http:// www.burg.com/ Byham, W. C. (2010, May) Building a healthy business network is a necessary and thoroughly trainable skill for the new millennium. T+D, 64-68. Cialdini, R.B. (1993). Influence: the psychology of persuasion. New York: Quill William Morrow. Clark, T. (2009). Networking: A key to career communication and management consulting success. Business Communication Quarterly, 72(3), 344-348. DOI: 10.1177/1080569909340629 Constanza, K. (2013, March 31). What is the real purpose of LinkedIn? LinkedIn help Centre. Retrieved May 28, 2013 from http://community.linkedin.com/ questions/18427/what-is-the-real-purpose-of-linkedin.html Facebook Security (Notes). (2013, June 21). Important message from Facebook’s White Hat Program. Facebook.com. Retrieved June 22, 2013 from https://www. facebook.com/notes/facebook-security/important-message-from-facebookswhite-hat-program/10151437074840766 Feldman, R.S., Forrest, J.A., & Happ, B. R. (2002). Self-presentation and verbal deception: do self-presenters lie more? Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 24, 163170. George, J., Marett K., & Tilly, P. (2004). Deception detection under varying electronic media and warning conditions. Proceedings of the 37th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences. Manoa, HI: Computer Society Press.

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Grant, A. (2013, June 17). Finding the hidden value in your network. LinkedIn. com. Retrieved June 21, 2013 from http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/ article/20130617112202-69244073-finding-the-hidden-value-in-your-network Hempel, J. (2013, May 10). Why your inbox is being flooded by LinkedIn. Retrieved May 20, 2013 from http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2013/05/10/whats-going-onwith-linkedin-its-surging/ Henderson, R. (2005). The power of networking. Chapter 5 in Understanding influence for leaders at all levels edited by Australian Institute of Management and published by McGraw-Hill, Australia. Retrieved May 19, 2013 from http://www.aim.com. au/publications/bkchapters/influence_ch5.html Hoffman, R. and Casnocha, B. (2012). The start-up of you: Adapt to the future, invest in yourself, and transform your career. New York: Crown Business, Random House. Kaufman, L. (2013, June 16). LinkedIn builds its publishing presence. The New York Times. Retrieved June 19, 2013 from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/17/ technology/sharing-business-insights-linkedin-builds-its-publishing-presence. html?pagewanted=all&_r=1& Klein, A. (2012, August 27). Why investors—but not consumers—love LinkedIn. The Daily Beast. Retrieved May 21, 2013 from http://www.thedailybeast.com/ articles/2012/08/27/why-investors-but-not-consumers-love-linkedin.html Korkky, P. (2013, January 26). How to say ‘Look at Me!’ to an online recruiter. The New York Times. Retrieved May 18, 2013 http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/27/ jobs/how-job-seekers-can-say-look-at-me-to-online-recruiters.html Levine, T. R., Kim, R. K., & Hamel, L. M. (2010). People Lie for a reason: An experimental test of the principle of veracity. Communication Research Reports 2010, 27, 271-285. Luckerson, V. (2012, July 20). How LinkedIn makes money off your resume— And why that’s good for you. Time Magazine. Retrieved May 20, 2013 from http://business.time. com/2012/07/20/how-linkedin-makes-money-off-your-resume-and-why-thatsgood-for-you/ McCorkle, D. E. & McCorkle, L. Y. (2012). Using LinkedIn in the marketing classroom: Exploratory insights and recommendations for teaching social media/networking. Marketing Education Review, 22(2), 157–166. DOI: 10.2753/ MER1052-8008220205. Pearson, R. & Richardson, D. (2001). Business networking in the Industrial Revolution. Economic History Review 54(4), 657-679. Russell, J. (2013, May 15). LinkedIn passes 20 million registered users in India, second largest market behind the US. Retrieved from http://thenextweb.com/ in/2013/05/15/linkedin-india/ Shaughnessy, H. (2012, March 29). How to power your professional networking through LinkedIn. Forbes.com. Retrieved May 26, 2013 from http://www.forbes. com/sites/haydnshaughnessy/2012/03/29/how-to-power-your-professionalnetworking-through-linkedin/

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Shu, C. (2013, June 19). LinkedIn outage due to possible DNS hijacking. Techcrunch. com. Retrieved June 20, 2013 http://techcrunch.com/2013/06/19/linkedinoutage-due-to-possible-dns-hijacking/ Steinmetz, K. (2012). 10 buzzwords to take off your LinkedIn profile now. Time. com. Retrieved April 13, 2014 from http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/12/04/10buzzwords-to-take-off-your-linkedin-profile-now/

“I have every right to say what I want. You have every right to ignore it.”

Chapter 5

Blogging Basics A young girl who had just turned thirteen began to keep a diary on June 14, 1942. She was hiding with her family and three friends in an office building in Amsterdam fearing arrest and deportation to concentration camps by Nazi soldiers. During the two years that the family evaded arrest, the girl, Anne Frank, kept a diary. She wrote about a wide range of topics including the family’s suffering, her hopes, and fears. We don’t know if she meant it to be published, but it was published in 1947 by her father two years after her death in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. The Diary of a Young Girl has since been translated into about sixty languages. It has been hailed as an authentic account of the hideousness of fascism. Three centuries before that, Samuel Pepys and John Evelyn kept detailed diaries which contained highly informative eyewitness accounts of the Great Plague of London and the Great Fire of London apart from their personal views on a number of topics. About fifteen centuries before these diarists, Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius wrote regularly in a diary that he called, To Myself. While these diaries have been preserved and are well known, there must have been thousands of diaries which disappeared without any trace after the death of their creators. We don’t know if any of those diarists wanted any one to read their diary entries. Most of them wanted nothing more than capturing their thoughts and feelings as they occurred and before they were lost forever. Those diarists were not thinking of anyone else reading their writing except possibly after their death. Publication during their lifetime was far from their thoughts although some may have kept a diary with an eye on writing an autobiography towards their sunset years. What would the few well known and the numerous unknown diarists do if they were alive today? They would probably blog. A personal blog is somewhat like the online version of the good old diary. You maintain an online record of your news, views, and feelings.

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But what also makes a blog, especially a professional blog, very different from a diary is that you invite others to read it and comment on it. Your blog is not something that you keep locked in your cupboard like a diary. Instead, you engage with your readers online by responding to their comments, questions and opinions. You also visit their blogs and leave comments on them. This is especially true when you write your professional views and expert opinions on your blog. Blogging has thus grown into a kind of conversation rather than the diarist’s notes to oneself and blogs have developed into places where people with similar interests can hang out online. The term ‘blog’ wasn’t coined until 1999 by Peter Merholz from Jorn Barger’s more descriptive ‘web log’ for the rudimentary online sharing of news and views that had started in the early 1980s. That, however, was restricted to the small and tech-savvy online community. During the last ten years blogging has gone mainstream. Anyone with access to the Internet can start a blog, and millions of people do. NM Incite, a Nielsen/McKinsey company, tracked over 181 million blogs by the end of 2011 (“Buzz,” 2012). Some of the top blogs that find a place on the Technorati Top 100 list include The Huffington Post, Buzz Feed, The Verge, Mashable!, Business Insider, TechCrunch, Gawker, TMZ. com and GigaOM, among others. In a June 2010 report titled “Inside Blog Demographics,” social media research company Sysomos, stated that most bloggers are located in the United States (29.22%) followed by those in Britain (6.75%). India ranked 12th at 2.14% (Sysomos, 2010). Top blogs in India usually focus on technology, cricket, finance and business, although mommy blogs, lifestyle blogs, recipe blogs, and travel blogs also have a visible presence in the Indian blogosphere. Some of the top bloggers in India include Amit Agarwal (Labnol.org), Harsh Agarwal (shoutmeloud. com), Srinivas Tamada (9lessons.info), Pradeep Kumar (hellboundbloggers. com), Arun Prabhudesai (trak.in), Jaspal Singh (savedelete.com), Raju PP (techpp.com), Rahul Bansal (devilsworkshop.com) and Sushant Risodkar (smartbloggerz.com). We must caution you that this list is by no means exhaustive, especially as it is growing by the day. Several of these bloggers are engineers and IT professionals who left lucrative jobs in multinationals in order to pursue their passions and dreams. A few of them are really young, barely out of their teens. But what is common to bloggers across the globe is that they essentially share their views on issues that matter to them. When the blogger is an expert, her views and tips on matters related to her field of expertise may be worth reading and naturally many people follow their blogs, comment on them and ask questions. The expertise could be on subjects as varied as politics, investment, diet, winemaking, and pet dogs. Or people may want

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to visit a blog because it’s funny or because it aggregates useful information from different sources. Let’s take a look at the different types of bloggers today.

Types of Bloggers The explosive growth of blogging and its ability to reach a large number of people inexpensively has led to the evolution of different types of bloggers: hobbyists, professional bloggers, corporate bloggers, and entrepreneur bloggers. According to a survey conducted by Technorati (State of the blogosphere, 2011), about 60 percent of the bloggers are hobbyists; they blog for fun, for self-expression. They want to let the world know what they feel. These are the direct descendants of the traditional diarist without their obsession with privacy. Professional bloggers, both full-timers and part-timers, make up 18 percent of the total. They look at blogging as a job, a source of income. They are independent bloggers. They base their blogs on their expertise in some aspect of life. People who value their views visit their blogs again and again the same way as they would visit a dietician, an optician, or a lawyer. The difference is that visitors can generally read the blogs for free. Corporate bloggers, who make up less than 10 percent, are employed by organizations that are interested in reaching out to the online community which is increasingly left cold by traditional media and traditional advertising. These bloggers write about products and services connected to their organizations. Some of them may have the freedom to write whatever they judge to be appropriate. Others are monitored by their corporate masters. These blogs are the equivalent of infomercials in magazines and newspapers. Entrepreneurs form a growing set of bloggers. At present about 13 percent of the total, these bloggers are individuals who blog for the organizations they own. They want to share their expertise with the rest of the world, enhance their professional standing, and attract clients to their business. Their blogs also can be called infomercials.

Why Blog? Should you blog? Why not? You could get famous. You could make money if you worked really hard at it. And, if nothing else, you could get a lot of satisfaction in blogging if your words can entertain, educate, or inspire others. There is hardly any downside to it.

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1. You don’t have to be a geek or moneybag to blog There has been a major shift in the power equation between creators of media content and its consumers. There was a time when control rested entirely with the creators. They used radio, television, newspapers, and similar mass media to reach out to you. You had little choice. You had to consume the content when they decided to make it available. This has changed dramatically in recent years. Today, anyone can create content on multiple social media platforms. All you need is a computer (a smart phone will do) and access to the Internet. You don’t need to know how the Internet or your computer works any more than the 19th-century diarists needed to know how paper or ink was made. There is no entry barrier. Powerful handheld digital devices such as smart phones and tablets make it even easier for you. In addition, WiFi broadband connection and digital networks give you quick and unprecedented access to information. You can also block advertisers’ content with the help of filters. You can access what interests you when you feel like it. The web practices a form of democracy where anyone with the right talent can preach her gospel and acquire millions of followers. The same guideline applies to the blogosphere. If you have the talent and inclination, you can attract a large audience in the blogosphere. Michael Banks

The Birth of a Blog When Christopher Grant left Joystiq in 2011, he posted a goodbye letter on the blog which gives us a glimpse about how he started blogging. Here’s an excerpt from the letter: Two thousand, two hundred and thirty three days ago, I wrote my first post on Joystiq. Just days before, I was still employed as a carpenter while writing video game reviews for an alternative newsweekly in Philadelphia. My first weekend with the site was marked by the launch of the Xbox 360 and the import of the “next generation” moniker wasn’t lost on me. Realizing the scale of the opportunity I had, I started working full-time as a freelancer for what was then a bustling Weblogs, Inc. Six months later, at just $5 a post, I had exhausted my savings and made a plea to become a full-time AOL employee. Option B was to return to carpentry. Finding out I would be hired as Joystiq’s first salaried editor easily ranked as one of the greatest moments in my life, and still does. Source: Grant, Christopher (2011, December 27). This is a goodbye post. Joystiq. comhttp://www.joystiq.com/2011/12/27/this-is-a-goodbye-post/

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(2007) interviewed 30 of the world’s top bloggers in his book titled “Blogging Heroes.” Many of the names mentioned in his book such as Robert Scoble (blog: Scobleizer), Frank Warren (blog: PostSecret), and Christopher Grant (former editor of Joystiq) were virtual unknowns who became famous only after their blog posts became highly popular. In fact, Grant is an interesting example as he is a carpenter-turned-blogger who started blogging primarily due to his passion for gaming. Bloggers hired by newspapers and news portals can have a massive following. A casual visit to the online version of the New York Times, The Economist, or The Times of India is enough to fathom the influence of some of their regular bloggers. However, if your blog doesn’t interest netizens, there will be no visitors. If there are no visitors, there will be no conversation. After a while you may stop talking – blogging – because there is no one to listen and respond. But how would you know until you try it? And you don’t need to invest anything other than some time and thought to launch and feed your blog.

2. You can acquire thought leadership If your thoughts add value to others by entertaining, illuminating, or inspiring them, you become the nucleus of a new online community where the other members look up to you and encourage you through their comments and questions to create more. You share your knowledge or wisdom with the visitors to your blog. In the process they become your followers and your reputation grows online because they introduce your blog to their friends and acquaintances. You may have a strong following on your own steam or you may blog on existing platforms such as the ones built by newspapers. Whatever the platform you use, a large and voluntary following results in your personal brand being developed. As in the case of other brands, this gives you a premium not only in the online world but also off-line. The first author of this book interviewed several top Indian executives as part of a study on executive blogging in India during the years 2010 and 2011. Ajit Balakrishnan, Founder-CEO of the Mumbai-based online portal Rediff.com, for example, talks candidly about the value his blog has added to his image: “Some people who read [my] blog say I am a ‘thinking man’s CEO.’ So it probably adds to that image” (Mishra, 2011). Ganesh Natarajan, Vice-Chairman & CEO of Zensar Technologies, agrees. He believes that his regular blogging has a good impact on various stakeholders including customers, especially the internal customers – the associates in his company. “The average age of associates is 27. When they see me blog, they think the management is cool,” says Natarajan (Mishra, 2011).

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Lakshmipathy Bhatt, an advertising professional, echoes the same thoughts and talks about how your blog helps build your personal brand (Mishra, 2011): “Sometimes, in meetings, I am introduced as the guy who has a blog ‘Bhatnaturally.’ It becomes an identity. People tend to look at you kind of differently. They know I am practicing what I preach.” Simarprit Singh, founder and CEO, Compare Infobase Ltd., says that because of his blog people know him as someone who is passionate about his work: They also know that my life is not just about my official work, I have a lot of other things to do as well. These days I am into skydiving. They know this man will jump from anywhere. Recently, we were trying to acquire this company in the United States. We were talking to them and one of them said ‘you are very dynamic. I will never dare to jump from the sky’ He had obviously read my blog (Mishra, 2011).

Natarajan points to a trend among leaders to reach out in a personal, almost one-on-one way with their employees working in multiple locations and multiple countries (Mishra, 2011). They used to communicate internally through newsletters produced periodically by the corporate communication department. Those newsletters can never match the immediacy and warmth of blog posts from leaders. What creates the immediacy is the blog post’s ability to start a public conversation with potentially every employee. They can also respond directly to the writers. Acquiring thought leadership is an extremely stimulating experience. You think harder and more creatively as you acquire a following and feel the need to keep them informed, entertained, and inspired. You grow as a person and your understanding of the world also grows in that process. Major international brands also try to win over bloggers who have a huge following with the hope of getting good reviews for their products. In an article titled “Blogging for Brands,” Saira Kurup (2012) points that since bloggers can sway buying decisions, many companies are getting bloggers to write about their products. For example, Johnson & Johnson organized a meet for women bloggers in the age group of 19-35 in Mumbai in 2011 as part of “It’s time to change” campaign for its product, Stayfree. The company’s general marketing manager, Neeraj Goyal, told The Times of India that they were investing in bloggers because the latter had the “potential to change the thought process of readers” (Kurup, 2012). Of course, you can wield that kind of soft power only if your blog attracts a lot of traffic.

3. You can promote your business Almost two thirds of corporate bloggers and entrepreneur bloggers believe that blogging helps them promote their business and profession (State of

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the Blogosphere 2011). They gain greater visibility and credibility especially in the industry they blog about. Says Kris Nair, a serial entrepreneur, angel investor and business designer (Mishra, 2011): In the early stages of my career as a venture capitalist, 90% of the people I was doing business with were initially my blog readers or Twitter followers. I developed a sense of chemistry with these people. Chemistry is very important in the early stage for venture capitalists. These people got to know me as a person from my blogs. I have also made great friendships through blogs.

Blogs also offer an opportunity to humanize a brand. Rohit Bhargava points out that this is important as more “people want to do business with human brands” (Mishra, 2011). Some businesses find the blogging channel so valuable that they hire full-time corporate bloggers. If you are a recognised expert in the field, many potential customers of your organisation’s products and services will visit your blog for advice. This gives you a tremendous degree of influence over their buying decisions. If your blog is popular, part of the traffic will inevitably go to the rest of the organisation’s website. If, however, you become a mere mouthpiece of your own organisation or the one that has hired you, your credibility becomes diluted to the level of company-sponsored advertisements. Your visitors like you and respect you when they believe that you are objective rather than partisan. There are, of course, popular blogs set up by commercial organisations with the express aim of promoting their products and services. They don’t pretend to be independent. They serve those customers who want to be updated on the company’s products and services. Communicating with them through blogs is more attractive than newspaper or television advertising because customers get a sense of immediacy and participation. Armed with such information, they can also become brand ambassadors.

4. You will bring clarity to your thinking Writing is one of the toughest communication skills. You have to share your ideas with a large number of people without the help of body language and instant feedback characteristic of spoken communication. In that process you learn to think more clearly and to structure your thought in a way others can follow it without difficulty. You will also learn to write concisely because if your post is very long and muddled, the visitors will move on instantly. The Internet spread is so rich and varied that visitors need not hang around if they don’t like a place. You get feedback from readers in the form of comments. From those comments you realise areas where your ideas may not have been articulated clearly and unambiguously. You can respond to their comments and explain

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your position. In the process you refine your writing. Any attempt to articulate your views and feelings is bound to bring clarity to your thinking.

5. You can use a variety of communication channels to blog Writing is not the only way to blog. You can express your thoughts through videos, photographs, and audio clips. Food and travel blogs are great sites to post beautiful pictures and videos. One Indian executive who posts excellent pictures on his blog is Shantanu Ghosh, Vice President and General Manager at Symantec, an American software security firm. Ghosh blogs about mouthwatering Indian and international food and the places he visits on his blog titled “Traveller’s Tales.” With video equipment cheaper and post-production software more accessible, video blogging has become much easier than before. Josh Leo, who describes himself as a “designer, marketer, videographer, just a guy who likes making things happen” on Twitter has four vlogs. According to him, good videos showcase the personality of the videographer and bring together the basics of good production such as editing, clear shots and good lighting (Betancourt, 2009). Apart from posting the video clip on your blog, you could embed it on YouTube, Facebook, Vimeo, Blip.tv, among others.

Tips on Blogging 1. Define your goals before you start blogging Identify what you want to blog about and why before you start a blog. For example, find out if you are interested in starting a subject or issue-specific blog or a more general blog. Ask yourself if you want a professional blog or a personal blog where you can write about anything that comes to your mind. Find out what you want to accomplish with your blog before you actually publish the first post. Do you want to blog for fun or to promote your business? Are you interested in drawing people to your blog or are you happy publishing your views online without caring if anyone reads it? Defining your goals will help you draw up suitable blogging strategies.

2. Identify your audience Once you have defined the goals for your blog, you should get an idea about the kind of audience you are looking for. Are you looking for a niche audience? Are you interested in an audience from a particular age-group? Whatever the nature of your audience, you should keep them in mind while designing your blog. The content on your blog and tone of your blog posts

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should also reflect the interest of your readers. Even the title you give your blog and the logo/picture you use should connect with your audience. Zensar’s Ganesh Natarajan suggests that blog posts should appeal to a larger audience. “If you write about things that concern only you, who would care to read your blog? When you blog, go beyond the external façade. Don’t do it like an everyday 9 a.m. thing” (Mishra, 2011).

3. Engage your audience You may have visited some government-run shops where sales assistants don’t care whether you make a purchase or not. You go there only if you have to. When you have a reasonable choice, you will go to a shop where the sales assistants take interest in you and want to sell you their merchandise. This applies equally well to bloggers. The tone of your blog posts should be reader friendly. Your blogs should be conversational. Invite readers to leave comments on your blog posts. Go ahead and comment on their blog posts. Basab Pradhan, global head of sales and marketing at Infosys and an avid blogger, says that the key requirement is to write about subjects one cares about (Mishra, 2011). If you write about something you feel strongly about, you won’t be tempted to rehash other people’s posts. The next step is to write your posts in a way that interests the reader. Some great ideas for blog posts are based on lists. For example, providing your reader a list of 10 ways to impress her boss will instantly grab her attention. Other blog ideas include providing how-to instructions for a project, doing a roundup of events, offering recommendations for products and services, offering tips about something relevant and important to the audience of your blog, conducting surveys on the likes and dislikes of your readers, posting videos and pictures with commentaries on them, etc. (Mallon, 2012). Posting a movie or book review will also draw readers. So will a post on solving a common problem such as keeping your pen drive virus free while using it on public computers. The trick is you need to write like a real person. Adding little personal details to your blog post about something professional can humanize your copy. For example, suppose you are writing about using social media for a job hunt, go ahead and add your own quirky experiences. It will help readers connect with you better. Truant (2009) points out that “writing isn’t just about conveying information. It’s about communication. The minute you start being more of a person and less of a knowledgeable robot, the easier it will be for your audience to find you, trust you, and like you.” So it’s a good idea not to take yourself too seriously or else your audience is very likely to find you boring. Laugh at yourself. Display a good sense of humor in your blog posts.

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4. Strive for Search Media Optimization, if you want more people reading your blog Several of the top executives interviewed by the first author of this book said they were not really interested in getting more people to read their blogs. But if you are someone who wants to be visible on the Web, you need to think of ways to generate traffic. Of course, nothing attracts traffic better than exciting content. But you have to ensure that people find their way to the great content you offer on your blog. Search engine optimization (SEO), which helps rank a webpage or blog highly on the results page of a search engine, will automatically bring in more people to your site. Search engine optimization for social media sites is often referred to as “social media optimization,” a concept believed to have been coined by Rohit Bhargava (Sullivan, 2006). Bhargava is a founding member of the 360 Digital Influence team at Ogilvy and runs the “Influential Marketing Blog,” which is currently ranked among the top 50 marketing blogs in the world. According to Bhargava’s original post on SMO (2006), “the concept behind SMO is simple: implement changes to optimize a site so that it is more easily linked to, more highly visible in social media searches on custom search engines

Five Tips for Bloggers Rohit Bhargava first offered five tips on SMO in 2006. He modified them somewhat in keeping with the new trends in 2010. Here’s a brief summary of his updated list: 1. Create shareable content: This involves creating content that more people would share, like, dig or link. 2. Make sharing easy: People should be able to share your content with just one click. 3. Reward engagement: Reward people who comment, discuss and share your content. Reciprocate their effort. 4. Proactively share content: Share your content in every way possible whether it is by creating slides to post on Slideshare or documents to share on Scribd. You can also tweet about your content or provide RSS feeds of the same. 5. Encourage the mash up: Within reasonable limits, be more open about allowing others to use your content by mixing it with theirs. Source: Bhargava, Rohit (2010, August 10). 5 new rules of social media optimization.http://www.rohitbhargava.com/2010/08/the-5-new-rules-of-socialmedia-optimization-smo.html

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(such as Technorati), and more frequently included in relevant posts on blogs, podcasts and vlogs.” Bhargava’s list shows that “sharing” is critical to social media optimization. Social media consultant Liz Borod Wright (2012) suggests ways to connect one’s blog to multiple social media platforms to enable better sharing. She believes it is important to display social media icons prominently on one’s blog. “They [readers] shouldn’t have to hunt around to find your Twitter handle, but should be able to click on a button and be taken right to your profile,” she says. She also recommends that every blog have its own page on Facebook. You could also join blogger groups on Facebook. If your blog reflects your professional goals, list it as one of the three websites in your LinkedIn profile. Use a site meter to monitor traffic to your blog.

5. Edit your blog post before publishing it Wrong spellings on hoardings and display boards in India are the subject of many humorous articles. From “Tea available hear” to “chilled bear,” you will find no dearth of creativity when it comes to spellings in this country. But you don’t have to do the same on your blog. Always edit your blog post before publishing it. It will damage your credibility if your post is ridden with factual, grammatical or stylistic errors. If you make a factual error, admit your mistake and offer an apology at the earliest possible. Make sure you don’t repeat such mistakes. Chandra Clarke (2012) offers 5 editing tips for bloggers: edit for context, check your facts, don’t rely on spell checkers, be concise and cut out the rambling. The last two points highlight problems many beginning bloggers face. Clarke elaborates: Do not let your blog post get tagged as TLDNR, which stands for ‘too long, did not read.’ If your blog post is too long to quickly and efficiently attract potential readers, then your ideas won’t be heard….In the blogosphere, a coffee-induced streamof-conscious rambling tends to draw negative comments or even result in a loss of readership.

With Twitter offering 140-word posts, bloggers need to be even more careful about the length of their posts. They need to make their points in as few words as possible without compromising on content.

6. If you are an employee-blogger, err on the side of caution in terms of content If you write about issues that are central to your organisation, you derive many personal and professional advantages. “Blogging builds influence, which is

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different from image. Influence, especially in B2B businesses is invaluable,” says Basab Pradhan (Mishra, 2011). You will build up a following among your fellow employees, customers, suppliers, and fellow professionals. But you will be walking through a minefield. If you are employed by your company to blog, there will be clear guidelines about what you may and may not write in your blog posts. When you blog on your initiative, be extremely careful not to violate any company policy regarding employees sharing with the world their views that have a bearing on the company’s affairs. Even if you have a formal disclaimer, many readers are likely to look at your post as the company’s. That is why, it is a good idea to err on the side of caution when you blog on even technical issues if they are central to your organisation. Zensar’s Ganesh Natarajan has introduced grievance redressal mechanisms in his company that will encourage employees to discuss their problems offline rather than online. “I cannot prescribe what they will blog about,” he says. “I have only told them one thing. If there’s something wrong, first talk to someone who can fix it before blogging about it. We have darbaare khaas and darbaare aam where employees can directly talk to the senior management” (Mishra, 2011) Rohit Bhargava, who runs the “Influential Marketing Blog,” says that he keeps out confidential client information and personal issues related to colleagues and clients. And when he makes negative comments on brands or campaigns, he makes it clear that it is his personal opinion. He also tries to give it a positive spin by saying how he would have done it differently. “This is important in the [advertising] agency world, as you never know which brands may be your clients tomorrow,” says Bhargava (Mishra, 2011).

7. If you are the CEO, take extra care If a blogger is a top executive at the policy-making level, especially CEO at publicly-listed companies, there are some restrictions on what they can

Watch Out Here are the disclaimers offered by Basab Pradhan and Lakshmipathy Bhat on their blogs titled “6ampacific.com” and “bhatnaturally.com” respectively. Both work for multinationals. Notice the difference in tone and content between the two.

Basab Pradhan’s Disclaimer “Disclosure: I write quite frequently about public companies. I don’t intend for this to be investment advice. Very often I write about

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companies in which I hold positions. I would have liked to, but find it too tedious to disclose my position in each post. My job at Infosys comes with some reasonable self-imposed restrictions on what I can write about the company, its competitors and its customers or potential customers. The same applies to my twitter account @basabp. Luckily, there are many other subjects that interest me and I write about them as time permits. Needless to say, both the blog and my twitter feed reflect my opinion not my company’s. I also blog at Enterprise Irregulars, but I always cross post here.” Source: Pradhan, B. (n.d.). Disclosure [Basab Pradhan’s blog: 6 am Pacific: Meandering Musings on Globalization]. Retrieved November 3, 2012, from http://6ampacific.com/about/

Lakshmipathy Bhat’s Disclaimer “This blog reflects my thoughts and opinions. It does not reflect the thoughts or opinions of my company, its parent company, my wife, my kid, my clients, my cat, MySpace, my car, or my Macbook. All rights reserved. Subject to change without notice. Don’t quote me on that. Don’t quote me on anything. Patent pending. Think of the environment before printing. Better still, think of Salma Hayek. Outside food not allowed..... Stunts have been performed by trained professionals. Do not try them at home….” Source: Bhat, L. (n.d.) Disclaimer. [Laxmipathy Bhat’s Web log: Bhatnaturally]. Retrieved November 3, 2012, from http://www.lbhat.com/disclaimer/

write. Stiff penalties may be imposed on them by stock market regulators if what they write about their own companies is construed as misleading for investors. Rediff’s Ajit Balakrishnan says he never posts critical information about his company on his blog. “Rediff is publicly listed in the United States,” he says. “The Securities Act in the U.S. keeps both employer and employees in check. Although there is no written social media policy, nobody who works in a position of authority will blog anything that will violate the Securities Act” (Mishra, 2011). Apart from the restrictions, there are many who believe it’s not a good idea for a CEO to blog because it might distract him from attending to the company’s bottom line. Larry Ellison, founder and CEO of Oracle Systems, has been extremely vocal in his criticism of Sun’s former CEO Jonathan Schwartz’s blogging activities. For those who may not know, Schwartz’s

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blogging has always been admired by social media enthusiasts as a successful attempt by a top executive to directly connect with customers and clientele. After Oracle bought Sun Microsystems in 2010, Ellison highlighted loopholes in every aspect of Schwartz’s leadership. More specifically, Ellison accused him of spending too much time working on his blog instead of attending to the problems faced by his company (Reuters, 2010). With so much controversy and mystery surrounding CEO blogs, few are bold enough to blog. A recent IBM study based on in depth, face-to-face interviews with 1,700 top executives around the world found that only 16% CEOs participate in any form of social media today (IBM, 2012). But the same study also predicts that the percentage is likely grow to 57% within 5 years. Fidelman (2012) argues that such an increase is likely “because CEOs are beginning to recognize that using email and the phone to get the message out isn’t sufficient anymore.” According to him, the big takeaway is that “using social technologies to engage with customers, suppliers and employees will enable the organization to be more adaptive and agile.” Whether CEOs get the message remains to be seen.

8. Don’t let the rules stifle you; be reasonably open No matter what position you hold professionally, don’t be wary of having an online presence. A TechCrunch blog post frames the message well: “In a world where others’ perception of you is a function of a Google query, you need to own your online presence, especially as we move away from the Algorithm to an increasingly social world” (Karbasfrooshan, 2012). According to serial entrepreneur Kris Nair, one of the biggest reasons executives don’t blog is because they are afraid of sharing information. They need to be open without being indiscreet, he says. Rediff’s Balakrishnan laments that while openness is a part of American culture, it’s not so much a part of Indian culture unless it’s about one’s political views (Mishra, 2011). But remember, you will never be able to host a popular blog if you are not open about your views and stands on issues. Marketing guru Seth Godin (2004) says nobody will read your blog unless you are frank, honest, timely and pithy with your opinions. Jonathan Schwartz sums it up in the following words: “The rule of thumb is simple: Know the guidelines, then let loose.”

9. Don’t forget your manners in the blogosphere Tim O’Reilly, the man who is credited with coining the term Web 2.0, along with Jimmy Wales, creator of Wikipedia, came up with a code of conduct for bloggers in 2007 after Kathy Sierra, a well-known technology blogger,

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reported getting death threats following a controversy that “stemmed in part from a dispute over whether it was acceptable to delete the impolitic comments left by visitors to someone’s personal Website” (Stone, 2007). The Blogger’s Code of Conduct 1. Take responsibility not just for your own words, but for the comments you allow on your blog. 2. Label your tolerance level for abusive comments. 3. Consider eliminating anonymous comments. 4. Don’t feed the trolls. 5. Take the conversation offline, and talk directly, or find an intermediary who can do so. 6. If you know someone who is behaving badly, tell them so. 7. Don’t say anything online that you wouldn’t say in person. Source: Wikipedia entry for Blogger’s Code of Conduct. Retrieved November 23, 2012 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blogger%27s_Code_of_Conduct

The code of conduct, in turn, led to more controversy with people debating the appropriateness of having a set of rules for online behavior. With the government snooping more and more on digital content, a code of conduct is viewed with increasing suspicion today. Cherian George (2012), an associate professor at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, makes a brilliant point in this regard: Any code of ethics or mechanism for community moderation will only take off if it is devised entirely by practitioners, with not even the slightest hint of official influence or control….The merest whiff of government involvement would destroy any chance of success – that would be like trying to herd cats while walking a dog.

Whatever your stand on having such a code, it is important to follow basic manners in the blogosphere. For instance, when you post incorrect information on your blog, it’s only ethical that you admit it and correct it at the earliest possible. If people take the time out to comment on your post, try to respond to them. If you have nothing to say, do visit their blog. It’s a great way to know and interact with your audience. However, if a comment is highly offensive, it’s best to delete it rather than engage in an online duel with the person. Blogs are public places, not conducive to having nasty arguments or settling scores. If you hold a sensitive or public position, do not express personal opinions on your blog that might harm the integrity and impartiality expected of you. Don’t plagiarize other people’s ideas, pictures

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or posts. These are some of the basic elements of ethical blogging behavior that do not need a written code in order to be followed. There’s another important area we must visit before we conclude this chapter. Actually, it’s a million dollar question on the minds of many wannabe and established bloggers: How do you monetize your blog?

Can You Make Money from Blogging? First, let’s bust a myth. The truth is, it’s not easy to make a lot of money from blogging unless you work really hard at it. It takes a long time to create a successful blog and even longer to monetize it. Of course, there may be a few exceptions. But we will discuss the more common experiences first. The fact is, if you are someone who wants to earn money quickly, blogging may not be the way to go. But if you are patient and ready to put in a lot of effort, then you won’t have trouble earning from your blog. So, how many hours will you need to put into blogging to earn well from it? Darren Rowse, co-author of the book ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income says he consistently spends about 40-60+ hours per week blogging. He also has days when he writes about 20-30 posts. According to Rowse (2008), someone who wants to make a living out of blogging has to put in similar hours. He also adds that it is difficult to constantly come up with fresh ideas for blog posts and to respond to criticism from others as your thoughts and opinions are out in the open for anyone to comment upon. In short, there is no short cut to blogging success. However, it’s also true that Rowse makes a six-figure income from his blogging activities. So, what are the ways you can make money from blogging?

∑ You can sell space on your blog to advertisers. If directly selling space makes you wary, use Google Adsense. It will let Google place ads on your blog that are relevant to your content.

∑ You can run affiliate marketing programs on your blog which enable you to recommend quality products and make some money off it.

∑ You could also review products for companies for a price. But if you do that, it might compromise the way your readers view your editorial integrity. In any case, paid reviews require you to disclose the same on your blog.

∑ Another way you can make money from blogging is to sell products and services from your blog. For instance, if you blog about professional development, you can run online courses on assertive communication or how to make a successful presentation. If you blog about yoga, you can sell related DVDs on your blog.

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∑ The product you sell on your blog could also be an e-book. With selfpublishing getting more and more popular, it could just be the right way to go for many bloggers.

∑ But if you don’t have the patience or skills to write an entire book, leverage the content on your blog to get paid speaking assignments. Many bloggers also make money by offering blog coaching services where they teach people how to manage and monetize their blogs. Such services might also include SEO and SMO tips for other bloggers. There are other ways to raise money as well. Andrew Sullivan, best known for his blog, The Dish, announced in January 2013 that he would not publish ads and would implement a reader subscription fee of $20 per year instead. Note that The Dish has a million regular readers and a staff of seven. Guess what? Just after the announcement, Sullivan made $333,000 in one day as thousands of readers paid more than they were asked to (Taylor, 2013). But remember, not every blogger is Andrew Sullivan, who is described as “commentator extraordinaire,” a man who spent years brewing his blog “into a potent mixture of serious moral analysis, must-read aggregation, and palate-cleaning videos” (Taylor, 2013). For the average blogger, it’s a good idea to have a plan and back-up options on what you intend to do when things don’t work the way you expected them to. Most importantly, anyone who plans to make money from blogging needs to have patience. He or she needs to accept the fact that it might take months or a couple of years before one makes money from blogging.

Conclusion In just a few years, blogging has come a long way. Catone (2010) remarks that “from a rather unorganized collection of mostly personal diarists to a major voice in the news media landscape, blogging is clearly one of the stars of today’s Internet.” Most bloggers use multiple social media platforms such as Facebook communities and Twitter followers to increase traffic to their blogs. Today, one can also find blogging communities on any topic or area of interest. There are communities of political bloggers, technology bloggers, fashion and lifestyle bloggers, journalist bloggers, digital marketing bloggers, parenting bloggers, and many more. There’s also an emerging trend of family bloggers where several members of a family blog together (Bhujbal, 2012). If you are still wondering whether to blog or not, visit a few popular blogs on a topic that interests you. Top management and leadership blogs can be a source of inspiration for managers. Here are five blogs that have found a place in the list of best management blogs: How to Change the Word: A Practical Blog for Impractical People by Guy Kawasaki; The Business

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Blog at Intuitive.com by Dave Taylor; Life Beyond Code by Rajesh Setty; Leading with Purpose by Michael Hyatt; and, Management Craft by Lisa Haneberg. Google “best management blogs” if you don’t like the ones we mention. Spend a few days absorbing how these bloggers approach different topics and how they make their posts interesting. Once you decide to start blogging, don’t worry about how many people will read your posts and whether they will find it interesting. Have a plan and just start blogging. You can take care of social media optimization later on. Just make sure you pick an area you are passionate about. Offer unique, interesting and useful content. Dave Taylor (2012) says the philosophy of social media is to give, not take. He explains this point in a blog post: Too many people focus on the wrong questions, ‘how can I sell stuff?’ or, more bluntly, ‘how can I get money out of your wallet?’ If you sell bicycles, for example, your blog, your Facebook fan page, should be full of handy tips that will help bicyclists save a few bucks on repairs, find out about cool new trails, learn about training tips, and even gain some smarts about teaching children how to ride. Are we selling anything here? Not yet.

So, start by offering people what you have. The readers will follow. The basic idea is to start a conversation. It’s almost like starting a conversation in a social gathering. You start by talking to the people standing right next to you. Soon, you may notice that you have a crowd gathered around you because they find you interesting and/or informative. But there are two big things that dampen many people’s interest in blogging. It’s the degree of transparency required to blog and the time and energy required to post regularly. Some people just can’t get themselves to be that candid about their work or their lives. And, that is absolutely fine. Many of us are private people and it’s difficult for us to share our thoughts in detail with everyone in cyberspace. So, if blogging is not your cup of tea, try other social media platforms. If you find writing blog posts too time consuming, Twitter may be the right platform for you. In fact, some bloggers believe Twitter is reducing the number of bloggers worldwide. In an article titled “Tweet Now, Blog Later,” Krish Raghav (2009) writes that blogs appear to have taken a backseat: “… the everyday concerns of an online life have switched adjectives: They’re less blogged, more tweeted.” Of course, not everyone buys that argument. Rajdeep Sardesai, of CNN-IBN, tweeted the following on January 5, 2012, “@sardesairajdeep Twitter allows 140 characters and no space to make nuanced argument. Good for rants, not reason. Unlike a 1400 word article.” While the jury is still out on that one, let’s find out more on microblogging, more specifically Twitter, in the next chapter.

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References Banks, M. A. (2007). Blogging heroes: Interviews with 30 of the world’s top bloggers. Indiana: John Wiley and Sons. Betancourt, L. (2009, October 9). The complete guide to video blogging. Mashable. com Retrieved December 6, 2012, from http://mashable.com/2009/10/09/videoblogging/ Bhargava, R. (2006, August 10). 5 rules of social media optimization. Retrieved December 3, 2012, from http://www.rohitbhargava.com/2006/08/5_rules_of_ soci.html Bhargava, R. (2010, August 10). 5 new rules of social media optimization. Retrieved December 3, 2012, from http://www.rohitbhargava.com/2010/08/the-5-newrules-of-social-media-optimization-smo.html Bhujbal, K. (2012, December 25). 5 trends that will emerge in the Indian blogosphere in 2013. Retrieved January 8, 2013, from http://bhujbalview.blogspot.in/2012/12/5trends that-will-emerge-in-indian.html Buzz in the blogosphere: Millions More Bloggers and Blog Readers. (2012, March 8). Retrieved December 3, 2012, fromhttp://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_ mobile/buzz-in-the-blogosphere-millions-more-bloggers-and-blog-readers/ Catone, J. (2010, August 3). A look back at the last 5 years in blogging. Mashable.com Retrieved January 8, 2013, from http://mashable.com/2010/08/03/last-5-yearsblogging/ Clarke, C. (2012, June 26). Five editing tips for bloggers. Retrieved December 5, 2012, from http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/media-journalism/five-editing-tips-for bloggers/ George, C. (2012, March 11). A voluntary code of ethics for blogs possible but… journalism.sg. Retrieved December 3, 2012, from http://journalism. sg/2012/03/11/a-voluntary-code-of-ethics-for-blogs-possible-but/ Godin, S. (2004, Oct. 26). Beware the CEO blog. Retrieved December 3, 2012, from http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2004/10/beware_the_ceo_.html IBM (2012). Global CEO Study. Retrieved December 3, 2012, from https:// www14.software.ibm.com/webapp/iwm/web/signup.do?source=csuite-NA&S_ PKG=2012CEOStudy Karbasfrooshan, A. (2012, April 14). CEO Bloggers: To blog or not to blog. TechCrunch. com Retrieved November 26, 2012, from http://techcrunch.com/2012/04/14/ceobloggers-to-blog-or-not-to-blog/ Kurup, S. (2012, July 8). Blogging for brands.The Times of India. Retrieved November 26, 2012, http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-07-08/specialreport/32588067_1_bloggers-brands-home-decor Wright, L. B. (2012, February 18). 10 social media tips for bloggers.Mashable.com Retrieved December 3, 2012, from http://mashable.com/2012/02/17/socialmedia-bloggers-tips/ Mallon, S. (2012). 25 ideas for blog topics. Retrieved December 3, 2012, from http:// weblogbetter.com/2012/11/21/25-ideas-for-blog-topics/

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Mishra, Smeeta (2011). Executive Blogging: What do Indian Corporate Heads Blog About and Why? Amity Journal of Media & Communication Studies,1(1), 46-57. Reuters (2010, May 14). Larry Ellison slams Sun’s “astonishingly bad decisions.” PC Pro. Retrieved December 3, 2012, from http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/ enterprise/357943/larry-ellison-slams-suns-astonishingly-bad-decisions Rowse, Darren (2008, January 23). A reality check about blogging for money. Retrieved January 8, 2013, from http://www.problogger.net/archives/2008/01/23/ a-reality-check-about blogging-for-money/ State of the Blogosphere 2011: Part 1. Technorati.com Retrieved November 25, 2012, from http://technorati.com/social-media/article/state-of-the-blogosphere-2011part1/ Stone, Brad (2007, April 9). A call for manners in the world of nasty blogs. The New York Times. Retrieved November 29, 2012, from http://www.nytimes. com/2007/04/09/technology/09blog.html?_r=2&adxnnl=1&pagewanted=all&ad xnnlx=1346347088-tgkihQi2p1Jn13oBc48IFA& Sullivan, Danny (2006, August 29). Social Media Optimization: It’s Like SEO, For Social Sites Retrieved December 3, 2012, from http://searchenginewatch.com/ article/2057876/Social-Media-Optimization-Its-Like-SEO-For-Social-Sites Sysomos (2010, June). Indian blog demographics. Retrieved December 3, 2012, from http://www.sysomos.com/reports/bloggers/ Taylor, Chris (2013, January 4). Blogger makes $333,000 online in one day. Mashable. com Retrieved January 8, 2013, from http://mashable.com/2013/01/03/andrewsullivan daily dish-third-million/ Taylor, Dave (2012, May 16). The philosophy of social media: Give, don’t take. Retrieved December 3, 2012, from http://www.intuitive.com/blog/ Truant, Johnny B. (2009). The real secret to becoming a popular blogger. Retrieved December 3, 2012, from http://www.copyblogger.com/popular-blogger/

If you are interested in finding out what a celebrity ate for breakfast, you can follow him or her without making any contribution. But if you want to gain followers, you have to post things that will add value to your online community.

“All these people follow my tweets?”

Chapter 6

Microblogging: Twitter Unlike most social media sites, microblogging sites limit the amount of content users can upload to their account at a time. While there are sites solely dedicated to micro blogging, a lot of micro blogging also takes place on large social media sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn. For instance, each time you update your status on Facebook or share information about your current project at work on LinkedIn, you are micro blogging. While there are several micro blogging sites such as Spoink, Yammer and Plurk, Twitter is by far the most popular. According to Joel Comm, author of the book titled “Twitter Power 2.0: How to Dominate Your Market One Tweet at a Time,” what really distinguishes Twitter from other micro blogging sites is its simplicity. After all, Twitter asks you just one question: What are you doing? And, you have to answer this question in less than 140 characters. Another distinguishing feature is the critical mass it has accumulated in terms of the number of users.

Twitter Communities The special ability of Twitter to reach a large number of people has led to the creation of many thriving communities around leaders in different spheres of life such as politics, religion, fashion, mass media, and commerce. This medium has become so popular that Melinda Emerson (2012), who has built a Twitter community of more than 234,000 people interested in getting tips on running small businesses well, says, “I don’t remember what I did before it existed and I can’t imagine what I would do if it went away.” This sounds almost idolatrous, but this simple medium has helped her reach out to tens of thousands of people she wouldn’t otherwise be able to. A large number of them went on to read her blog and buy her book. Source: Emerson, M. F. (2012). How Twitter Changed My Life. The New York Times. Retrieved August 18, 2012 from http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/08/howtwitter-changed-my-life/#h[]

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Twitter also enables its users to send updates from their mobile phones making it possible for its users to reach out to a large number of people from any corner of the world. It is this feature that has madeTwitter such a powerful social medium.

Twitter History Twitter was founded in March 2006 in San Francisco, California. It was launched in July the same year. It has been growing so fast that now its website is among the top ten most visited websites. Twitter had over 500 million registered users by June 2012 (Lunden, 2012). In October 2012, the number of tweets per day was around 500 million, up from 400 million in June 2012 (Holt, 2013). Of course, Twitter claims that 40% of their users worldwide “simply use Twitter as a curated news feed of updates that reflect their passions.” The United States, the country of Twitter’s origin, leads the world in the number of registered users. According to Semiocast (2012), a French company that provides data intelligence and research on social media, there were 107 million Twitter accounts in the US towards the end of 2011. The other nine countries with the largest number of Twitter accounts are: Brazil (34m), Japan (30m), UK (24), Indonesia (19m), India (14m), Mexico (11m), Philippines (8m), Spain (8m). The numbers are approximate, but they indicate the pace of adoption in different countries. Worldwide, some of the people with the most number of followers on Twitter include Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga and Barack Obama, among others. In India, quite predictably, the people with most Twitter followers include Bollywood celebrities and cricketers. However, people from other backgrounds such as journalist Barkha Dutt, business honcho Vijay Mallya, novelist Chetan Bhagat and spiritual leader Dalai Lama, etc., also have strong follower bases on Twitter. In August 2013, some of the top Indian brands on Twitter included Vodafone India, HCL Technologies, Nokia India, Airtel India and Tata Docomo, among others.

The Good and the Bad The power of Twitter has been repeatedly demonstrated since it was launched. It has helped break news about major events and developments across the world such as the terrorist attacks in Mumbai in November 2008, the crash of U.S. Airways flight on the Hudson River in January 2009, protests in countries of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) over the last three years, demonstrations at Taksim Square in Turkey in mid-2013,

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protests following the Delhi Gang Rape in December 2012, and many more such cases. A well-known example of the power and reach of Twitter is the case of James Karl Buck, an American student who managed to free himself from an Egyptian jail within 24 hours of tweeting one word: “arrested” (Simon, 2008). Buck was arrested when he was covering an anti-government protest as part of his master’s thesis project on Egypt’s “New Leftists and the Blogosphere.” The one-word tweet helped him reach contacts who could get him freed from prison. Commenting on the case, Biz Stone, co-founder of Twitter, told CNN, that the case demonstrates the power of Twitter whereby a simple message which reached a lot of people in real time could make such a difference (Simon, 2008). There are numerous instances of someone from the Twitter community answering a desperate question or offering tips on where to find critical information. While they are not as newsworthy as James Karl Buck’s arrest and release, they are important for the people involved. Many people use Twitter to spread highly useful information that might not be readily available. David Carr (2010) illustrates it with a tweet he received one Saturday morning along with several hundred others. Because of a terrorist incident the previous day, airport security was suddenly tightened in Canada. Here is what a consultant tweeted from Montréal airport about 7:30 AM on that Saturday: “New security rules for int’l flights into US. 1 bag, no electronics the ENTIRE flight, no getting up last hour of flight.” This timely tweet, which was re-tweeted or forwarded to members of other communities, will have saved scores of prospective travellers from having to return home unexpectedly from several Canadian airports unable to check in their excess luggage. Important people such as US president Barack Obama reach out to the common man on Twitter. At home, one witnessed Team Anna use Twitter during the 2011 Lokpal Bill protests. Even our Prime Minister’s Office has a Twitter account, @PMOIndia. By September 2013, it had nearly 800,000 followers. Apart from the fact that there are important people using Twitter, many major political, financial, and humanitarian institutions also use it. However, Twitter has also been criticized for the banality of tweets. Pear Analytics, a Texas-based firm that specializes in marketing analytics and insights, studied Twitter usage patterns in 2009 and found that 40.5% of all Tweets are “pointless babble.” In response to this finding, known Internet researcher Danah Boyd (2009) remarked: I challenge each and every one of you to record every utterance that comes out of your mouth (and that of everyone you interact with) for an entire day. And then record every facial expression and gesture. You will most likely find what communications scholars

128 Online Communication Strategies for Managers found long ago – people are social creatures and a whole lot of what they express is phatic communication. (Phatic expressions do social work rather than conveying [sic] information...think ‘Hi’ or ‘Thank You.’)....I vote that we stop dismissing Twitter just because the majority of people who are joining its ranks are there to be social.

Boyd (2009) elaborated that people on Twitter aim at maintaining “peripheral social awareness” and want to know what people around them are thinking and doing although they may not be sharing the same physical space. Knowing what someone is doing at a particular moment helps people feel connected. “It’s a back-and-forth that makes sense if only we didn’t look down at it from outer space,” she argues. “Of course it looks alien. Walk into any typical social encounter between people you don’t know and it’s bound to look a wee bit alien, especially if those people are demographically different than you.” A more serious criticism of Twitter is that “it is the enemy of contemplation” (Keller, 2011). Bill Keller, a senior journalist who served as the executive editor of The New York Times from July 2003 to September 2011, finds the connectedness of Twitter “illusory” and the conversations “ephemeral.” While he concedes that “Twitter is a brilliant device — a megaphone for promotion, a seine for information, a helpful organizing tool for everything from doglover meet-ups to revolutions,” he is worried that we may unlearn important characteristics such as “complexity, acuity, patience, wisdom, intimacy.” He compares it to the way we have virtually lost the ability to remember facts because they are readily available on Google wherever we are. There are, of course, other users of Twitter who come to its defense. In a rejoinder to Bill Keller, fellow journalist Nick Bilton (2012), for example, proclaims that Twitter “has become an irreplaceable part of my daily life; it augments how I report stories, socialize with friends and share and consume everything from store coupons to breaking news.” He admits that there are problems created by people who use Twitter and similar social media so excessively that they fail to connect with people around them. That, he believes, is no reason for denigrating the channel. In fact, research shows that the mainstream media have championed the use of Twitter over the years. Two assistant professors at San Diego State University examined press coverage of Twitter between 2006 and 2009 in the United States and found that articles in newspapers, magazines and blogs have largely promoted Twitter and actively encouraged its use among people although some criticism has also been voiced (Arceneaux & Weiss, 2010). Most articles on Twitter discussed its brevity, speed, commercial and civic use while some highlighted its drawbacks such as information overload and spam.

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Getting Started on Twitter A great place to visit when you are starting out on Twitter is its own Help Centre which will help you learn all the basic commands. It also has a Twitter Glossary which will familiarize you with the lingo before you start tweeting. You can also watch a YouTube video on how to get started on Twitter. But before you get started, it will help to approach Twitter as a twoway communication tool rather than a bulletin board where you mindlessly publish updates about yourself, your friends and your family.

Choosing a Recognizable Username The Twitter sign up page is very simple: All you need to key in is your name, username, password and an email address. Select a username with care as it will be visible to all and appear as a part of the URL. It makes sense to choose a username that will help others easily identify you online and one that is also easy to remember. Your username should ideally be as close to your real name as possible. For example, if your name is Nikhil Shah, your Twitter username could be @NikhilShah or @nikhil_shah. Of course, you may choose to keep a vague username if your purpose for being on Twitter is not professional or you are keen on hiding your real identity. You need to choose a short username as Twitter limits it to 15 characters.

Writing a Good Twitter Bio Getting one’s Twitter profile ready before following people is a good idea. You don’t want people to visit your Twitter account and find nothing on it. Take time writing a good bio. Twitter gives you only 160-characters to write your bio so you need to choose one or two important and/or interesting things about you to include in your bio. What you choose to highlight about you depends on what you want Twitter to do for you and what type of brand you want your Twitter profile to represent. So, you must ask yourself what you will be tweeting most about: Will it be about your business, your job or your personal life. What type of an audience are you looking for? A good business bio on Twitter should give people a basic idea of what you do without using any clichés and jargons. Ideally, your bio should be a good balance between your professional and personal interests. Show a little bit of who you are as a person apart from mentioning your job title, expertise, etc. Here’s the bio of MS Dhoni, the captain of the Indian national cricket team. Notice how Dhoni’s bio does a good job of showcasing his professional and personal interests. The reference to Dhoni being forever hungry for chicken butter masala makes the bio adorable and personal.

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Mahendra Singh Dhoni @msdhoni Indian Cricket Team Captain, Biker, Gamer, hindi retro aficionado, an absolute pet-lover and perennially hungry for chicken butter masala India · facebook.com/msdofficial

You can also add something witty or humorous to your bio. Here’s the Twitter bio of Moni Mohsin, author of the book titled The Diary of a Social Butterfly. Those of you who have read the book will also realize that the tone of the bio is in keeping with the overall feel of her book.

Moni Mohsin @moni_butterfly Writer, creator of The Social Butterfly. Will tell you like it is from London to Lahore. Only people of good baggrounds & khaata peeta types should follow. London

Individuals apart, organizations can also make their bios stand out on Twitter. Here’s the Twitter bio of the Bank of New Zealand:

BNZ Bank @BNZBank This is the official Twitter account for Bank of New Zealand. Now, how do we fit 150 years of banking into 140 characters? New Zealand · http://www.bnz.co.nz

All the examples mentioned above give a sense of the personality of the account holder. Potential followers also get an idea of what they can

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expect from the tweets from these bios. The bios have also made good use of keywords to showcase the account holders’ areas of expertise and interests. One final suggestion about the bio: Don’t forget to modify the content of your bio from time to time to reflect your most current affiliations or interests. Don’t allow it to become add and delete information nuggets about you every few months.

Choosing the Perfect Twitter Profile Picture Most people hate to see the default egg icon next to your name so don’t forget to post a picture on your Twitter profile. Michael Hyatt, who is on the list of “Top 50 Social Media Influencers of 2013” compiled by Forbes, points out that it’s important to upload a picture also because many Twitter users will not follow people without photos as it’s a sure sign of a spammer. Now, what type of photograph should you choose? Your photograph should focus on your face as all that Twitter gives is a small, square space for your profile picture and you have to make the most of it. If you use a long shot in such a small space, people will hardly be able to make out what’s in the picture. So choose a close-up picture of your face which portrays you as a professional with a warm personality.

Setting up Your Twitter Background Choose your Twitter background with care. You can either choose from the designs provided by Twitter or make one of your own. If you are selfemployed and your Twitter account represents your own business, take the help of a graphic designer to create a background that looks professional. Make sure the color and design on your Twitter background goes well with the look of your company or business website. All this is a part of visual branding to ensure that your Twitter account and your business website look coordinated and have the same brand appeal.

Reading Other People’s Tweets Imagine walking into a room and starting a conversation with someone without knowing what the group is discussing or why they are gathered there in the first place. Listening to others helps you understand the conversation that is going on and decide whether it is something you want to join in and contribute to. The same principle applies to Twitter. Read other people’s tweets and acquaint yourself with conversations before tweeting. Only if you first read other people’s tweets will you be able to add value to a conversation and take it forward in an engaging manner.

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Deciding Who to Follow Some believe you should follow all those who follow you. Not a good idea. It is much more productive to follow people whose tweets add value to your everyday life. Elliott Kosmicki (2009), founder of GoodPlum.com, a productivity and personal development blog, suggests one have a guideline about who one should follow. As a matter of principle, he only follows those whose updates he is ready to pay to read. That automatically rules out a lot of people. Following someone just because they follow you can prove to be a big waste of time in the long run. Overall, it’s always a good idea to get more followers than the number of people you follow. Comm (2010) explains: “...when you follow many more people than are following you, you look like someone in search of a party. When more people are following you, you are the party” (p. 36-37). Of course, when you start out on Twitter, you are likely to follow more people than those who follow you. Don’t let that dishearten you. It’s takes time and a lot of effort to get a large number of followers.

How to Get Followers? First, ask yourself what kind of followers you want. Are you looking to have a large number of followers with little interest in your topic or are you looking for an extremely targeted group with a high interest in your topic. The ideal may be a mix of the two. Again, the answer really depends on who you are, what type of work you do and what you want to do on Twitter. Having an effective Twitter bio and a professional profile picture are the first steps to getting followers. Here are a few other suggestions.

∑ Post expert tweets: Post information about something you know a great deal about. For example, if you are a gadget enthusiast, you could comment on the latest iPhone or any gadget that fascinates a lot of people. If you are a social media consultant, you could offer tips on how to effectively use various social media platforms for business.

∑ Post question tweets: Each reply you get will be seen by the followers of the person who replied and some of them may decide to follow you. But make sure you ask relevant questions. And, don’t vanish after posting your question. Acknowledge answers. Retweet the good ones. Be prepared to answer your own question if someone asks you what you think about that particular issue.

∑ Develop a niche audience: Identify experts in your field and become a part of their circle on Twitter. You can search for them by typing in key words on Twitter’s Advanced Search engine. Follow them and try to

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get them to follow you. Now, how do you get an expert to follow you? Retweet their best tweets, reply to their tweets and contribute to their debates. Send them a pertinent link. Be resourceful. Of course, it will take time to get all this going. But your consistent efforts and patience will pay off.

∑ Provide links to interesting and useful information on Twitter: Provide links that add value for your users. For example, you will find a lot of people offering advice on Twitter on how to lose weight. You could also tweet about an app or tool you find very useful and why. Or, you could create a poll on a hot issue and ask people to vote. The possibilities are limitless. Just make sure you don’t post incomprehensible links without indicating what they lead to. Use URL shortening tools to tidy up your tweets.

∑ Post a picture along with your tweet: When all you have is 140 characters or less, a picture can really convey what a tweet may not. It may also attract more eyeballs than just text. The Twitter Help Centre gives you step-by-step instructions for uploading pictures on Twitter. Just ensure the image is 3MB or smaller.

∑ Tweet during hours that guarantee maximum visibility: A study conducted by URL shortening company Bitly found that posting between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. earlier in the week (Monday through Thursday) offers the best chance at getting a high click count. The study advises users to avoid posting after 8 p.m. and after 3 p.m. on a Friday (“Time is,” 2012).

∑ Retweet breaking news, useful resources and entertaining messages: Just like you forward emails that contain useful or entertaining content to your network, retweet the good stuff on Twitter as well. Since many people get their news from Twitter, it’s a great idea to retweet breaking news. But you also need to ensure that your news source is authentic and reliable.

∑ Link your Twitter account to other social media platforms: Provide links to your Twitter accounts on all your social media accounts such as LinkedIn, Facebook, etc., and add it to your email signature as well.

∑ Spread the news about your Twitter account: If you speak at conferences or social gatherings, mention your Twitter account to the audience. If you are using Power Point for your presentation, include your Twitter username in your signature slide. If you write opinion pieces for newspapers, mention your Twitter account at the end of it.

∑ Run a contest: If you have a small business and your organization is on Twitter, run a contest and give away small prizes to lots of people.

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Look into the Settings on Your Twitter Account Just remember that all your tweets are publicly visible unless you click on “protect my tweets” in the settings category. If you click on this, your tweets will be visible only to your network. Remember that once you post something on Twitter, it’s indexed in the search engines even after you delete it. So it stays forever. Says Barbra Sundquist (2012), “Twitter is the digital age equivalent of the front page of the newspaper. So yes, be real and be professional as well.” If you want to say something privately to another person on Twitter, use the “Direct Message” or DM feature. If you are sharing information such as a phone number or address, it’s best to use DM. Apart from Twitter tools, there are many third-party apps such as HootSuite or SocialOomph that can help you manage your Twitter account but it’s better to get familiar with the platform before you learn how to use such tools. Now that you have opened an account on Twitter (or thinking of opening one) and looked into the settings, it’s time to address questions about content. Just like the secret to a good blog is good content, the secret to creating a large following on Twitter is writing good tweets.

Writing a Good Tweet If you are interested in what a celebrity ate for breakfast, you can follow him or her without making any contribution. But if you want to have followers, you have to post things that will add value to the particular community that you want to be part of. Share with your community interesting information and references to articles or news items relevant to them. The 140-character limit ensures brevity, but not readability or memorability. Compose tweets that are interesting and engaging. A study found that Twitter updates have evolved from reporting mundane details such as what one is having for lunch into “something more crowd conscious and curatorial” (Garber, 2012).The study titled “Who Gives a Tweet: Evaluating Microblog Content Value” which analyzed 43,000 responses to tweets was conducted by researchers Paul Andre of Carnegie Mellon, Michael Bernstein of MIT, and Kurl Luther of Georgia Tech University. The researchers explored types of Tweets users like and dislike and described annoying tweets as those that are long, contain stale information, overuse #hashtags, are highly personal, mundane and whiny. On the other hand, tweets that are “informative or funny – or, ideally, informative and funny – evoke the best responses” (Garber, 2012). The researchers also point out that there is nothing wrong in being self promotional online as it indicates that one enjoys talking about one’s work.

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Many good tweets provoke thought. With the account names @ TheDailyStat (more than 33,000 followers) and @HarvardBiz (nearly 1.2 million followers), Harvard Business Review is one among many brands that are good with such tweets. Here is a tweet from @HarvardBiz (September 4, 2013): “The most important negotiations we have are the ones we have with ourselves. s.hbr.org/14Zq1TW.” The link takes us to a post on the HBR Blog Network which talks about examples of negotiations we do with ourselves. Here’s one from the list that is likely to resonate with a lot of people: “My plate is completely full, but my boss just asked me to start a new project. There’s no particular glory in it. Do I say yes to please her? What about ever eating dinner with my family?” Good tweets can also motivate one to action, not just thought. Here is a sample tweet from @HarvardBiz (August 25, 2012): “Why you should tolerate weakness in your employees http://s.hbr.org/Ph39US.” The link takes the follower to a video blog post on the HBR Blog Network, “Tolerate Weakness in Your Employees,” by David Roche, president of hotels.com. Some of the tweets on HBR accounts are pretty candid as well. The following tweet is a good example of a candid tweet that was posted on @ DailyStat on December 5, 2012: “Under-the-Table Is the Way to Get Public Contracts in China http://s.hbr.org/11U6TCV.” All three examples illustrate qualities of good tweets. They are well within 140-character limit and framed in a way that arouses interest. They are also useful sources of information and inspiration. They serve two purposes. They enrich the followers and in that process enhance the reputation of the organization. Good tweets often provide specific and useful information. Provide a reference link whenever you can. Here’s a fictitious example of a good and bad tweet on the same topic. Notice how specific the second tweet is compared to the first one:

Bad Tweet: @Yourname: I am reading a great article in the New York Times.

Good Tweet: @Yourname: Great article in @nytimes on #HurricaneSandy lifting #auto sales http://nyti.ms/11tEYum However, not all tweets have to be about breaking news or a trending topic. A clever tweet that makes you laugh is good enough. But avoid tweets

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that are good for nothing. Above all, one should avoid impulsive, insensitive tweets that can offend others and ultimately harm us.

Use a #Hashtag in Your Tweet It’s important to add #hashtags to your tweet so that Twitter users can locate the conversation on a topic and join it. Here’s an example:

In this example, Indian Express has added a hashtag to the word “rupee” and “dollar” to make it easy for someone to locate the tweet and join the conversation. To make good use of hashtags, you first need to learn how to pick the right hashtag for your tweet. If you are contributing to an existing conversation on Twitter, you need to find out what other people are using as hashtags for that topic or a related one. For example, many Twitter users were talking about doomsday in December 2012. Some people believed that the world will come to an end on December 21. If you wanted to contribute to this discussion, you would look for the hashtag for this topic, which happens to be #doomsday. You can then include #doomsday in your tweet so that you can join the conversation and anyone searching for tweets on this topic can find you. This also increases the probability of your tweet being retweeted by others. The above-mentioned example makes it evident that the best hashtag often happens to be the most obvious one. Apart from topical hashtags such as #doomsday, you can also include event hashtags (#GujaratElections), location hashtags (#NewDelhi), name hashtags (#NarendraModi), etc., depending on what you are tweeting about. If you are not contributing to an on-going conversation but you are breaking news on Twitter or publicizing your own event, you may need to start a new hashtag. Check if someone else is using your hashtag or if it means something very different from what you intend before you introduce a new hashtag for your event/story (Huertas, 2012). Here’s an example of

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how things can go terribly wrong if you start a hashtag that means something very different to people than what you are tweeting about. Fashion designer Kenneth Cole tried to latch on to the Arab Spring and market his clothing collection by a clever but tasteless tweet on February 03, 2011: ““Millions are in uproar in #Cairo. Rumor is they heard our new spring collection is now available online at http://bit.ly/KCairo –KC” (Sun, 2011). The hashtag (#) at the head of Cairo is what made it offensive to many Twitter users (Samuel, 2011). #Cairo is different from Cairo because it (#Cairo) stands for the revolution that was gaining strength in Egypt at that time. The use of that hashtag took the marketing tweet to millions of people who were following the revolution in Egypt. They were understandably offended by Cole’s attempt to enter their sacred world. Another important thing is to keep in mind that your hashtag may be hijacked and used against you (Huertas, 2012). Burger giant McDonald’s recent experience with Twitter is a case in point. In January 2012, McDonald started tweeting positive stories about its employees using #McDStories. But within minutes, people started posting their alleged horror stories about the quality of food at McDonald’s using the same hashtag. What was meant to be a promotional campaign on Twitter suddenly turned into vitriol against the company with tweets like this one: @MuzzaFuzza wrote: “I havent been to McDonalds in years, because Id rather eat my own diarrhoea” (“Not lovin’ it,” 2012). The takeaway from this case is that when you are running a social media campaign, you have little control over what direction it will take. Be ready to work hard to re-gain control if your campaign does take the wrong turn. Finally, it’s best not to use more than two hashtags in a tweet. Too many hashtags make it difficult for people to read or understand your tweet.

Don’t Convey Serious Emotions on Twitter If you’ve committed a terrible mistake, Twitter is not the place to apologize for it. American stand-up comedian Daniel Tosh apologized on Twitter after he said “it would be ‘funny’ if a particular woman in his audience got gang-raped” (Singal, 2012). Not many took his Twitter apology seriously. A Twitter apology is often perceived as lacking in sincerity and empathy. The thoughtfulness required in a sincere apology can rarely be delivered in 140 characters. As Jesse Singal (2012) says, “Apologizing via Twitter is like marking your anniversary by having your secretary send a JPEG of a rose to your wife.” Below are some takeaways on tweeting from companies who are doing well on Twitter.

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Companies Successful on Twitter and What We Can Learn from Them Which companies are most successful on Twitter? Business news website CNBC.com asked Ben Elowitz, CEO of the social media firm Wetpaint and author of the Digital Quarters blog, to select the top 10 companies who are using Twitter most effectively. Elowitz (2010) came up with the following list: Dell Computers, Whole Foods Market, Zappos.com, JetBlue Airways, Comcast Cable, New York Times, Southwest Airlines, Starbucks Coffee, Kodak and Home Depot. Grove (2009) provides a more comprehensive list of 40 of the best Twitter brands and the people behind them on the social media news website, Mashable.com. Here are some things we could learn from the way these companies manage their Twitter accounts:

1. Engage your followers; don’t just broadcast information about your products and services Social media start-up, Nestivity, conducted a Twitter engagement study and came up with a list of the “25 Most Engaged Brands on Twitter” in mid-2013. While Notebook of Love (@Notebook) topped the list at no. 1, other brands on the list included Disney Words, ESPN, Playstation, BBC Breaking News, NASA, National Geographic and UNICEF, among others (Landau, 2013). Honorable mentions on the list included Amazon, Oreo Cookie, Adobe, App Store and American Express. Note that the list comprises a variety of brands, not limited to any particular industry or sector. According to Nestivity’s founder and president, Henry Min, a brand that has a large number of followers may not necessarily be very engaging on Twitter. The study showed that while all of 25 most engaged brands have over a million followers on Twitter, so do 70% of the least engaged brands. What then is a defining quality among most engaged brands on Twitter? Min explains that these brands excel in the art of storytelling: Storytelling is how to bring your product to life to connect with your customers. NASA is a great example – they don’t talk about their space shuttle – it’s not about the technology behind the mars rover – but how they are pushing mankind forward. There’s nothing about the technology of what they do (Landau, 2013).

Branden Hampton, creator of @Notebook, which was rated as the most engaged brand on Twitter in the study, suggests three important ways to engage with followers (Fidelman, 2013). First, tweet content that is relevant to the everyday lives of followers. Second, respond to every single tweet sent to you. Third, don’t limit yourself to one community only. The content you tweet should resonate with several sub-communities and separate accounts could be created for this purpose. Overall, the most important takeaway from

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the study is that one must use Twitter to converse with followers as it is these conversations that establish relationships. Now, let’s go beyond the list of the 25 most engaged brands and take a look at the Twitter accounts of other companies who are also successful on this social media platform. You will notice that not all discussions on the Twitter accounts of popular brands deal with their products. For instance, here’s a tweet from Southwest Airlines, a major U.S. airline, on Thanksgiving Day in the year 2012:

The links take you to a post with recipes of some mouth-watering dishes. These dishes have nothing to do with the primary business of Southwest Airlines but they help engage flyers and give the airline a more human voice. The airline had more than 1.5 million followers in September 2013. In a similar case, here’s an example of the CEO of an online shoe and clothing company tweeting about something that has nothing to do with the products his company sells. Tony Hsieh, CEO at Zappos.com, tweeted about how to get kids to each vegetables on the Zappos Twitter account:

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While this tweet obviously has nothing to do with selling shoes or clothing, it’s about a topic that concerns many mothers, who form an important segment of his customer base. Little wonder that this tweet was re-tweeted many times and many followers marked it as a “favorite.” Tweets like this are likely to build trust for the brand as they give an impression that the company cares about its customers’ everyday concerns. Some of the tweets on the Twitter accounts of these companies are pretty entertaining as well, although they may deal with serious matters such as taxes. Here’s a tweet from H&R Block, a tax preparation and online tax services company in the United States:

2. Use Twitter for customer feedback and respond ASAP to customers who air their grievances on it Twitter is a great platform to listen to your customers. Most companies that are making good use of their Twitter accounts use it to seek customer feedback. They ask their customers what they think of their products and how they want them to improve. Listening to customers becomes even more important when they are complaining about your product or service on social media. Check out the Twitter accounts of some of the Indian e-commerce companies such as Flipkart, Myntra and Jabong to see how quickly they usually respond to complaints from customers. If you follow the time stamps on some of the conversations posted on these Twitter accounts, you will notice that many grievances of customers are resolved within 24 hours. While most Twitter users praise companies for responding to their complaints in real time, some have reported feeling uncomfortable about being followed too closely by corporate bigwigs. Rachel King (2008) offers an example: When Christopher Hoff tweeted about his unhappiness with

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Southwest Airlines as his flight got delayed and his luggage went missing, he received the following message from the airline the next day: “Sorry to hear about your flight – weather was terrible in the NE. Hope you give us a 2nd chance to prove that Southwest = Awesomeness.” Hoff wrote in a blog post about this incident and how he found it both “cool and frightening” at the same time. One of the ways to ensure that customers like Hoff don’t feel uncomfortable about you keeping a watch on their tweets about your product or service is to identify the individuals who are tweeting for your brand by putting their face on the company’s Twitter account (King, 2008). People feel much better interacting with an individual rather than a faceless, nameless account.

3. Use content that resonates with your target audience to create buzz on twitter campaigns If your campaign uses an idea that resonates with your target audience, it is likely to be well received. Here’s an example. Maybelline New York - India used a tongue-in-cheek catchphrase to market their SuperStay lipstick on social media in February 2013. Social media agency FoxyMoron launched the campaign using the hashtag #doesntlastlongenough on Twitter, a play on words that helped them get a lot of attention for their product, especially from young women. The hashtag generated a lot of cheeky, raunchy, humorous and philosophical tweets. It trended for 14 hours in India and generated more than 4,000 tweets (Naidu, 2013). It was also widely discussed on Facebook and Twitter. In September 2013, we found that Maybelline New York - India had more than 7,500 followers on Twitter and 2.7 million fans on Facebook. According to FoxyMoron, the idea for the campaign apparently came from consumer research that revealed a common concern among young women who believe that most good things in life such as relationships, vacations, lipsticks, etc., don’t last long enough (MediAvataar’s News Desk, 2013). Specifically, lipsticks last about 4-6 hours and need touch ups every now and then. Maybelline promised to solve the problem by launching lipsticks that it claimed will last up to 14 hours. By creating social media buzz on things that don’t last long enough, Maybelline New - York India brought attention to their own product - a lipstick that they claimed will last a long time.

4. Use Twitter to champion a cause Cause marketing on social media is popular among both brands and NGOs as the medium helps one reach a lot of people at relatively low costs. Meaghan Edelstein, who has spearheaded several successful cause campaigns on social

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media, suggests that themes of such campaigns must be kept simple and straightforward so that it is easy for people to understand and get involved. The specific platform used for the campaign should be also chosen keeping in mind the target audience and nature of engagement required. Edelstein (2010) recommends that brands partner with non-profit organizations that are known for their dedication for the cause being promoted which will help establish credibility. Further, if the non-profit has a strong social media presence, its network of supporters can be also be motivated to rally for the cause. Most importantly, the campaign should be well-timed. Here’s an example of a successful cause campaign on Twitter. As part of a Women’s Day initiative in the year 2013, Croma partnered with an NGO, Concern India Foundation, to launch a campaign to promote the cause of education for the girl child. Interface Business Solutions, its digital agency, used the hashtag #aWomanWants to launch the campaign on Twitter. Hershey Desai, associate creative director at the agency, explains in a blog post that the hashtag was intentionally kept generic in order to get people talking. The response to the campaign was overwhelming with men and women actively tweeting on what a woman wants. Most tweets mentioned shopping, mobile phones, cosmetics, home appliances, among others. Croma promised a big surprise at the end of the campaign but did not disclose any details or mention any prizes. According to Desai (2013), the hashtag trended in India at top place from March 5th to March 7th. Additionally, it trended worldwide for nearly two hours on March 5th with several tweets on the topic coming from users in the United States, United Kingdom and South-East Asia. During the course of the campaign, the agency which designed the campaign contacted a few people who had tweeted on the topic and selected one person based on her tweets to create a short video highlighting her responses to the hashtag #aWomanWants. You can watch the video on YouTube by searching for “Croma #aWomanWants”. The video starts with this young Indian woman stating all the things she wants on Women’s Day such as cardigans of all colors, a raise every month, a beauty parlour at her house, hair clips, lots of shoes, etc. Then the video asks you if you know what an average Indian girl needs. Soon, you see a little girl looking directly into the camera and saying the following words in Hindi: “Mujhe padhai karni hai. [I want to study].” The innocence in the little girl’s eyes hits the viewer. The video then informs the viewer that 70 out of every 100 girls in India never complete school and Croma would like to help these girls with an initiative whereby every Croma product purchased between March 1st and March 8th will contribute to improving the lives of 100 children.

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While most responses to this campaign highlighted materialistic wants women have, the video showed a little girl expressing her need for basic education. Desai (2013) claims it is this twist in the campaign that had a dramatic impact with people realizing how important it was to meet the girl’s basic need rather than fulfil their own unlimited wants.

5. Have dedicated employees run your Twitter account If you think the best person to help you run your Twitter account is the bright, young intern you recently hired, you may be wrong. Jill Duffy, a software analyst and writer at PC Magazine, warns us about letting someone new to the company take over the Twitter reigns completely. According to her, it’s important to have dedicated employees who are familiar with the ins and outs of the company at the helm. The intern can help the other employees learn more about basic Twitter usage but she should not be in charge of the project. Thus, people who handle social media accounts for companies should be knowledgeable, trustworthy and above all, good listeners. The reason you need to be so cautious on this front is because it is very easy for things to go wrong on social media. Listing 13 epic Twitter failures by big brands, Bhasin (2012) warns us of the following situations: Marketing campaigns can blow up in a hurry. Hashtags can be hijacked, attempts at humor can backfire and misuse of the medium can invoke outrage. Every single tweet that a brand sends out can make a big impact, because of the intrinsically viral nature of Twitter. If there’s something scandalous, there’s nowhere to hide, and it’s easy for people to voice their opinions.

Be very careful about who you hand over such tremendous power to. Here are some examples of cases where things went out of hand.

Getting into Trouble for a Tweet While chapter 8 deals with the overall role of social media in crisis situations, here are some examples where a tweet landed individuals and organizations in big trouble. A senior journalist at CNN was fired in 2010 for praising a Shiite cleric after his death (Carr, 2012). The cleric was an inspirational figure for Hezbollah, a Shi’a Islamic militant group and political party based in Lebanon. Another reporter, who worked with Arizona Daily Star, was fired for posting critical remarks about his colleagues (Carr, 2012). Richard Wray and Charles Arthur (2010) reported in The Guardian that in February 2010, Vodafone UK suspended an employee in the customer service department for posting an obscene remark on the company’s official Twitter account. Within minutes of the message appearing, hundreds of

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Vodafone customers contacted the company to check whether its Twitter account had been hacked. Vodafone immediately sent an abject apology to each user for the “severe breach of rules by staff.” During the London Olympics in July 2012, Swiss soccer player Michel Morganella tweeted that South Koreans were a “bunch of mentally handicapped retards,” and was promptly expelled from the national team a few days after Voula Papachristou, Greece’s Triple Jump champion, was penalised similarly for tweeting racist jokes about Africans (Martin, 2012). Such suspensions and sackings happen at Twitter, too. Newsweek International reported in July 2012 that Twitter suspended the account of Guy Adams, a U.S.-based reporter for the British newspaper the Independent, for violating the Twitter rule that prohibits posting of personal information such as private e-mail addresses, physical addresses and telephone numbers (“Twitter Suspends Reporter,” 2012). Frustrated with the way NBC was covering the opening ceremony of London Olympics, Adams had tweeted the name and e-mail ID of the man responsible for it and urged his followers to mail him. Again, what we notice is that because of the easy availability of the channel, sane and mature professionals also fall prey to the urge to vent their emotions without giving themselves any time for reflection. This is almost like buying something unaffordable or unnecessary on impulse just because one has a credit card in one’s pocket. On May 27, 2011, Representative Anthony Weiner, a fast rising star in American politics at that time, tweeted a sexually suggestive photograph of himself to a young woman (Barbaro, 2011). Although it was deleted soon, it was too late. A Twitter user found out and re-tweeted it to his followers. Within days Weiner was confronted with repeated questions on the photograph and the woman. Indignantly and vehemently he denied that he posted the photograph. But by the second week of June, unable to cope with mounting evidence and pressure from his party leaders, he admitted his mistake and announced his resignation (Hernandez, 2012). In June 2010, CBS News reported that celebrity blogger Perez Hilton posted to his Twitter account (which has more than two million followers) an obscene photo of the young rock star Miley Cyrus with the following introduction: “If you are easily offended, do NOT click here. Oh, Miley! Warning: truly not for the easily offended!” As Cyrus was underage at that time, it was feared that Hilton might face legal trouble including imprisonment for posting child pornography (Lee, 2010). Indiscretion comes in many ways in the Twitter-world. American actor and television director, Scott Baio, tweeted, “Taxes are DONE…That should feed, house & provide medical for a few lazy non working people at my expense. Have a great Monday!” (Berman, 2011). The tweet was re-posted by

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the feminist blog Jezebel.com and heated rants followed between the readers of the blog, the actor’s fans, the actor and his wife. Several major news outlets reported on this Twitter controversy. In a report on Twitter scandals of politicians published in The Huffington Post, Bosker (2011) reported that during a top secret visit to Iraq, Rep. Peter Hoekstra, a lawmaker with an extensive national security background, tweeted to his followers details of his delegation’s arrival and itinerary in Iraq and kept updating them every few hours breaching security guidelines. Commenting on Bosker’s report, a reader identified as “mrsvonii” commented: “Twitter may be the most dangerous weapon invented by man. It is just way to[o] easy to comment without first engaging your brain. Maybe someone should invent a tweet interlock device that can detect thought before a tweet can be sent.” This comment aptly captures what can go wrong with tweeting. The ease of uploading thoughts and feelings instantly on Twitter and Facebook makes many people forget appropriateness and consequences of outbursts which would once have been made orally within the four walls of an office. Most of those outbursts would have vanished without leaving any trace. But once they enter the digital space, they don’t die. They can surface anywhere anytime causing embarrassment not only to the original creators but also their organizations apart from the targets of such emotional bursts. Calling Twitter the “world headquarters of snap judgments,” David Carr, a New York Times journalist, argues that most tweets are impulsive and it’s difficult to “resist the urge to say something sassy, transgressive or inappropriate” on it. However, he says he does not give in to that impulsive urge: When I do post on Twittter, I often look at it through the eyes of my boss and his bosses and ask, is this congruent with the journalistic values of the institution – or, more succinctly, will it create a headache for my employer? (Carr, 2012).

Seth Godin, marketing guru and best-selling author, points out one should always ensure the medium is appropriate for the message: “Using microblogging (like Yammer) to share your quarterly review or fire someone or to make an important, nuanced announcement is just sort of dumb. Using it for keeping in contact with an ever-widening circle of friends and colleagues is brilliant. If it’s important, or controversial, I don’t think I’d obsess about making it short.”

Tips for Twitter Users Getting started on Twitter: 1. Choose a recognizable username 2. Write an effective bio

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3. Choose a profile picture that focuses on your face. 4. Choose a Twitter background that helps in visual branding 5. Read other people’s tweets to get a sense of tweeting 6. Write stimulating tweets 7. Pick your audience: Niche, generic or a combination of both 8. Take concrete steps to get followers 9. Choose the right #hashtag for your tweets 10. Retweet the good stuff What you can learn from companies successful on Twitter: 1. Engage your followers; don’t just broadcast information about your products and services 2. Use Twitter for customer feedback and respond ASAP to customers who air their grievances on it 3. Use content that resonates with your target audience to create buzz on Twitter campaigns 4. Use Twitter to champion a cause 5. Have dedicated employees run your Twitter account

References Arceneaux, N. & Weiss, A. S. (2010). Seems stupid until you try it: Press coverage of Twitter, 2006–9.New Media & Society, 12(8), 1262-1279 Barbaro, M. (2011, June 6). Weiner admits he sent lewd photos; says he won’t resign. The New York Times. Retrieved December 24, 2012 from http://www. nytimes.com/2011/06/07/us/politics/07weiner.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 Bilton,N. (2012). “This Is Your Brain on Twitter.” The New York Times. Retrieved August 19, 2012, from http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/18/this-is-yourbrain-on-twitter/ Berman, J. (2011, January 6). Scott Baio and his wife flip out at Jezebel. Retrieved August 26, 2012, fromhttp://www.flavorwire.com/140457/the-top-10-celebritytwitter-scandals?all=1 Bhasin, K. (2012, February 6). 13 Epic Twitter Fails By Big Brands. Business Insider. Retrieved November 27, 2012, from http://www.businessinsider.com/13-epictwitter-fails-by-big-brands-2012-2?op=1 Bosker, B. (2011, June 6). “The Most Embarrassing Politician Twitter Scandals: Lewd Photos, Weird Videos, And More.” The Huffington Post. Retrieved August 26, 2012, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/03/politicians-toptwitter s_n_870967.html#s286872&title=Joe_Miller_Gets

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Boyd, D. (2009). Twitter: “Pointless babble” or peripheral social awareness + social grooming? Retrieved June 24, 2013, from http://www.zephoria.org/thoughts/ archives/2009/08/16/twitter_pointle.html Carr, D. (2012, February 12). Twitter is all in good fun, until it isn’t. The New York Times. Retrieved September 10, 2013, form http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/13/ business/media/twitter-is-all-in-good-fun-until-it-isnt.html?pagewanted=all Carr, D. (2010). “Why Twitter Will Endure.” The New York Times.Retrieved August 18, 2012, from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/03/weekinreview/03carr. html?pagewanted=all Comm, J. (2010). Twitter Power 2.0: How to Dominate Your Market One Tweet at a Time. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Desai, H. (2013, March 8). #aWomanWants – Croma Retail’s Social Initiative for Women’s Day [Twitter Case Study]. Retrieved September 7, 2013, from http:// cultofcreativity.com/2013/03/08/awomanwants-croma-retails-social-initiativefor-womens-day-twitter-case-study/ Duffy, J. (2013, April 16). How to use Twitter for Business.PC Magazine. Retrieved September 7, 2013, fromhttp://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2383408,00.asp Edelstein, M. (2010, May 10). 8 tips for successful social media cause campaigns. Retrieved September 7, 2013, from http://mashable.com/2010/05/10/socialcause-campaign/ Elowitz, B. (2010). The top ten companies on Twitter.CNBC.com.Retrieved November 27, 2012, from http://www.cnbc.com/id/36421561/The_Top_10_ Companies_on_Twitter Fidelman, M. (2013, June 5). 3 Twitter Engagement Tricks You Should Do Every Day (From The #1 Most Engaged Brand On Twitter). Forbes.com. Retrieved September 9, 2013, fromhttp://www.forbes.com/sites/markfidelman/2013/06/05/3-twitterengagement-tricks-you-should-do-every-day-from-the-1-most-engaged-brandon-twitter/ Garber, M. (2012, January 31). Be Better at Twitter: The Definitive, Data-Driven Guide. The Atlantic.http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/01/ be-better-at-twitter-the-definitive-data-driven-guide/252273/ Grove, J. (2009, January 21). 40 of the best Twitter brands and the people behind them. Mashable.com.Retrieved November 27, 2012, fromhttp://mashable.com/2009/ 01/21/best-twitter-brands/ Hernandez, R. (2011, June 16). Weiner resigns in chaotic final scene. The New York Times. Retrieved December 24, 2012 from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/17/ nyregion/anthony-d-weiner-tells-friends-he-will-resign.html?pagewanted=all Holt, R. (2013, March 21). Twitter in numbers. The Telegraph. Retrieved September 9, 2013, from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/twitter/9945505/Twitterin-numbers.html

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Huertas, E. (April 23, 2012). Creating a #Hashtag Campaign on Twitter. Social Media Today. Retrieved December 23, 2012, from http://socialmediatoday.com/edwinhuertas/493748/creating-hashtag-campaign-twitter Hyatt, M. (2008) The Beginner’s Guide to Twitter . http://michaelhyatt.com/thebeginners-guide-to-twitter.html Keller, B. (2011). The Twitter Trap. The New York Times. Retrieved August 19, 2012 from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/22/magazine/the-twitter-trap.html?_r=1 King, R. (2008, September 6). How Companies Use Twitter to Bolster Their Brands. Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved November 27, 2012, from http://www. businessweek.com/stories/2008-09-06/how-companies-use-twitter-to-bolstertheir-brandsbusinessweek-business-news-stock-market-and-financial-advice Kosmicki, E. (2009, March 10). The Twitter Followholic: An Epidemic. Retrieved December 23, 2012, from http://mashable.com/2009/03/10/twitter-followholic/ Landau, B. (2013, May 9). Top 25 Engaged Brands on Twitter: An Interview With Henry Min, Founder of Nestivity. HuffingtonPost.com. Retrieved September 9, 2013, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/blake-landau/interview-with-henrymin-_b_3239676.html Lee, J. (2010, June 14). Perez Hilton Twitter Account Posts Naked Miley Cyrus Upskirt Picture. Retrieved August 26, 2012 from http://www.cbsnews.com/830131749_162-20007651-10391698.html?tag=contentMain;contentBody Lunden, I. (2012, July 31). witter May Have 500M+ Users But Only 170M Are Active, 75% On Twitter’s Own Clients. TechCrunch.com. Retrieved September 9, 2013, from http://techcrunch.com/2012/07/31/twitter-may-have-500m-usersbut-only-170m-are-active-75-on-twitters-own-clients/ Martin, A. (2012, July 30). Another Racist Twitter Scandal Gets Another Olympic Athlete the Boot. Retrieved August 26, 2012 from http://www.theatlanticwire.com/ global/2012/07/another-racist-twitter-scandal-gets-another-olympic-athleteboot/55197/ MediAvataar’s News Desk (2013). FoxMoron launches social media campaign for Maybelline New York’s SuperStay Lipstick in India. Retrieved September 7, 2013, from http://www.mediavataar.com/index.php/news/digital/5613-foxymoronlaunches-social-media-campaign-for-maybelline-new-yorks-superstay-lipstickin-india Naidu, P. (2013, February 13). Maybelline India launches a new lipstick with #doesntlastlong enough. Retrieved September 7, 2013, from http://lighthouseinsights.in/ maybelline-india-doesntlastlongenough-lipstick-launch-social-media-campaign. html “Not lovin’ it: McDonald’s Twitter campaign hijacked by haters” (2012, January 26). Fox News.com. Retrieved December 23, 2012, from http://www.foxnews. com/scitech/2012/01/26/not-lovin-it-mcdonalds-twitter-campaign-hijacked-byhaters/print#ixzz1kdsPsks3

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Samuel, A. (2011, February 7). Kenneth Cole’s Social Media Marketing Lesson. Retrieved August 26, 2012, from http://blogs.hbr.org/samuel/2011/02/kennethcoles-social-media-mar.html Singal, J. (2012, July 14). “Hey Daniel Tosh—No One Believes Your Lame Twitter Apology.” Newsweek. Retrieved August 16, 2012, from http://www. newsweekinternational.com/articles/2012/07/14/hey-daniel-tosh-no-onebelieves-your-lame-twitter-apology.html Semiocast (2012). “Geolocation Analysis Of Twitter Accounts By Semiocast.” Retrieved August 19, 2012, from http://semiocast.com/publications/2012_01_31_ Brazil_becomes_2nd_country_on_Twitter_superseds_Japan Simon, M. (2008, April 25). Student ‘Twitters’ his way out of Egyptian jail. CNN.com. http://edition.cnn.com/2008/TECH/04/25/twitter.buck/ Sun, F. (2011, June 6). Kenneth Cole and the Arab Spring. Retrieved August 26, 2012, from http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0, 28804,2075071_ 2075082_2075150,00.html Sundquist, B. (2012). How to Write a Good Twitter Bio. Retrieved December 23, 2012, from http://www.homebusinesswiz.com/2012/03/how-to-write-a-greattwitter-bio.html “Time is on your side” (2012, May 8). Bitly blog. Retrieved December 23, 2012, from http://blog.bitly.com/post/22663850994/time-is-on-your-side “Twitter Turns Six” (2012, March 21). Retrieved August 25, 2012 from Twitter’s official blog,http://blog.twitter.com/2012/03/twitter-turns-six.html “Twitter Suspends Reporter” (2012). Retrieved August 18, 2012, from http://www. newsweekinternational.com/cheats/2012/07/30/twitter-suspends-reporter.html Wray, R. & Arthur, C. (2010). “Vodafone suspends employee after obscene tweet.” The Guardian. Retrieved August 18, 2012 from http://www.guardian. co.uk/technology/2010/feb/05/vodafone-twitter-obscene-tweet? INTCMP= ILCNETTXT3487

Chapter 7

Facebook: Friends, Fans, Likes and More It was August 2008. A Los Angeles-based aspiring actor, Dusty Sorg, was looking for a Coca Cola fan page on Facebook that he could join. The company did not have one at that time. So, Sorg and his friend Michael Jedrzejewski, created a Coca Cola Facebook page using a high-resolution digital image of a Coke can and joined it. The page grew so fast that it soon ended up with millions of fans. Coca Cola took notice of this and invited the two to share the administration of the page with the company’s senior officials (Klaassen, 2009). While the soft drink giant could have bought the page from the two friends, it hired them as online ambassadors instead. This is how the Facebook Page of one the most popular brands on Facebook was born. The Page had nearly 74 million “likes” in September 2013. As those who are familiar with Facebook know, when a person “likes” a Facebook page, content from that business or brand will appear in her newsfeed. According to social media marketing experts, what makes Coca Cola’s Facebook page great is the way the company allows its fans to “define and drive the brand” (Wilson, 2011). Like Coca Cola, most major brands today have a presence on Facebook, which is no longer a mere college student hang-out on the Internet. Reflecting the changing nature of social media usage, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission now allows U.S. companies to post their earnings on Facebook and Twitter as long as investors have been informed about it in advance (Gallu, 2013). Slowly but definitely, Facebook is gradually transforming from a site used for social networking only to one that is being used for professional activities as well.

More than a Billion Users Strong What makes Facebook a great place for professional networking is its wide reach. According to Facebook’s annual report submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in December 2012, 1.06 billion users login to their account at least once a month. Further, 618 million users login to their

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account at least once daily and 680 million use Facebook mobile products at least once a month. According to social media analytics company, Socialbakers, United States had the highest number of monthly active users at nearly 159 million in the first quarter of 2013 while India ranked third with just under 64 million monthly active users after Brazil. “Monthly active users” refers to the number of people who have been active on Facebook during a 30-day-period. Although India has a low Internet penetration rate, approximately 70% of its Internet users are on Facebook (“India Facebook,” 2013). A survey conducted by the Pew Research Center revealed that an average Facebook user has 229 friends (Hampton et al., 2011). Many of the “friends” a person has on Facebook may comprise people who are not currently in active contact with him. However, these dormant ties can become active at any point making it extremely useful for purposes of professional networking. The second part of the Pew Research Centre study showed no evidence of Facebook (FB) fatigue among long-term users which means that the professional contacts one builds on the social networking site are likely to be lasting in nature. Furthermore, the findings revealed that FB users can reach an average of more than 150,000 other users through their FB friends while the median user can reach about 31,000 others (Hampton et al., 2012). In terms of professional networking, Facebook provides an avenue where a user can contact anybody on it without going through near-inaccessible layers created by public relations professionals and personal secretaries. For example, when the first author of the book was contacting CEOs and top executives who blog for a study, she found Facebook a great way to contact them. She searched for the specific executives on Facebook’s search engine and sent them a message requesting an interview. Most replied on the same day. It is for these reasons that Epstein (2009) says it’s a mistake to dismiss professional networking possibilities on Facebook and merely regard it as a site to keep in touch with one’s personal circle. Before we venture into ways to use Facebook for professional networking, it’s important to understand the differences between Facebook Profiles, Pages and Groups.

Facebook Profiles, Pages and Groups While individual users can create Facebook profiles, celebrities, brands and businesses can create Facebook Pages. When people with similar interests want to connect with each other, they can create Facebook Groups. While all three avenues allow the user, group or organization to post updates, photographs and videos, there are distinct differences between Facebook profiles and Facebook Pages.

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Apart from public figures and businesses, Facebook Pages can also be created to campaign for a particular cause, promote a book, etc. The contacts on Facebook Pages of organizations are called “fans,” which is different from the “friends” one makes on a Facebook Profile. Organizations have limited access to information on a fan’s Facebook profile while our access to a friend’s updates depends on her privacy settings. While Facebook Pages are open to the public and that includes non-users as well, Facebook Profiles can be set to private so that they are visible to a limited group of people only. Facebook Pages have several advanced apps to increase fan participation. For instance, Facebook Pages give an organization access to Insights, which is an analytical tool to track fan engagement. An individual cannot use a Facebook Profile for commercial purposes while an organization can use a Facebook Page for announcing discounts, giving out coupons, making special offers and more. However, an individual user can use Facebook for professional networking purposes. This chapter will offer strategies that both individuals and organizations can use to communicate professionally on Facebook. The social media site offers a great avenue to create your personal brand. But there are a few decisions that must be taken before you decide to make your Facebook profile an important part of your personal branding strategy. If you are already a Facebook user, go over the posts, pictures and other material posted on your wall. Identify your personal brand. Find out how your Facebook friends view you. Also, identify your primary motive for being on Facebook for your goals play an important role in determining how you use the site.

How to Create and Maintain an Effective Professional Profile on Facebook? The first step to developing a professional network on Facebook is to create an effective profile. While deciding what to include in one’s profile, one can view it as an exercise similar to personalizing one’s desk or workspace. “Only display on your profile what you’d put on your desk,” says technology writer, Judi Sohn. “Don’t add anything to your profile that you wouldn’t display for your supervisors, co-workers and clients to see as they’re walking by your work environment.” We begin our discussion on Facebook profiles with the cover photo.

Cover photo Branded content editor at Mashable.com, Lauren Drell, describes cover photos on a Facebook profile or page as “prime real estate” as it offers a chance to make a great first impression. Facebook offers the following

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suggestion for cover photos: “Use a unique image that represents your Page. This might be a photo of a popular menu item, album artwork or a picture of people using your product. Be creative and experiment with images your audience responds well to.” The cover photo of your Facebook profile or page must follow guidelines set by the social media company. One must keep in mind that these guidelines are changed from time to time. Here’s an excerpt from the cover photo guidelines as prevalent in April 2013: Cover photos can’t be deceptive, misleading, infringe on anyone else’s copyright or be in violation of the Pages Terms. You may not encourage people to upload your cover photo for their personal timelines. Cover photos must be at least 399 pixels wide and may not include images with more than 20% text.

The big takeaway here is that the cover photo should not include too much text, which is aimed at keeping pages visually appealing. Earlier, Facebook had more elaborate rules for cover photos which it relaxed in March 2013. Peter Claridge, manager at a Chicago-based social media company, lists major brands that have “stunning and creative” Facebook cover photos. The two common themes among them is the retro feel of many of these photographs and the integration of the company logo in the cover photo itself. Some of the brands that figure on this list include Virgin Atlantic, Smirnoff, Dunkin Donuts, Sony, Coca Cola, Ferari, McDonalds, Tata Nano, The New York Times, Kodak and Starbucks, among others. Apart from going over the cover photos of these businesses, take a look at impressive cover photos posted by individual users on Facebook for inspiration in selecting your own cover photo. For example, Guy Kawasaki, popular Silicon Valley author and former chief evangelist for Apple, had a great cover picture in April 2013 that showed him standing near the roof tops of Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar. Guy is wearing an APE T-shirt which is good advertisement for his co-authored book titled “APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur: How to publish your Book.” Vishal Gondal, known Indian entrepreneur and angel investor, also had an exciting cover photo in April 2013 that showed him skydiving portraying him as someone who is adventurous and takes risks in life. Business magnate and television personality Donald J. Trump had an excellent cover photo of him sitting at a grand gold and marble table, highlighting the power and opulence he symbolizes. Many users choose to put a picture of the city they live in or their hometowns as their cover photo. For example, one will often find people from major international cities such as New York, Chicago, Paris, Tokyo,

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etc., put pictures of the skyline as their cover photo. Others may choose to put pictures of their family and loved ones as the cover photo.

Profile picture The profile picture, which is at the bottom left corner of the cover photo, is also critical to building a professional image. While one must use a sharp, quality image as one’s profile picture, Mari Smith (2010), author of “Facebook Marketing: An Hour a Day” suggests one stay away from overly formal photos. She advises users to opt for a “relaxed, informal yet professional” look. Crop the picture to just show the head and shoulders so that the thumbnail is recognizable when it appears next to posts and comments. Matt Silverman (2010) offers a few basic tips for taking good profile pictures. Avoid taking a shaky image by using a tripod; shoot in continuous mode if necessary; use good quality lenses; aim for a low ISO image which implies less sensitivity of the film to light and finer grain. Browse over several profile pictures to get a good idea of what works best. For instance, Mashable CEO Pete Cashmore posts great profile photos. In April 2013, he posted a perfectly cropped picture of him at the 2012 Time 100 gala as his profile picture. Time 100 is an annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world assembled by the Time magazine. The profile picture did a great job of displaying his professional prowess. Sree Sreenivasan, Columbia University’s Chief Digital Officer, is another individual user who posts great profile pictures. His profile picture in April 2013 was a headshot taken by photographer Deidre Schoo at a Social Media Weekend he coordinated at his journalism school. It showed him in formal attire using a smart phone. The image was in keeping with what Sreenivasan does professionally.

Posting effective updates A study conducted by data analysis firm Experian in 2011 showed that the average duration of Facebook visits around the world range from 18 to 38 minutes (Emerson, 2011). Thus, a user gets to see hundreds of updates in his or her newsfeed in very little time. Unless your update is compelling, it will not catch a user’s eye. A person who wants to network professionally on Facebook must post updates about her professional achievements. Take a look at the public updates of Mathew Ingram, an award-winning journalist who is currently a senior writer with popular technology blog, GigaOM. Ingram does an excellent job of maintaining a professional profile on Facebook. For example, on April 26, 2013, he posted a picture with the following update: “This is

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the amazing room in Perugia where I gave my keynote at the International Journalism Festival – it has a huge vaulted ceiling with incredible frescoes and was built in 1306.” The update obviously bolstered his professional image as an international speaker. Most importantly, keep updates short. Not just because few like to read long passages on a social networking site but also because so many of us access such sites using a mobile device. Updates about interesting personal experiences usually garner attention. You need to keep the interests of your audience in mind while posting updates. Using photographs is a good way to catch a viewer’s eye. A powerful way to interact with other users is by offering and/or seeking advice. Posting on a variety of topics also helps. One must remember that call-to-action posts get more shares and likes. Updates on timely topics are also likely to get more shares. Thoughtful quotes that inspire people also help catch attention. For instance, Richard Branson, Founder and Chairman of Virgin Group, often posts quotes which get a lot of likes and shares. On April 22, 2013, he posted a quote by NASA astronaut Ronald McNair: “Before you can make a dream come true, you must have one.” This particular update got almost 8,000 likes and more than 2,000 shares. In September 2013, Branson’s Facebook page had nearly 600,000 Likes. One can also highlight specific posts by pinning them on top of the Facebook wall. Salesforce Marketing Cloud, a social media marketing company, studied 1,800 Facebook pages over two months in the year 2012 and came up with tips for effective posts. Their tips are listed in the box below.

How to Make Effective Posts? ∑ Posting more on weekends can get more interaction as Facebook users tend to use the site more when they are not at work. Posting during non-busy hours, that is, between 8 p.m. and 7 a.m., can also help. ∑ It is not recommended to post more than one to two times a day and never to exceed more than seven times a week so that fans don’t get overwhelmed. ∑ The study suggests that users should keep their posts short as longer posts adversely impact interaction. ∑ Using photographs with posts is a great way to improve interaction. ∑ Asking questions can generate a lot of comments but the question must be added at the end of a post.

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∑ Asking fans to fill in the blanks or give a caption to a picture can also generate more responses. ∑ Using emoticons can also improve interaction. ∑ Clear calls to action such as asking users to like a particular post or share it, etc., also earns more responses than leaving it ambiguous. Source: Salesforce Marketing Cloud (2012). Strategies for effective wall posts: A timeline analysis. Retrieved May 10, 2013, from http://www. salesforcemarketingcloud.com/resources/ebooks/strategies-for-effective-wallposts-a-timeline-analysis/

Showcase your personal brand In order to showcase your personal brand, you need to first become aware of it. What adjectives do you want people to associate with you? Are you someone who is serious or chatty, approachable or mysterious, restless or laidback? Let your Facebook profile reflect your work values, beliefs and personality. If you are someone who believes in certain values such as the benefits of working in a flat organization or flexible work schedules, you can showcase such aspects of your personality on Facebook. For instance, the U.S. President’s Facebook page represents him as someone who believes in work-life balance as you find a combination of updates on important bills and events along with those on his personal interests. Some of the most “liked” photographs are those that showcase the President’s personal interests such as photographs of the President jogging along with his dog, practicing baseball, reading to children during the White House Easter Egg Roll, etc. In fact, one of the pictures that earned more than half a million “likes” is that of the President playing with a little girl. The text with that picture says “Happy Friday.” Along with such pictures, it is obvious that Obama’s Facebook page is clearly used for garnering support on important issues. For instance, a post dated April 12, 2013, on immigration reform carries a picture of a determined-looking president with his quote on it “The time has come for common-sense, comprehensive immigration reform.” The text along with the picture states: “Share if you agree: We’ve waited long enough for immigration reform.”

Participate in Facebook groups Social media sites present fantastic opportunities for interacting with people who have similar interests. Identify groups with similar interests and join them to help you further develop your skillset. For instance, if you work in the field of media relations, write those key words in the Facebook search box

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and click on the group filter. Another good way to identify the right group is to look for the groups your colleagues and supervisors have joined. Looking for groups led by industry leaders is another good way to meet like-minded people. One way that always works is looking for the Facebook presence of important offline groups in our industry. For instance, most professional associations of communication scholars have a Facebook presence. However, it’s a good idea not to join too many groups at once. Go over the member lists of a group and the nature of posts on their walls to determine if it’s worth your time. If the posts on the walls are old and the member lists do not comprise known names in your field, joining that group may not be worth it at all. Moreover, simply joining a group is not enough. Participation and interaction is the key to social media success. Introduce yourself. Post important information. Ask questions. Seek and offer solutions. If you cannot find a group that suits you, start a Facebook group that caters to your professional goals and interests. By starting a group, you stand out as a leader.

Select your “friends” with care According to Dan Schawbel, author of “Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success,” one of the most critical decisions to take is the one concerning the nature of audience you want to have. If you want to connect with fellow professionals, industry gurus and thought leaders in your field, be proactive about it. Search for them and send them a friend request. Add a personal message in your friend request, suggests Facebook expert Mari Smith. You can also use the “people you may know” service provided by Facebook to find friends. Here’s one exercise that will help you decide who to include in your list of friends on Facebook. Draw a map of your current professional network. Then draw another map of your ideal professional network. The gap between the two will show you where you need to put in most effort to develop your network (Sacks & Graves, 2012).Once you have decided your audience, you will need to keep them in mind every time you post something on Facebook. You need to decide how you would want them to see you and work towards it.

How many “friends” should you have on FB? Michael Sacks and Nikki Graves, researchers at Emory University in the United States, caution that we need to realize that the more Facebook friends we have, the less we will be able to know specific information about each person. They offer an example from an offline context. At job fairs, students

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tend to quickly move from one person to another with the goal of making as many contacts as possible. They also aim at collecting a large number of business cards. They do not engage with one person long enough to make an impression. Applying the same logic to Facebook, Sacks and Graves (2010) argue that “building a smaller network with a higher network quality is a better strategy than to make as many contacts as possible,” (p. 82). So try to develop a strong network on Facebook rather than getting a large number of people to accept your friend requests mindlessly. Also, do not limit your interaction with your professional contacts on Facebook to the Internet alone. Meet them offline at industry-related events, conferences, and business meetings.

Customize privacy settings We must remember that nothing we post on Facebook is ever truly private. However, many people tend to take privacy for granted. According to a recent study, 13 million Facebook users have never touched their privacy settings and 28% share all, or almost all their posts, with an audience wider than just their friends (Al-Greene, 2013). Considering such lapses, it’s hardly surprising to know that 11% of Facebook users said someone else has tried to log in without taking their permission. How can we avoid such a situation? The first step is to realize that there are multiple threats to our privacy in today’s networked world. During an awards ceremony in San Francisco in 2010, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg was quoted saying that privacy was no longer a “social norm” (Johnson, 2010). He further said, “People have really gotten comfortable not only sharing more information and different kinds, but more openly and with more people.” That remark generated a lot of controversy and Zuckerberg’s staff claimed that his quote was taken out of context (Cavoukian, 2010). Emphasizing that privacy remains a social norm, Ann Cavoukian, the information and privacy commissioner for the Canadian province of Ontario, argues that “What has [sic] changed, however, is the means by which personal information is now readily exchanged, at the speed of light.” In a similar vein, online social networking expert Danah Boyd reiterates that young adults and teenagers, contrary to popular assumptions, do care a lot about their privacy although their notion of the same may be different from previous generations (Johnson, 2009). In an interview with The New Yorker, Zuckerberg was critical of people who are skeptical about Facebook’s notion of privacy. He said, “A lot of people who are worried about privacy and those kinds of issues will take any minor misstep that we make and turn it into as big a deal as possible” (Vargas, 2010).

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Meanwhile, blogging pioneer Anil Dash expressed his disappointment with Zuckerberg’s understanding of the concept of privacy: “If you are twentysix years old, you’ve been a golden child, you’ve been wealthy all your life, you’ve been privileged all your life, you’ve been successful your whole life, of course you don’t think anybody would ever have anything to hide.” As the war of words on privacy continues, Facebook users need to remain vigilant of the changes the company introduces to its privacy policy. According to Somini Sengupta (2013), technology writer for The New York Times, you need to ask yourself four questions to determine how you want to set your privacy settings on Facebook. Here are the questions: ∑ How would you like to be found on social media? ∑ What do you want the world to know about you? ∑ Do you mind being tracked by advertisers? ∑ Who do you want to befriend?

How to Protect Your Privacy on Facebook? What is your priority - reaching out to as many people as possible or protecting your privacy at all costs? We recommend a balance between the two extremes. If you are someone who is keen on protecting your privacy on Facebook, choose your settings accordingly. Go to the Settings Page and click on Privacy. You will see two sets of questions on this page. The first one is titled “Who can see my stuff?” Under this category, a question asks you who can see your future posts. Set it to “Friends” if you are keen on privacy. This way, only the friends you have selected can see your posts. You can also limit the audience for your past posts to friends. In the second category titled “Who can look me up?” the first question asks who can look you up using your email address or mobile phone number. Again set it according to your privacy needs. If you want to limit the number of people who can find you, set this to “Friends” as well. The problem with this is that people will not be able to contact you with friend requests and you will lose out on a major networking opportunity. But you will still be free to initiate friend requests to anyone you like. The last question in this category asks you if you want other search engines to link to your timelines. Turn it off if you don’t want people to easily find you. Again, each choice you make will have its own set of implications. It’s for you to decide what you prioritize more in your life.

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How you answer these questions will help you understand your own approach towards privacy. We recommend you customize your privacy settings so that your professional contacts do not see what you post on the personal list. Create multiple lists such as ones for family, colleagues, clients, key contacts, “frenemies” (a friend and rival), close friends, key contacts, etc. It’s important not to display personal information we don’t want everyone to know. The box above lists the steps one can take to customize one’s privacy settings. Furthermore, do not feel compelled to choose a particular option because Facebook wants you to. For instance, Facebook gives you as many as 11 options for relationship status: Single, Engaged, Married, In an Open Relationship, In a Relationship, It’s Complicated, In a Civil Union, In a Domestic Partnership, Separated, Widowed and Divorced. But you don’t need to choose any of these options if you don’t want to. You can always leave it blank. The following section discusses best practices of companies successful on Facebook.

Takeaways from Activities of Companies Popular on FB Most major brands have a Facebook page. While individual users may not be interested in the nature of activities brands engage in, we believe there’s a lot we can learn from them. According to social media insights company, Socialbakers, Coca Cola is the most popular brand on Facebook followed by Disney and Red Bull in the first quarter of 2013 (“Facebook Pages Statistics,” 2013). Other brands that figure in the top 10 list include Converse, Starbucks, Oreo, PlayStation, Walmart, McDonalds and Blackberry. Indian brands with popular Facebook pages include Tata Docomo, Vodafone ZooZoo, Nokia India, Fast Track, Samsung Mobile India, Kingfisher, Intel, Shoppers Stop, Levis, Idea and Pepsi India. Here are some of the ways in which popular brands engage their fans on Facebook.

Post content that your audience can connect with easily Posting content that tugs at the hearts and minds of your audience is a great content strategy. Here’s a brief summary of one such case. On April 17, 2013, Dove posted the following message on Facebook: “You’re more beautiful than you think. In fact, we released our social experiment in this short film to prove it. Watch to open your eyes: http://bit.ly/DoveSketches.” A click on the link takes one to the YouTube video which had been viewed nearly 45 million times by May 7, 2013. To make the video, the company commissioned a FBI-trained sketch artist to draw women based on how

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they saw themselves and then draw the same women based on how others described them (Papandrea, 2013). The subjects get to see both the sketches side by side. The difference between the sketches is emphasized with Dove’s tagline “You’re more beautiful than you think.” This update on Facebook had been liked nearly 230,000 times by May 7, 2013. The post had been shared more than 50,000 times and there were nearly 4,500 comments on it. Many of the comments were emotional in nature. For example, one Facebook user wrote: “This made me cry. Thank you. Beautiful message!” Some users had invited Dove to make similar campaigns addressing teenagers who feel insecure about their looks. The video and the accompanying message went viral because Dove had clearly connected with its customers and fans at a deeply emotional level. The video shows that women are their harshest critics when it comes to their looks and should feel comfortable in their own skin instead. Most women are touched by this message because they have experienced feelings of inadequacy at some point in their lives and want to reassure themselves. The YouTube clip was a hit not just on Facebook but on Twitter as well. Women were tweeting about it using the hashtag #wearebeautiful. While Dove’s campaign was obviously targeted at women, here’s an example of a post that men, women and children can easily relate with. The popular potato chip brand, Pringles, had more than 24 million likes on its Facebook page in May 2013. The page has a variety of content including contests, jokes, cartoons, photographs of their products, photographs of their fans, letters from their customers and fans, etc. Here’s a recent post that got more than 1,700 likes. “There’s one Pringles crisp left in the can. Your boyfriend or girlfriend is hungry. What do you do?” It’s easy to connect with such a post because most of us have experienced that moment when there’s just one potato chip left in a packet and we have to share it with someone else. For this particular post, many Pringles fans answered “Keep” because they did not want to share it with anyone!

Respond to friend/fan comments promptly Major brands on Facebook respond promptly to user/fan comments. For example, Zappos.com, an online shoe and apparel company, seems to do a good job of it on their Facebook page. Let’s look at a specific case. On May 7, 2013, Zappos.com posted the following update: “Enjoy some Summer fun in these light and breezy dresses. http://zapwow.me/hQlD. ” At 2:48 a.m., a fan, Monika McCann, made the following comment: “Just photoshop your head in there and you see, how the dress looks on you. The red dress looks awesome on me hehe.”At 2:58 a.m., Zappos responded with this comment: “We don’t doubt it, Monika!”

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These brands do not even hesitate in responding to unflattering comments as they want their fans to believe that they are always listening. Here’s an example from Walmart’s Facebook page. When a user, Linda Breitenbach, posted a comment asking the company to stop sending Walmart ads on Facebook, the company responded with the following: “Hi Linda - We are sorry if you’d like to stop seeing our updates, just click the Hide Feed option on the updates in your news stream.”

Post good photographs in your updates A picture may be worth a thousand fans. Ferrero Rocher, the Italian chocolate company, like many other food and beverage companies, uses compelling pictures to draw fans. A visit to their Facebook page in June 2013 showed that the company had earned more than 18 million likes. Red Bull, the energy drink company, has also posted some spectacular adventure pictures on its Facebook page. It had nearly 39 million likes in June 2013. During the summer of 2013, many major companies that sell beverages filled their Facebook pages with beautiful pictures of cool beverages so that anyone seeing them would want to reach for the phone and order them right away. One of the many small businesses that make great use of pictures on Facebook is Martell Home Builders (Porterfield, 2011). It posts pictures of homes it builds ensuring that prospective customers get a good idea of the kind of work the company does. Homebuyers who are customers of the company also share these pictures with their friends and family. The takeaway from this example is that it’s important to post our work on social media if our aim is to make more people aware of it. Sharing such information also gives the user a sense of satisfaction and an opportunity to network with people working in related areas.

Ask questions in your posts Asking open-ended questions in posts is a great way to engage FB users. For example, Walmart asked a question on April 8, 2013, in one of its posts. The post carried a scenic picture and said, “It’s Keep America Beautiful month. Where do you think is the most beautiful place in America?” The post received more than 42,000 likes and thousands of comments from people who tried to guess where the place was. A similar Walmart post on April Fool’s Day wished the users and engaged them with yet another question: “Happy April Fool’s Day. Who is the prankster in your family?” The post earned nearly 40,000 likes and almost 2,000 comments. Close-ended questions or multiple choice questions also work. For instance, retail giant Target asked the following multiple choice question on

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April 30, 2013, and got more than 6,000 likes within 24 hours: “Once warm weather hits, what’s the first thing to come out? A. Your grill B. Flip Flops C. Tank Tops D. Your gardening skills E. Drink umbrellas.”

Opt for more lifestyle posts than product posts Lifestyle posts get better response from users than mere product posts. On April 3, 2013, Huggies made the following post: “Hey moms: What’s your number one tip for a successful post-labor recovery?” The post generated 399 comments by April 22, 2013. While some of the comments were serious in nature, others also used the forum for some light humor. For instance, one user offered the following tip for quick post-labor recovery: “No in-laws.” While Huggies posted information about its products on its Facebook pages, it also carried posts on lifestyle issues such as how to plan a baby shower, a list of popular baby names, games, etc. Often, the posts that have little to with the product being sold get the most shares. For instance, on May 2, 2013, Sunsilk Hair Experts Page on Facebook had the following update with a picture of two girls laughing wildly: “Behind every successful woman is a ‘best friend’ giving her crazy ideas. Hit ‘SHARE’ if you agree.” The post got as many as 3,220 shares and 2,588 likes within the first four days. Although the post had nothing to do with the product directly, those who shared the post were getting positive exposure to Sunsilk products. During the month of April – the month during which most college students take their exams – the page also had suggestions for exam hair do’s to ensure hair does not get in the way of students who are focusing on the question paper!

Integrate popular offline content with social media content Taking popular offline content and re-launching it on social media can be a great strategy, as reflected in Amul’s Utterly Butterly Gallery campaign on Facebook. Amul listed its 2012 Topical ads in its gallery and asked people to vote for their favorite one. If the topical ad they voted happened to be the most liked one as well, they stood the chance of winning an Amul Coffee Table Book. Paul (2013) highlights the advantages of using these ads in an online campaign: “Rather than going for some yada-yada-ya contest, they have integrated their existing offline marketing strategy and compiled it into an online campaign. Their content is exclusive, top-notch quality, humorous and above all, the people love it!” The fact is Amul’s Topical ads are very popular among people of all ages in India. For anyone who has missed out on Amul’s topical ads, the company’s website offers a brief history. Amul started these ads way back in 1966 by

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launching its moppet: the round-eyed, chubby, Utterly Butterly girl dressed in a red, polka-dotted frock. One of its earliest ads showed her in a lab making the “Taste Tube Baby” and there has been no looking back since.

Integrate corporate social responsibility as part of social media campaigns In 2012, Hit, an insecticide spray made by Godrej Household Products, started a nationwide “Hit Kill Malaria” campaign to increase awareness and help prevent the spread of malaria in India. The company has made interesting additions to this campaign on Facebook. Its campaign on Facebook titled “Malaria Kills Opportunities” involves the company donating Rs. 10 towards the cause for every fan who “likes” their Page. The company also makes donations whenever a fan uses their app to kill mosquitoes in a game and shares the score on its Facebook Wall. Social media blogger Vinaya Naidu (2013) points out that the “concept of making donations for killing mosquitoes, sharing the score and liking the page, helps the brand to not only build a positive image but also make it look cool and youth-centric.” The company’s Facebook Page also carries jokes about mosquitoes. Here’s an example: Father mosquito asks his son: “How’s your first flight son?” The son replies: “Feels great, dad! Everyone was clapping for me.” The post says: “If you get this joke then ‘share’ it with others and see if they get the joke! ;)” In April 2013, the joke had more than a thousand shares. The page also offers health tips and and factoids on diseases spread by mosquitoes.

Take the culture of your audience into account while making Facebook posts Facebook pages of Pepsi Arabia, Pizza Hut Middle East and KFC Arabia have a distinct look compared to the brand’s main pages that cater to an international audience. Brands that start local Facebook pages in order to cater to a particular country or region have to take religious and cultural sensibilities into account while making updates. All content on such pages whether it is text, video or photographs must be in keeping with that country’s socio-cultural norms. This also helps fans identify with the brand better. For example, in May 2013, McDonalds India’s cover photo carried a picture of then newly-introduced Masala grill chicken burger with some red chillies kept next to it. The tag line on the picture said “As packed with masala as a Bollywood thriller.” Almost every Indian knows what a Bollywood masala movie is and the photo is likely to tempt many to try the burger out.

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Most brands try to take the cultural values of their audience into account while launching offline and online content. A study conducted by two researchers at the University of Miami found that companies in the United States and China use different strategies to engage with FB users in the two markets. While Chinese companies followed a strategy that was more focused on entertainment and socialization, American companies posted messages that were more directly related to their product and achievements (Men & Tsai, 2012). The study was based on a content analysis of corporate pages from Renren, a Chinese social networking site and from Facebook, which is based in the United States. There were differences in the nature of user posts as well. While posts on Renren included fewer complaints and criticisms posted by users, FB users did not hesitate in posting their grievances. In fact, the study makes specific mention of one user response to a corporate message on Renren to highlight the difference in nature of posts on the two social networking sites. The Chinese user, in this case, advised the person handling the company’s social networking site, to go to bed early after seeing a late night post from the company. Chinese companies also posted messages that were more personable in nature. As this section showed, an individual user has a lot to learn from the way successful companies on Facebook engage with their fans. Apart from posting engaging content, one should also take steps to avoid committing mistakes on Facebook as it a public presentation of our personality and professional image.

Facebook Blunders: What not to do on the Social Networking Site Don’t Post Too Often or Rarely Facebook suggests that those who are new to the site could start out with one or two posts a week and understand the platform before making more posts (Drell, 2012b). Sometimes, we end up posting too many times during a day, especially if we log in infrequently and want to make up for our absence. In such a situation, we may post multiple updates barely minutes apart from each other while not posting anything for days or even weeks. Not posting regularly can give a wrong impression about us and our organization. So, the obvious question is how often should one post on Facebook? The answer depends on what you want to achieve with your Facebook account. While how many times you post really depends on your goals, posting more than twice a day can backfire as no one wants to be inundated with updates from one person or organization.

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Do not Censor Negative or Critical Responses on Facebook There are lessons to learn from firms that tried to censor negative comments on their Facebook pages and suffered as a result. For instance, Swiss multinational Nestle made a mess handling the palm oil debate in 2010. Being rude to anyone who is critical of you or your organization on Facebook is also a mistake. Here’s a brief summary of the controversy: Greenpeace, a non-governmental organization that promotes environmental protection, campaigned aggressively against Nestle accusing the latter of buying palm oil from a company that destroyed forests and endangered orangutans in the process. They created a video depicting the popular chocolate Kit Kat as being made from orangutan blood. To be more specific, the video depicted a man in an office taking a break by taking a bite from a Kit Kat bar which becomes an Orangutan’s bleeding finger. As the man bites the finger, blood oozes out of it and falls on his keyboard. Blood is also smeared around his mouth as his colleagues watch him in absolute horror. The video asks viewers to “Give Orangutans a break” by playing on the tag line of the brand: “Take a break. Have a Kit Kat.” The video evoked strong responses from consumers. Apart from posting the video, Greenpeace also took a strong stand against Nestle on multiple social media sites. This triggered a boycott campaign on the Internet with people criticizing Nestle on various online platforms. Strong criticisms showed up on Nestle’s Facebook page to which the company responded in the most unprofessional manner. As some Facebook users had changed their profile pictures into an altered logo of Nestle Kit Kat by replacing the word “Kit Kat” with “Killer,” Nestle posted the following comment on its Facebook page: “We welcome your comment, but please don’t post using an altered version of any of our logos as your profile picture – they will be deleted” (Gupta, 2013). While Nestle might have been legally correct in asking users not to distort its logo, the threat to delete comments provoked strong reactions among Facebook users. For instance, one person wrote: “I understand that you’re on your back-foot due to various issues not excluding palm oil but social media is about embracing your market, engaging and having a conversation rather than preaching!” (Gupta, 2013). Soon enough, Nestle replied with the following “Thanks for the lesson in manners. Consider yourself embraced, But it’s our page, we set the rules, it was ever thus.” Nestle had just triggered a major PR nightmare. The company could have controlled the spiraling negative publicity by apologizing and publicizing the fact that it had finally canceled its contract with the palm oil supplier accused of deforestation. Instead, it engaged in a war of words on social media.

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Here are three important takeaways from this case: 1. Don’t delete negative comments posted by a Facebook user. Instead, handle it calmly, maturely and professionally. 2. Engage the user; do not start a fight no matter what the provocation. 3. Make sure competent people handle the Facebook page of an organization. A visit to Nestle’s Facebook page in April 2013 showed it may have learnt important lessons from the palm oil controversy. The company’s page is awash with pictures of mouth-watering beverages and delicacies. And, here’s an example of the way Nestle handled a particular negative comment. On April 8, 2013, Nestle posted this update: “Happy Monday everyone! =) Thanks Nestle Fitness!” The post was accompanied by a photograph of a bowl of cereal. One person responded to the post at 7:16 a.m. that day: “Your organization and illegal marketing tactics are single-handedly responsible for killing 800,000 babies every year. Happy Monday, Nestle.” Within a minute, Nestle replied: “Dear Ali, we appreciate that you and others have taken the trouble to raise this issue on the page, and we want to reassure you that ensuring compliance in this area is a priority for us.” The commenter ranted a couple of more times but Nestle did not engage any more with this person. Social media writer Lisa Barone (2010) explains why one must not delete a negative comment on social media: If you…delete that comment, you’re going to make an already-disgruntled customer simply more frustrated, essentially telling them you don’t care about their feedback. You’ll be sending them away even angrier than they arrived and they’re not going to keep that to themselves. They’re going to up the fire and leave an even nastier review about your business on Yelp or Google Places. Or they’re going to start a tweet war about how you censored them. Or they’re going to write a blog post with your company name in the Title tag. Any of these things would be way worse than one negative comment on a page that you control.

Instead of deleting the comment, users should sit on the comment and address the issue as calmly as possible. Barone (2012) further argues that negative reviews can actually prove good for a business, if it’s handled properly. According to her, negative reviews on a Facebook page give the individual or organization more legitimacy as users feel they are getting to see both sides of the picture. Furthermore, negative reviews obviously highlight areas for improvement. They also give loyal supporters of a brand or organization a chance to deal with the negative comments. Here’s an example of how supporters defended a brand in the face of negative comments. On April 19th, 2013, during the week of the Boston Marathon bombings and the arrest of the second suspect, Ford posted the following: “Please join

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us in saluting the work of all the public servants involved in Boston’s events this week. You inspire us. The post carried a photograph of two Ford Police Interceptor Sedans and a helicopter with the following remark: “To the first responders of Boston: Thank You. You are true American Heroes. Sincerely, Ford Motor Company.” The post received thousands of shares. One user commented: “Really Ford love your brand but why would you try to make an ad out of it Really.” Immediately, many other FB users jumped to Ford’s defense and insisted that the company was not making an ad out of such a delicate situation. Meanwhile, Ford also responded with a post: “It’s not an ad. It’s a thank you note. Besides, civilians can’t buy Police Interceptors.” Another way of responding to negative comments is to give a witty reply. Of course, one has to exercise extreme care in drafting such a reply so that it’s not misunderstood and does not blow up into a bigger issue. Here’s an example of a harmless witty response to a negative comment from the Facebook page of Vishal Gondal, the former managing director of Disney UTV Digital at the Walt Disney Company India Private Ltd. On April 14, 2013, Gondal made the following post: “Breaking News while you were asleep 100s of volunteers were clearing plastic and saving the Earth.” The post carried a picture of the volunteers as well. One person made the following comment on the post: “Less cleaning more advertisement.” Within minutes, Vishal responded “Less criticizing more action.” In this case, the witty reply worked. There was no further conversation on this. Apart from responding maturely to negative comments, make sure you thank anyone who gives positive feedback.

Keep Intimate Details out of your Facebook Posts Posting excessively personal pictures or information on Facebook should be avoided. Instead of posting wild pictures, post pictures of you in a professional context. Post pictures of you giving a speech, conducting a workshop or business meeting. Along with intimate pictures, keep deeply personal content away from your FB wall. Personal branding expert Schawbel (2009) explains: “Your manager doesn’t want to know if you just went to the bathroom and, although your parents would love to eavesdrop on your relationship with your girlfriend or boyfriend, you might not want to share those details.”

Don’t Let Facebook Become a Waste of Time Facebook can become a big waste of our precious time if we allow it to. Here are a few steps one can follow to ensure that Facebook does not affect our daily schedules.

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1. Allot a fixed time for Facebook use. 2. Have set goals for Facebook use. Work towards those goals. 3. Sort and filter your news feed. 4. Block notifications from Facebook to your email account 5. Audit your apps regularly and delete those you do not need 6. Post relevant updates only. Finally, a great way to ensure you do not waste time on Facebook is to use it professionally and socially. Don’t go to the dark side which Brian Moylan (2011) does a good job warning us about: …there is a different, darker Facebook that comes out late at night, when you start searching for all of your ex-girlfriends and clicking to see if any of them have changed

What Should Never be Posted on Facebook Andy O’Donnell (n.d) lists five things one should never post on Facebook. They include complete birthdates, relationship status, current location, any time you are home alone and photographs of children with their names. Although we may feel nice when our friends wish us on our birthday, we also provide rich personal data to identity thieves by publishing such information on a social networking site. One should also not announce vacation dates or any information on one’s current whereabouts. O’Donnell explains: We may think that only our friends have access to our status, but we really have no idea who is reading it. Your friend may have had their account hacked or someone could be reading over their shoulder at the library. The best rule of thumb is not to put anything in your profile or status that you wouldn’t want a stranger to know. You may have the most stringent privacy settings possible, but if your friend’s account gets compromised then those settings go out the window.

Similarly, posting information about what foods our children like, which games they like playing or where they prefer to hangout on Facebook is foolish. A predator could use such information to get familiar with a child. It’s wise not to post pictures of our children on Facebook. But if you absolutely must post children’s photographs, remove all personal information and untag them. Source: O’Donnell, A. (n.d). 5 things you should never post on Facebook. About. com. http://netsecurity.about.com/od/newsandeditorial1/a/Facebook-Security-5Things-You-Should-Never-Post-On-Facebook.htm

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their last names recently. Maybe you message them, maybe you don’t, but then you start looking for that girl you had a crush on in college whose last name you can’t remember, but then you think you can find her through mutual friends. And after that, you start an activity I like to call “scramping,” where you look through your hottest friend’s friends looking for attractive people to make you feel bad about yourself.

Research also shows that Facebook can leave one feeling depressed. “Witnessing friends’ vacations, love lives and work successes on Facebook can cause envy and trigger feelings of misery and loneliness, according to German researchers,” a recent Reuters report stated (Goldsmith, 2013). The solution is the same: Regulate the amount of time you spend on Facebook and other social networking sites. Contribute to your network and engage with your friends.

Conclusion This chapter offered tips and strategies on professional networking using Facebook, which dominates social networking space in many countries. Creating and maintaining an effective profile is critical for professional networking on Facebook. One must exercise care in choosing a good cover and profile picture and post compelling updates that showcase one’s personal brand. We highlighted the importance of selecting our friends with care as having a set of quality contacts on Facebook can be much more productive than simply having a large number of people on one’s network. In order to effectively use the social networking site for professional purposes, one must customize the privacy settings. So that individual users can emulate them, we offered an account of the best practices of several popular brands on Facebook such as posting compelling content, engaging with fans, responding promptly to their posts, making lifestyle posts that generate more likes, shares and comments than mere product posts, integrating popular offline content with social media content and keeping the culture of the audience in mind while making updates. This chapter concluded with a list of mistakes to avoid on Facebook. While this chapter has attempted to discuss as many aspects of Facebook use as possible, it’s important to remember that change is a constant on the site. Reflecting this reality, a CBS New York news report which aired on March 13, 2013, started with the following remark: “Death, taxes, and Facebook making changes – those are the only certain things in the world.” The anchor was using a modification of Ben Franklin’s famous quote to announce upcoming changes on Facebook including bigger photos, customization of content we would like to see and Graph search, which enables a user to perform just about any kind of search on Facebook such as looking for people who like pasta and live in New Delhi. Individual users and organizations should keep

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an eye on the changes being introduced so that they are not caught unawares and can adapt easily to them.

References Al-Greene, B. (2013, April 30). 13 Million Facebook Users Haven’t Touched Their Privacy Settings. Mashable.com. Retrieved June 20, 2013, from http://mashable. com/2013/04/30/facebook-graph-search-privacy-infographic/ Barone, L. (2010, November 19). 5 Reasons not to delete negative reviews. Retrieved May 1, 2013, from http://outspokenmedia.com/reputation-management/5reasons-not-to-delete-negative-reviews/ Barone, L. (2012, November 27). 5 ways negative reviews are good for business. Retrieved May 1, 2013, from http://smallbiztrends.com/2012/11/5-ways-negative-reviewsgood-for-business.html Buck, S. (2012, August 14). 20 Things your most Annoying Friends do on Facebook. Mashable.com. Retrieved May 21, 2013, from http://mashable.com/2012/08/14/ facebook-annoying/ Camusio, Z. (n.d.). Why Facebook and business networking go hand in hand. Retrieved June 20, 2013, from http://www.startupnation.com/business-articles/9344/1/ facebook-networking.htm Cavoukian, A. (2010, March 12). Privacy is still a social norm. The Globe and Mail, Retrieved June 20, 2013, from http://www.theglobeandmail.com/commentary/ privacy-is-still-a-social-norm/article1209523/ CBS New York (2013, March 13). Sree Tips: Big Changes For Facebook. Retrieved May 15, 2013, fromhttp://newyork.cbslocal.com/2013/03/13/sree-tips-big-changesfor-facebook/ Claridge, P. (2012, April 14). 39 Stunning & Creative Facebook Timeline Cover Photos. Retrieved May 15, 2013, fromhttp://lighthouseinsights.in/39-stunning-creativefacebook-timeline-cover-photos.html Daum, K. (2013, April 12). Oaring or boring. 8 Social media blunders to avoid. Retrieved May 20, 2013, from http://www.inc.com/kevin-daum/8-social-media-blundersto-avoid.html Drell, L. (2012a, May 17). Facebook Timeline: 9 Best Practices for Brands. Mashable. com. Retrieved May 20, 2013, from http://mashable.com/2012/05/17/facebooktimeline-brand-tips/ Drell, L. (2012b, June 7). 10 Facebook marketing mistakes to avoid.Mashable.com. Retrieved May 21, 2013, from http://mashable.com/2012/06/07/facebookmarketing-mistakes/ Emerson. R. (2011, September 30). Facebook use by country: see who spends the most time social networking (study). The Huffington Post. Retrieved April 16, 2013, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/facebook-use-by-country_n_ 987722.html

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Epstein, B. (2009, August 14). HOW TO: Use Facebook for Professional Networking. Mashable.com. Retrieved May 10, 2013, from http://mashable.com/2009/08/14/ facebook-networking/ Facebook Pages Statistics & Number of Fans (2013). Socialbakers.com. Retrieved April 27, 2013, from http://www.socialbakers.com/facebook-pages/brands/india/ Facebook Statistics by Country (2013). Socialbakers.com. Retrieved April 27, 2013, from http://www.socialbakers.com/facebook-statistics/ Gallu, J. (2013, April 3). SEC Approves Using Facebook, Twitter for Company Disclosures. Bloomberg. Retrieved May 10, 2013, fromhttp://www.bloomberg. com/news/2013-04-02/sec-approves-social-media-use-for-companies-materialdisclosure.html Goldsmith, B. (2013, January 22). Facebook Study Says Envy Is Rampant On The Social Network. The Huffington Post. Retrieved May 10, 2013, fromhttp://www. huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/22/facebook-study-envy_n_2526549.html Gupta, S. (2013, January 29). Learnings from Nestle’s social media mistakes. Retrieved May 20, 2013, from http://webseoservices.in/blog/learnings-nestles-socialmedia-mistakes/ Hampton, K. N., Goulet, L. S, Raine, L., K. Purcell (2011). Social networking sites and our lives. Pew Research Center. Retrieved May 16, 2013, from http://www. pewinternet.org/Reports/2011/Technology-and-social-networks.aspx Hampton, K. N., Goulet, L. S., Marlow, C., Raine, L. (2012, February 3). Why most Facebook users get more than they give? Pew Research Center. Retrieved May 16, 2013, from http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2012/Facebook-users.aspx India Facebook Statistics. (2013). Socialbakers.com. Retrieved April 27, 2013, from http://www.socialbakers.com/facebook-statistics/india Johnson, B. (2009, December 9). Danah Boyd: ‘People looked at me like I was an alien.’ The Guardian. Retrieved April 10, 2013, from http://www.guardian.co.uk/ technology/2009/dec/09/interview-microsoft-researcher-danah-boyd/print Key Facts (n.d.) Facebook Newsroom. Retrieved April 10, 2013, from http:// newsroom.fb.com/Key-Facts Klaassen, A. (2009, March 16). How Two Coke Fans Brought the Brand to Facebook Fame. Advertising Age. Retrieved May 5, 2013, from http://adage.com/article/ digital/coke-fans-brought-brand-facebook-fame/135238/ Moylan, B. (2011, June 5). The 10 easiest ways to waste time on the Internet. Gizmodo. com. Retrieved May 17, 2013, from http://gizmodo.com/5804106/the-10-easiestways-to-waste-time-on-the-internet Men, L. R. & Tsai, S. W. (2012). How companies cultivate relationships with publics on social network sites: Evidence from China and the United States. Public Relations Review, 38 (2012) 723-730 Nadkarni, A. &Hofman, S. G. (2012). Why do people use Facebook? Personality and Individual Differences.52, 243-249 Naidu, V. (2013, January 18). Hit Kill Malaria makes CSR fun for its fans. Retrieved May 22, 2013, from http://lighthouseinsights.in/hit-kill-malaria-facebook-csrcampaign.html

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O’Donnell, A. (n.d). 5 things you should never post on Facebook. About.com. Retrieved May 22, 2013, fromhttp://netsecurity.about.com/od/newsandeditorial1/a/ Facebook-Security-5-Things-You-Should-Never-Post-On-Facebook.htm Papandrea, D. (2013, April 25). How Dove’s real beauty video touched a nerve and went viral. The Content Strategist. Retrieved May 20, 2013, from http://contently. com/blog/2013/04/25/how-doves-real-beauty-video-touched-a-nerve-andwent-viral-video/ Paul, V.S. (2013, January 11). Amul invites fans to select their favourite Amul topical of 2012. Retrieved May 18, 2013, from http://lighthouseinsights.in/amuls-utterlybutterly-gallery-facebook-campaign.html Porterfield, A. (2011, April 12). 9 companies doing social media right and why. Social Media Examiner. Retrieved May 10, 2013, from http://www.socialmediaexaminer. com/9-companies-doing-social-media-right-and-why/ Sacks, A. & Graves, N. (2012). How many “friends’’ do you need? Teaching students how to network using social media. Business Communication Quarterly, 75(1), 8088. Salesforce Marketing Cloud (2012). Strategies for effective wall posts: A timeline analysis. Retrieved May 10, 2013, fromhttp://www.salesforcemarketingcloud. com/resources/ebooks/strategies-for-effective-wall-posts-a-timeline-analysis/ Schawbel, D. (2009, April 2). HOW TO: Build Your Personal Brand on Facebook. Mashable.com. Retrieved May 12, 2013, fromhttp://mashable.com/2009/04/02/ facebook-personal-brand/ Sengupta, S. (2013, February 6). Staying private on the new Facebook. The New York Times. Retrieved May 19, 2013, fromhttp://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/07/ technology/personaltech/protecting-your-privacy-on-the-new-facebook.html?_ r=0 Silverman, M. (2010). 5 Tips for Creating the Perfect Profile Pic.Mashable.com. Retrieved April 19, 2013, fromhttp://mashable.com/2010/04/12/profile-picturetips/ Smith, M. (2010). Facebook 101 for business: Your complete guide. Retrieved May 10, 2013, fromhttp://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/facebook-101-business-guide/ Sohn, J. (2007, July 24). 12 Ways to Use Facebook Professionally.Gigaom.com. Retrieved April 20, 2013, fromhttp://gigaom.com/2007/07/24/12-ways-to-usefacebook-professionally/ Vargas, J. A. (2010, September 20). The Face of Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg opens up. The New Yorker. Retrieved April 20, 2013, fromhttp://www.newyorker.com/ reporting/2010/09/20/100920fa_fact_vargas?currentPage=all Warren, C. (2011, August 3). Disney Marketing: The Happiest Social Media Strategy on Earth. Mashable.com. Retrieved April 20, 2013, fromhttp://mashable. com/2011/08/03/disney-social-media/ Wilson, M. (2011, November 1). What makes Coca-Cola’s Facebook page No. 1? Retrieved May 5, 2013, from http://www.ragan.com/Main/Articles/What_makes_ CocaColas_Facebook_page_No_1_43875.aspx

Silence is not an option in online crisis communication. If the organization is silent, hostile rumors will fill that space quickly.

“That rogue tweet has gone viral. Someone help me get this mess under control.”

Chapter 8

Role of Social Media in Crisis Communication Crises have a way of striking when and where organizations least expect them. Ask Cadbury, king of chocolates in India. Established in 1948 to import chocolates from England, it grew into one of the best managed and most admired companies in the country. It defined the taste of chocolate for millions of Indians for over five decades. Commanding more than two thirds of the chocolate market in India, it was reigning gloriously when, in the first week of October 2003, it entertained some unimaginably embarrassing visitors: a few tiny worms. They appeared unexpectedly in a few bars of its most popular chocolate, Dairy Milk, in Pune and Mumbai. The state’s Food and Drugs Commissioner, Uttam Khobragade, quickly seized the entire stock of chocolate bars in the company’s Talegaon plant which produced them. An enquiry was ordered. Shocked, Cadbury tried to shrug it off. It issued a press release which claimed that there was no way worms could enter the chocolate at the manufacturing stage. If there was a problem at the plant, why would this affect just a few of the 30 million bars of Dairy Milk being made every month? So the company blamed poor and unhygienic storage by small retailers for the problem. The Food and Drugs Commissioner, however, did not buy the argument. If the worms got into the chocolate after it left the factory, wasn’t the company’s packaging defective? The crisis couldn’t have come at a worse time for Cadbury. It was the Diwali season. Every year Cadbury’s chocolate sales would go up 10 to 15 percent during this season. But in 2003, the sales plunged 30 percent (Vaid, 2006) because of the wide publicity the media gave the unwelcome visitors. It is as though the king of chocolates suddenly became an outcast. To make matters worse, sightings of worms were reported also from Kerala. The blow was as hard as it was absolutely unexpected. The media kept the issue burning. But after the unsuccessful attempt in the first few days to toss the blame on to retailers, Cadbury acted fast and on multiple fronts to manage the crisis. It imported new machinery to provide superior, tamperproof packaging; launched an initiative to educate their 190,000 retailers across the

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country on proper storage of chocolates; roped in Bollywood actor Amitabh Bhachan as the brand ambassador to lead a special advertising campaign – Project Vishwas – to regain consumers’ trust. They readily answered all the queries that came to them from the print and broadcast media. By June 2004, Cadbury repaired the damage. It was back in the royal chariot. Cadbury was lucky that the crisis hit it in 2003 rather than, say, 2012, because social media had not made their presence felt then in India. Because The Internet was available in cities, and several newspapers had Web editions, there were indeed a few online discussions around reports on worm-infested chocolate bars. Most of those views were negative, too. A contributor to the online forum, www.echarcha.com, for example, quoted a claim made by a Cadbury representative to Mid-Day (“We follow stringent quality procedure that requires specific care and attention”) and added sarcastically: “The worms used were of the best quality, handpicked from a million out there. Cadbury really cares for you bhai” (“Worms found in dairy milk,”2003). But the reach of those online forums was extremely limited in 2003. The traditional approach to crisis management and communication was adequate because the online discussion of the off-line crisis was not extensive enough to make any difference to the millions of Indians who ate Cadbury chocolates but did not access the Internet. After a few days of fumbling and attempts to dodge the issue, Cadbury did everything right. As it improved the packaging, it invested heavily in reaching out to the public through the mass media. It managed to control the discourse and spread the message that the problem was not with its manufacturing but with the retailers’ improper storage, as in the case of any food item that required refrigeration. The media that fanned the fire helped Cadbury dowse it through paid advertisements. Struck by such a crisis now, the challenge of controlling the discourse would be far tougher because of the complications introduced by social media. Before we analyze their challenge, let’s look at the traditional practice of crisis communication.

Traditional Crisis Communication Strategies However great, communication alone cannot blow away any crisis. But communication with various stakeholders is at the core of crisis management, which includes dealing with the cause of the crisis and eliminating it if possible. When Cadbury imported new packaging machinery and changed the packaging of its chocolates, it was dealing with a weakness that had given rise to the crisis. Reassuring the public that the new, fully sealed packaging would not allow any infestation was part of the company’s crisis communication.

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The main objective of any planned crisis communication is damage control. The damage is generally to the firm’s reputation. Because it is one of the major assets of an organization, any damage to it can have serious consequences for the firm’s operations and profitability. In some cases, loss of reputation can be as good as loss of business. Those in charge of crisis communication constantly look out for issues that can grow into crises. This would involve scanning the print and broadcast media daily. This is especially important for companies that have extensive interface with the public. Smart organizations have some tentative plan in place to deal with crises that can be anticipated. Food poisoning, for example, is something that can occur in any company that makes or serves food and beverages in spite of all the precautions taken. The crisis management team may not know in advance when a particular crisis would strike, but would know what to do if it did. The next step is to respond promptly and contain the damage. With most crises, an early response from the affected company is far more cost effective than a response that comes after waiting futilely for the issue to go away on its own. The kind of response is determined largely by the cause and type of crisis. Building on the Situational Crisis Communication Theory developed by Coombs (2007), Claeys, Cauberghe, & Vyncke (2010, p. 257) suggest the following: Table 8.1 Types of crises and recommended responses (slightly adapted from Claeys, Cauberghe, & Vyncke (2010, p. 257) Crisis Type

Recommended Response

Victim cluster (little organizational responsibility) Deny strategies natural disaster, rumor, workplace violence, attack the accuser, denial, scapegoat product tampering/malevolence Accidental cluster (some organizational responsi- Diminish strategies Excuse, justification bility) Challenges, technical-error accidents, technicalerror product harm Preventable cluster (major organizational responsi- Rebuild strategies bility) Human-error accidents, Human-error product Compensation, apology harm, organizational misdeed with no injuries, organizational misdeed, management misconduct, organizational misdeed with injuries

The challenge is to reach out to everyone who is likely to have been influenced by the damaging news and get back into their good books. While there are generally very few people involved in the event that actually triggers

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a crisis, once the news breaks out, the crisis grows well out of proportion and involves a large number of people. It is well known that bad news travels much faster and reaches many times more people than good news. In the traditional approach to crisis communication, managers make themselves available to the print and broadcast media and give them authentic updates on both the emerging crisis and on the solutions being provided. They follow it up, where relevant, with paid advertisements that attempt to correct any false information and highlight the steps taken to reduce or even eliminate the possibility of the crisis recurring. Organizations and public relations professionals found success in this approach in the past because people had been turning to radio and television for live coverage and regular updates of emerging crises; they read newspapers to find in-depth analysis of the crises. They had no other major, authentic source of up-todate information or in-depth analysis. Thus the main steps in the traditional crisis communication strategy are the following: A. Identify possible crises in advance and have a tentative plan in place for likely ones B. Scan the mass media daily for issues that can grow into crises C. Once an issue comes up, acknowledge it; apologize publicly, if relevant D. Respond appropriately (see table 8.1 above) and truthfully E. Be available to those who seek information F. Solve the problem and publicize it through paid advertisements, if necessary Cadbury India did all these steps except A and B to deal with the widespread outrage at the discovery of worms is chocolate bars. In the hypersensitive business of high-end food, unwavering consumer trust in the quality is essential for survival. As we have seen, Cadbury succeeded in repairing the damage and then re-gaining the consumer’s trust. This broad approach to crisis communication works when the affected organization can guide the discourse around the crisis through the mass media. It is highly inadequate today because while the public continues to patronize the mass media, it has a very vibrant alternative source of up-todate information and analysis: social media. Interestingly, during coverage of crises they act not only as an alternative source but often as a more reliable, more objective source than mass media (Liu, 2010) which might be perceived as biased by many. Social media may not deserve this reputation, but many people trust peer-generated news and views more than those generated by the mass media.

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To appreciate the impact of social media both on the creation of crises and their containment, we need to look at the phenomenal growth of social media during the last few years.

The Rise and Rise of Social Media Social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube have had a very short history compared to the Internet. Nevertheless their growth has been dramatic as we have highlighted in previous chapters. To remind you, here are a few additional statistics. On October 4, 2012, the world media informed us that at least 1 billion active users hit Facebook every month. That means one in every seven people in this world use Facebook. A report published in The Guardian newspaper, United Kingdom, quoted the following statistics provided by Mark Zuckerberg: “Facebook has recorded 1.13 trillion Likes, 140.3 billion friend connections and 219bn shared photos since it launched in February 2004. More than 300m photos are uploaded every day and 62.6m songs played” (Kiss, 2012). Twitter had 500 million users in 2012 and many social media experts are busy predicting the exact time when it will catch up with or even surpass Facebook (Dugan, 2012). And, it’s not just the number of tweets that are posted every day that give Twitter its omnipresence. It’s also about the kind of people who use it. As discussed in the introduction, on November 7, 2012, Barack Obama tweeted about his victory in the U.S. presidential elections even before he gave his acceptance speech (McIntyre, 2012). He tweeted “four more years” with a picture of him hugging his wife. The tweet almost immediately became the most popular tweet of all time. The tweet was shared more than 400,000 times within a few hours. According to statistics provided by the YouTube Press Room, over a billion unique users visit YouTube each month and over 6 billion hours of video are watched each month on it. Nielsen reports that YouTube reaches more American adults aged 18-34 than any cable network. However, YouTube’s influence is not limited to the United States. YouTube is localized in 56 countries and across 61 languages. The introduction of the smartphone has enabled people to access the Internet and social media virtually any time, anywhere. For instance, about 600 million people use Facebook’s mobile platform (Kiss, 2012). More than 20% of global YouTube views are from mobile devices. During the pre-social media era, content was created and distributed by media houses which exercised editorial control over it. Consumers were largely passive recipients. They had relatively little influence on the media houses which decided what was newsworthy and what was not. The

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public could of course stop watching certain programs or reading certain newspapers. But any collective action by the consumers of mass media content was difficult, if not impossible. When faced with a crisis, therefore, an organization could influence the public through the media in a variety of ways and control the communication around it to the extent of making the issue disappear from their collective consciousness. The ubiquity of smartphones combined with the phenomenal spread of social media has created a parallel world of news and views. Instead of hurriedly reading the newspaper in the morning before leaving for work and watching television in the evening after a tiring day’s work, people can log into social media through their smartphones almost any time they like. If some development catches their fancy, they can share it with their network instantly without waiting for anyone’s editorial approval. The number of people getting involved actively or passively in it can go up substantially in a matter of hours. People who wouldn’t normally consider writing to a newspaper or television channel to register their response - delight or disgust - to what they read or watch need little provocation now to share their opinions freely with those on their social media network. A significant difference between activists of the twenty-first century and those of the earlier era is the enormous power they can mobilize by merely using a computer or cell phone. In the past, locating people with similar views and organizing them into a united force was difficult for individuals spread across geographies. The Internet makes it easy and inexpensive to spot and coordinate with those who have similar ideas. One of the consequences is, as Gonzalez-Herrero and Smith (2008) note, the easy escalation into crises of issues which would have died out in the past for lack of public support. Another consequence is that a small group of individuals can take on mighty organizations. Take, for example, the way the pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson discontinued its Motrin ad when it was criticised by a few mommy bloggers on YouTube and Twitter (Neff, 2008). Interestingly, the ad which features a mom who gets a backache after carrying her baby in a sling had not created any controversy during the first forty-five days. Of course, the ad mildly criticizes attachment parenting as it points out that while babies who are carried all day by their mothers may cry less, mothers who carry their babies all day may cry more due to backache. Many ad gurus expressed disappointment with Motrin’s reaction of bowing down to a few vocal critics of the ad and pulling it out so early. Meghan Keane (2008) commented in popular technology magazine Wired that “if Motrin had been less scared of the mommy blowback and been willing to talk it out online, they might have gotten a better campaign as a result of it, instead of no campaign at all.”

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The example shows that the easy access that individuals get to an audience spread across geographies has significant implications for crisis communication management. Minor disappointments or criticisms that are freely expressed in a drawing room or around an office water font and promptly forgotten are now broadcast instantly. Social media companies interested in traffic make it difficult for others on the network not to join the conversation thus provoked. They respond, often monosyllabically or by clicking an icon, and get drawn in. When a stir is spotted in the social media, mass media may step in and give additional publicity. Like the genie that is released from the bottle, a simple issue can thus grow into a giant one in a matter of hours, even minutes. The rise of social media has resulted in a situation where no one can take control. In addition to the traditional flow of information from “one-tomany,” social media have produced “many-to-many” flows of information without anyone controlling the process. As Gonzalez-Herrero & Smith (2010) state, the public has “much more power today than ever before, through the aggregation of individual’s opinions” (p. 101). The process of aggregation is so robust that even despotic governments are at their wits’ end to control it. Certain things “go viral” to use the social media terminology to describe the sudden spread of news or posts across the globe. A crisis communication professional’s success, however, lies in gaining some control over the messages being spread on social media as well as traditional media.

Social Media and Crisis Communication Management: Case Studies Many aspects of the traditional approach to crisis communication are still relevant and useful, but some are inadequate to deal with the role played by social media. To determine what is required in new age crisis communication management, let’s analyze a few recent cases of successful and unsuccessful crisis communication. From the discussion we should be able to derive best practices for new age crisis communication.

Case Study 1: Nokia Lumia’s Optical Image Stabilization Promotion On September 5, 2012, Nokia released a video advertisement on its about-tobe-launched Lumia 920. It tried to showcase the phone’s special attraction, PureView, which stabilizes the optical image, eliminates blurriness, and improves pictures shot in low light conditions. In the video, a boy riding a bicycle uses a cellphone (presumably Nokia Lumia 920) to take a photograph of his friend, also riding along on her bicycle. The video ends with comparison between two shots, one with the OIS (optical image stabilization) turned on and one with it turned off.

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T.C. Sottek (2012) recognized that the shot that viewers were led to believe was done with a Lumia 920 in the ad could not have been so. He felt that it was done with a professional camera and not a cellphone held by a man riding a bicycle. He shared his view in his blog post on www.theverge. com the same afternoon. The post generated more than 800 comments in a few hours. The scrutiny was taken further by another expert photographer, Youssef Sarhan (2012), who claimed in his post on the same day that the still photos Nokia used to highlight the OIS capability of Lumia 920 could not have been taken with a cellphone camera; he was sure they had been taken with a DSLR camera. Sottek’s original post appeared at 4:22 PM on September 05, 2012; he uploaded an update at 7:42 PM confirming that Nokia admitted to the use of professional cameras for the shoot and that it had also formally apologized on the company’s blog. He was right. By that time, Nokia’s spokesperson Heidi Lemmetyinen (2012) formally confirmed in a post (“An apology is due”) on the company’s official blog, that the photographs were not taken by Lumia 920, that the objective of the simulation was to demonstrate the capability of the camera, and apologized for the confusion the ad created. Nokia also posted a YouTube video showing shots done with a Lumia 920 with and without the OIS. Some technology-related websites and several newspapers around the world reported the event, the crisis died down within days. What is interesting here is that Nokia’s advertising team had done what most advertising teams routinely do: create a dramatic impact on the viewer by doing whatever it takes. As Snikende Ugle, one of those who commented on Sottek’s post and other comments critical of Nokia, says, “And really, does anyone believe a superhigh res quality promo video to be of the real deal? That’s like saying a CGI trailer for a game is ingame graphics.” Take any commercials advertising detergents on television. Their effect on clothes seems to be magical. The effect portrayed is impossible. The viewers recognize it and maybe pass critical comments on it in their drawing rooms. Obviously, any snide remarks they make don’t go beyond the four walls. Advertising agencies continue to make advertisements that exaggerate the power of detergents to ridiculous lengths. As Nokia discovered to its discomfort, such critical comments have a way of going viral in cyberspace now because of social media. It promptly and gracefully acknowledged the truth and apologized instead of denying or ignoring the allegation. Obviously it has recognized the power of social media to cancel out what it achieves through investing heavily in mass media. By any yardstick, Nokia’s crisis communication was successful because the controversy died down within days; it never got out of control. Let’s identify the reasons for the success.

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Nokia’s response was prompt. In less than four hours of Sottek’s post appearing, Nokia realized the mistake and remedied it. As the company’s advertising agency had done something that most advertisers routinely did, Nokia could have ignored the allegation. It did not. It appears that people at verge.com got in touch with Nokia. Apart from satisfying them, Nokia followed up that conversation with a blog post within hours. Nokia apologized. Nothing kills the emerging story of a crisis as comprehensively as an apology. Nokia could have prevaricated. It never explicitly stated in the advertisement that the shots were taken with Lumia 920. Therefore, it could have claimed that there was nothing to apologize for. It did not. It could have pointed to other advertisements by a host of other organizations including rivals doing the same trick on viewers. It did not. Instead it apologized promptly. And the effect was dramatic. Most of the comments criticizing Nokia that Sottek’s original post attracted came before the update which clearly stated that Nokia had admitted the slipup and apologized. It is obvious that the prompt apology helped Nokia control the conversation to the extent of making it irrelevant. Nokia went a step further and posted photographs taken using Lumia 920 with OIS and compared them with cellphone photos taken without OIS. These were not as glamorous as the ones taken with professional cameras. But the contrast between photos taken with and without OIS was amply clear to the viewers. Thus, the viewers realized that Lumia 920 had the capability Nokia’s video had claimed. Nokia used social media to apologize and resolve the issue. Mainstream newspapers picked up the story, but because they reported the event along with Nokia’s apology, there was no further escalation of the crisis. Considering that the once market leader Nokia had been struggling against Apple and Samsung in the smartphone arena and was hoping that Lumia 920 stand in the way of further erosion of market share, any prolonged focus on the event would have hurt Nokia deeply.

Case Study 2: Qantas Twitter Campaign and Competition In November 2011, Qantas, the largest Australian airline, floated a campaign on Twitter asking its followers to describe their “dream luxury inflight experience” using “#QantasLuxury.” The campaign was floated in the midst of an industrial relations dispute between the airline and its workers even as it was still trying to recover from a mass strike which grounded its entire fleet (Miller, 2011). Soon after the airline tweeted about the competition which offered Qantas first-class pajamas and luxury amenity kits as prizes, its Twitter page was flooded with sarcastic comments. For example, a Twitter user remarked: “Qantas Luxury is grounding the fleet so I can fly Virgin

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Atlantic instead” (Casey, 2011). Another person tweeted: “Wondering if #qantasluxury PR execs may be deployed for first Sydney-Kabul flight” (Miller, 2011). Several tweets also criticized CEO Alan Joyce for mishandling the dispute with employees. Here’s an example: “QantasLuxury is what we used to get before crooks like Alan Joyce started running our national airline” (“Qantas in,” 2011). Many tweets gave vent to people’s disappointment with Joyce getting a hefty raise in 2011 although the airline reported a $200 million loss for the second half of the financial year (Hernandez, 2012). For instance, a Twitter user said luxury was “giving yourself a pay raise whilst grounding your whole airline and taking jobs offshore.” A few hours after launching the campaign, Qantas thanked its users for their entries and posted the following: “At this rate our #QantasLuxury competition is going to take years to judge” (Miller, 2011). Nothing more was heard from Qantas. Let’s analyze the case now. This is an instance of embarrassment invited by the company in the social media space. Qantas committed several mistakes. First, the social media personnel at Qantas got the timing of the campaign wrong. Asking flyers to describe their “dream luxury inflight experience” so soon after they suffered travel woes due to grounded flights was inappropriate. The two days of flight disruptions had affected about 100,000 Qantas flyers (Hernandez, 2012). Social media commentator David Amerland (2011) writes that the Qantas PR disaster shows that “when it comes to social media, timing is everything and online and offline are different sides of the same coin and cannot be separated.” As we have noted above posting a comment on a social media site is as easy as a drawing-room conversation; people are angry or frustrated, they will let off their steam through intemperate tweets and other posts. That is why timing is critical in social media campaigns. Second, offering first class pajamas as prize was silly. The Qantas campaign team should have come up with something better. Third, the marketing and/or social media team at Qantas did not engage with the flyers after the sarcastic tweets kept coming (Barnett, 2011). All they did was post a tweet saying it would take a long time to judge the competition. They should have acknowledged their mistakes and addressed the grievances of the customers. CEO Joyce should have directly engaged with the frustrated flyers on the Qantas Twitter page. Instead, Qantas just plugged its ears. This is no way to communicate with angry and disappointed customers. Overall, Qantas should have exercised more care in chalking out and executing the campaign. Commenting on the case, Emma Barnett (2011) writes:

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Unlike traditional media, the social kind is where Joe Public gets to talk back and contribute whatever he or she likes. This is why any company attempting to ‘engage’ with their customers and the great unwashed, using sites such as Twitter, need to do so with caution and a lot of thought before posting a message into the digital ether.

Case Study 3: GoDaddy.com: When the CEO Blows it An online storm of protests started when Bob Parsons, a former CEO of GoDaddy.com, a popular domain name registration site in the United States, posted a gruesome video on his blog and posted a link to it on his Twitter page on March 14, 2011. The video shows Parsons shooting an elephant and then posing next to it with his gun resting on its bleeding head. The villagers, who are wearing orange GoDaddy hats, are shown butchering the elephant the next morning and eating its meat even as the song “Hells Bells” by Australian hard rock band AC/DC plays in the background (Caulfield, 2011). Along with posting the video, Parsons tweeted: “Just back from hunting problem in Zimbabwe. Here’s my vacation video. Enjoy.” Critical comments poured in the same day. The animal rights group, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), was most vocal in its denouncement of Parsons’ video. Here’s an excerpt from the PETA letter: I am writing to present you with PETA’s first-ever scummiest CEO of the year award (your certificate is on the way). You deserve the award for your egregious disregard for the life of the elephant you shot and killed for your personal enjoyment. Such behavior only shows a poverty of understanding and a deep insecurity, perhaps in your own masculinity (Walsh, 2011).

A petition on the matter posted on Change.org, a website that seeks to bring about social change by issue of online petitions, titled “Real men don’t kill elephants” also gave vent to people’s anger at Parsons (Caulfield, 2011). An ex-Marine ad Vietnam War veteran, Parsons defended his actions on his blog claiming he killed the elephant because it was destroying farmers’ crops: I stand by my decision to help African villagers. I believe elephant management is beneficial. I have the support of the people who really matter in this situation, the families of Zimbabwe — people who need help to survive. I have the support of tribal leaders and the government (Walsh, 2011).

Few bought Parsons’ version of the story. Discussions in the mainstream media and on social media sites highlighted that there are non-lethal ways of preventing elephants from destroying crops. For instance, Bryan Walsh (2011) suggested on Time.com that “chili- or tobacco-based deterrents” help keep elephants out of farmers’ fields. On consumerist.com, a consumer affairs website, Ben Popken cited research by Oxford University which claimed that

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elephants avoid areas where they see beehives; so much so that even the recorded sound of beehives is enough to drive them away. But it wasn’t just activists who expressed disgust at the gruesome video. Animal lovers including some customers of the company were equally shocked at the macabre nature of the video. Actress Cloris Leachman encouraged her followers to switch to another web hosting service (Venkataramanan, 2011). Wayne Pacelle of the Humane Society of the United States blogged that he would no longer do business with Parsons’ company. The organization found a new web host for its 650 domain names (Venkataramanan, 2011). Rival companies such as Namecheap.com immediately capitalized on the anger against Parsons by offering discounts on domain transfers and even pledging profits to charities that work towards protecting elephants (Popken, 2011). It also claimed that thousands of people had switched domain names from GoDaddy.com to their company. Parsons maintained that the transfers would not affect his business. Perhaps it did not in the months following the controversy. Whether it did or not, the company’s image as well as that of the CEO suffered considerable damage. It is interesting to note that although the shooting of the elephant by Parsons has nothing to do with the quality or affordability of the domain name registration services offered by www.godaddy.com, a sizeable number of the company’s customers switched to its rivals. Any controversies involving leaders of organizations have therefore to be taken seriously and the crisis communication managed appropriately. It does not need any in-depth analysis to conclude that neither Parsons nor his company managed well the controversy around the shooting of the elephant in Zimbabwe. All that the company did was to present Parsons’ justification saying that he did a favor to the people of Zimbabwe. Apart from justifying the action on his blog, he also repeated his justification to the media (see King, 2011). But he appears to have overestimated the power of “facts” (as he presented them) and underestimated the power of the social media to destroy reputations. That said, one must keep in mind the possibility that the elephant Parsons shot dead was a rogue elephant that needed to be put away. Perhaps he took part in the official culling process in a country where elephants do cause a lot of damage to crops and are often killed with the government’s blessings. The poor villagers in Zimbabwe probably don’t entertain the romantic notion about elephants that people who don’t have to encounter them day in and day out in their farms hold. Perhaps many of those most vocal critics of the butchering of the elephant and eating of its meat are non-vegetarians themselves who don’t sense the hypocrisy in their stand.

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But Parsons’ biggest mistake was the way in which he publicized the video. His online invitation, “Here’s my vacation video. Enjoy,” may be considered as particularly insensitive. The second mistake was to assume that social media would readily accept his reporting of so-called “facts” and change their opinion built on misinformation, lack of information or propaganda.

Case Study 4: Domino’s: When Employees Do It In 2009, two Domino’s employees in North Carolina posted a YouTube video of themselves doing the following: One of the employees, Michael Setzer, is seen putting cheese up his nose before placing it on a sandwich. He also passes gas on a slice of salami and sneezes on a customer’s pizza. Setzer goes on to put between his buttocks a sponge that is used to clean pans. The other employee, Kristy Hammonds, is heard narrating: In about five minutes, they’ll be sent out to delivery, where somebody will be eating these, yes, eating them. And little did they know that cheese was in his nose and that there was some lethal gas that ended up on their salami…That’s how we roll at Domino’s (Gregory, 2009).

Hammonds posted the video on YouTube on April 13, 2009. The video had 562,627 views at 8 a.m. on April 14, 2009, and as many as 930, 390 views by 9.30 p.m. the same day (Hobson, 2009). Traditional media also picked up the story and it was all over the television channels and newspapers. References to the video appeared in five of the 12 results on the first page of Google search for Domino’s during that period (Clifford, 2009). The video had obviously gone viral on Twitter and other social media channels. A blogger from the Consumerist, a website where people share information on current consumer affairs issues, informed Tim McIntyre, Domino’s Vice President - Communications about the video (York, 2009). At first, the Domino’s management thought that taking any public measures would alert more people to the story. They realized they were wrong when the video received more than a million hits in a matter of two days. The fact that they were in the middle of a crisis that could do irreparable damage to their brand finally hit home. Patrick Doyle, president of Domino’s USA gave a response on YouTube. He said, “We sincerely apologize for this incident. We thank members of the online community who quickly alerted us and allowed us to take immediate action. Although the individuals in question claim it’s a hoax, we are taking this incredibly seriously” (York, 2009). He also added that the store where the videos had been filmed had been shut down and sanitized. He claimed that the company would also conduct a review of its hiring practices (Flandez, 2009). People later found out that one of the employees, Kristy Hammonds,

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was a registered sex offender. Apart from the YouTube message, Domino’s also opened a Twitter account to answer consumer inquiries. All this was in addition to the appearances on television channels and interviews with newspaper and magazine correspondents. Critics and PR consultants believe that the 48 hours that Domino’s took to respond was “too long” since the video had already gone viral and the news was spreading on social media every passing minute (York, 2009). Tim McIntyre, in an interview with Wall Street Journal blogger, Raymund Flandez, said that the initial steps the company took included tracking down the two employees within hours of being notified about the video and working with the police and the health department to charge them with public health violations. However, McIntyre admitted that what they did not realize was that their responses were not of a public nature while most of the conversations about the video were happening on social media sites such as YouTube and Twitter in the public domain. Domino’s could not pull down the video from YouTube until it got a signed statement from Hammonds as she was the copyright owner of the video. Also, Doyle’s video response came an entire 48 hours after the crisis broke. Domino’s suffered the consequences of the delay. The company’s stock price dropped 10% over the week (“Domino’s losses,” 2010). An online research firm found that Domino’s brand image went from positive to negative in 48 hours (Vogt, 2009). Furthermore, a national study conducted by another research firm found that 65% of respondents who would previously order Domino’s Pizza were less likely to do so after viewing the video (Vogt, 2009). Pete Blackshaw, a brand strategist at Neilson Online told Sean Gregory of Time magazine that while Domino’s did a good job with the YouTube video response, it could have taken certain other steps immediately after the crisis broke such as blogging about it, updating Wikipedia, and befriending Google among others. Labeling Wikipedia a “reputational broker,” Blackshaw noted that while Wikipedia carried an entry on the Domino’s scandal by April 17, 2009, that is, 72 hours after the video was first posted, a response from Domino’s was not a part of that entry. Of course, there was no mention of the scandal in the Wikipedia entry on Domino’s when the authors checked on August 24, 2012. However, when the authors Googled “Domino’s video scandal” several links showed up. They also found edited copies of the original video on YouTube thus proving that disasters live forever on the Internet. About befriending Google, Blackshaw suggests that it is important to push a positive image of the company online in order to fight all the negative stories that showed up on a Google search during the crisis. He said: “Domino’s could, for example, purchase ads from Google that appear at the top right corner of the page of ‘Domino’s’ search results. The ad could say ‘Domino’s

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Apologizes’ and link to the video from the company executive. Another ad could highlight a new promotion or discount” (Gregory, 2009). Another important lesson from this case is that companies should be tuned in to discussions about them on social media sites. Domino’s did not spot the video first. It was a blogger from Consumerist who alerted the company’s management. Why wasn’t Domino’s listening to the chatter on social media sites? However, one must not dismiss the fact that Domino’s was quite effective in its response although it was late by 48 hours. PR expert Richard Levick told Advertising Age magazine that he would give Domino’s an F for the first 24 hours and an A or A+ for everything thereafter. He explained: They started a Twitter account, separated themselves from the villains, shut down the store, apologized, went to their demographic, went to YouTube—I think all of that is great. People can take their stabs if they want, on every nuance of what Domino’s has done, but after the first 24 hours, it’s largely textbook (York, 2009).

Case Study 5: The Ranger Station Fire The following summary of the crisis and crisis communication management by Ford Motor Company is based on a detailed case study posted by Ron Ploof (2008) on his website, ronamok.com. Jim Oakes, who runs The Ranger Station (TRS), a Ford fan site, posted a message to the group’s message boards at 6:10 PM, December 09, 2008. The message said that TRS was being attacked by the Ford Motor Company, which had sent the fan site a cease-and-desist letter. The letter demanded that he close the website, stop using Ford’s logo, surrender the URL to Ford, and pay a fine of $5000. Oakes didn’t want to surrender the website which he had been running for ten years. And he couldn’t afford to pay $5000 in fines for using the Ford logo. He didn’t know what to do. That is why he turned to members of the Ford fan group for help. Indignant responses from them to the way a giant firm was ill-treating one of its own fan sites started arriving within two minutes of his post. Over the next twenty-two hours there were more than 900 comments, some of them highly sarcastic. One member, for example, wondered if this was the way Ford was making up its heavy losses in the market. Soon, the comments went beyond the discussion board to other websites. Scott Monty, Global Digital and Multimedia Communications Manager for Ford Motor Company, checked Twitter at 5:30 the following morning as usual. And there was a tweet waiting for his attention since 1:30 AM. It

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said “This is about as bad as PR gets for Ford right now! Very bad move that’s going to cause loss of sales,” and gave a hyperlink to a website that had provided Oakes’s original post. There was one more tweet, from another source. It had a hyperlink to the same post, but displayed on a different fan site. A PR fire was spreading fast. Monty wondered why his company did what it did. The only information he had was what Oakes’s post said. He tried to obtain authentic information from headquarters and trademarks Department. In the meanwhile, he kept tweeting messages such as “I’m on it. Getting our legal team’s perspective and trying to stop a PR nightmare,” and “I’m personally looking into it. Hope to have an answer soon.” As the issue appeared to be a little more complex than he could fight on his own, Monty asked his Twitter followers to re-tweet his message: “For anyone asking about the Ford fan sites and legal action: I’m in active discussions with our legal dept. about resolving it. Pls retweet.” By midday, Monty discovered that Oakes’s story was right but partial. He tweeted: “I’m finding it’s a much different story from our legal department...” As soon as he got additional information about 1 PM, he tweeted again: “Re the Ford fan site: I’m finding that there was counterfeit material being sold on it. Trying to get clarity on the URL issue.” Ford’s legal department had found that Oakes was selling counterfeit decals with Ford logo on them. Their letter was intended as a scare tactic to make him stop it. They hadn’t anticipated the turn that it took. Monty persuaded the legal department to separate the URL issue from the counterfeits issue and to write Oakes a new letter with clear rules on what he can sell and without any reference to his URL or fines. Then he drafted a reader-friendly public statement. Before publishing it, however, he telephoned Oakes to get his side of the story. Monty discovered that Oakes didn’t mean any harm to Ford; when he got the stern letter from Ford, he panicked and turned to his social media friends for help. That is all. He was himself flabbergasted at the way the issue grew. He agreed to stop selling counterfeit decals and to display on his website Ford’s official statement that Monty had drafted. In the meanwhile, not knowing this development, some of Ford’s wellwishers had tweeted: “How do you repay your online evangelists? Well if you’re Ford Motor Company, you step on their necks & demand $5,000.” Monty immediately tweeted back: “Please correct that. We’ve since remedied it.” He followed it up with: “Ford’s response can be found at the bottom of http://is.gd/b3h0.” A little before 5 PM he made a request to his Twitter followers: “Here is Ford’s official response to the fansite cease & desist

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debacle http://is.gd/b3qd #ford Please retweet.” Many followers recreated the message and the fire was finally contained before the end of the day. When we look at the anatomy of this crisis and Scott Monty’s communication to neutralize it, we see a familiar pattern. People with easy access to social media are quick to contribute to a conversation and express strong views without adequate information. The nature of networks in cyberspace is such that flammable information travels quickly to all parts of the world. Scott Monty managed to put out the fire in less than twenty-four hours. Here are the five main reasons why he succeeded. First, he had been scanning the social media space for issues that would need his attention. Therefore, he could respond promptly. Second, he kept tweeting updates even as he was trying to get authentic information. If he had waited until he got the full story, the issue would have grown far more than it actually did. Of course authentic information was essential for Monty to resolve the issue. Third, he resolved the issue by getting his legal department to redraft its letter so that it would not attract the kind of hostile attention its original letter to Jim Oakes did. Fourth, armed with authentic information from the legal department, he spoke to Jim Oakes to get his side of the story. This helped Monty to convert what appeared to be a confrontation into collaboration. Fifth, he used the resources of social media and their endless networks to deal with the crisis created by the same media. If the traditional route was used, probably the mainstream media also would have picked up the story and stoked the fire so much that controlling it would have been difficult.

Case Study 6: Vishal Gondal vs. Audi India Vishal Gondal, entrepreneur, angel investor and former managing director of DisneyUTV Digital, loved his Audi Q7 and fondly called it the “Batmobile” after the automobile of DC Comics superhero Batman. After Gondal’s car, which was fitted with a GPS Tracker, was sent to an Audi workshop for servicing, Gondal got an SMS alert in the wee hours that his car had exceeded the speed limit. When Gondal checked the location, he found that someone was driving it across Mumbai at breakneck speed while it was supposed to be at the service center. Much to his shock and dismay, he also found that his car was parked at a scrap yard for several hours. Early that morning, Gondal posted the entire story on both Facebook and Twitter. Here, one must keep in mind that Gondal is an online influencer with more than 20,000 followers on his Facebook and Twitter accounts, respectively. The story generated tremendous buzz on social media even as people sympathized with Gondal and shared their own experiences in similar

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cases (Mishra, 2012a). After all, this was a story that Indians could easily connect with. The truth is many of us worry when we leave our vehicles at the service center, afraid that it might be taken for joyrides without our knowledge or its genuine parts stolen and replaced with fake ones. In this case, when Gondal enquired with the service center about it, the latter denied it ever happened. Instead of acknowledging their mistake, they sent him CCTV footage of an Audi that was parked in their premises that entire night. However, the footage did not show the number plate of the car. They also sent him a copy of their hand-written log entry as proof that the car had not left the service center at night (Ratnam & D’Mello, 2012). All this confrontation and contestation worsened the situation. Newspapers also picked up the saga with reporters interviewing both Gondal and the customer relations staff of the Audi dealer and publishing the allegations and denials from both parties. For instance, a report published in the Mid-Day informed readers that Gondal was “not prepared to accept the response the workshop sent him via email and has more faith in the data saved online through the GPS system of his car” (Katkurwar, 2012). While the head of Audi India, Michael Perschke, had responded to Gondal’s tweet and promised to personally look into the matter, his response came too late in the sequence of events. The service center’s stand had contributed to the crisis as Gondal had posted proof of the joyride on social media. The story was much discussed online and offline. It took a new turn when two days later, Gondal posted a picture of him standing next to a new BMW Mini Cooper with the following tweet: “Thanks @Bmwindia for sending me the Mini Cooper S Countryman….will this be the new Bat-mobile?” In the midst of all this chaos, BMW India had leveraged the situation by sending Gondal a car that he could use to ride out the crisis. Finally, the issue was resolved with Audi replacing Gondal’s car, the details of which remained undisclosed (Mishra, 2012b). And, Gondal tried to put speculation to rest with a tweet that informed the world that he had a fruitful meeting with Audi India and that the issue had been resolved to his satisfaction. An analysis of the case reveals several mistakes committed by Audi India. First, Audi took too long to respond to the unfolding crisis on social media. Audi should have apologized to Gondal as soon as possible and taken control of the situation. The car company should have exercised greater care in the way they handled the crisis also because they were dealing with an online influencer who was extremely angry and his online posts were being read by thousands of his followers. Secondly, Audi should not have allowed the dealer/service center to deal directly with Gondal and fuel the crisis with its blatant denials. The important lesson here is that a brand should avoid having multiple voices during a crisis. In this case, Audi India should have at least informed the service center immediately that it was dealing with an online

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influencer and needed to exercise great caution in its communications with him. Thirdly, the crisis should have been taken offline in the initial stages. A senior staff from the service center should have personally visited Gondal and addressed his grievances. Overall, both Audi and its service center should have been more sensitive to the condition of its customer, a highly influential one in this case.

Lessons in Online Crisis Communication A few lessons emerge from our analysis of successful and unsuccessful handling of crisis communication by different organizations. We shall pool them together. These are in addition to standard strategies for crisis communication that we have already looked at in the early part of this chapter.

1. Be Prompt in Responding In the past, organizations generally had the luxury of waiting for a few days before communicating to the public or even internal stakeholders about an emerging crisis. That is no longer the case. Silence is not a smart option for an organization grappling with a crisis. Neither is indefinite wait for authentic information approved by the organization’s leadership. In the absence of a truthful official message, rumours gain the stage on social media. Rumours rarely present the crisis in the right perspective. They can destroy the brand glow of organizations as Penn State University discovered in November 2011 when Jerry Sandusky, its former high-profile assistant football coach was found guilty of sexually molesting boys for years. David Scott (2012) reports that the University authorities asked the social media team to remove Sandusky’s photos from the university’s Facebook page but not post anything related to the verdict on Facebook or Twitter. In fact, it took several days for the University’s board of trustees to issue a public statement. By then it was too little, too late, to make a difference. What does an organization need in order to respond promptly? There are at least four levels of preparation it must go through in order to achieve the kind of promptness required in online crisis communication. This is true of any crisis that gets noticed by the online public, especially those crises created in cyberspace. By their very nature, crises created in cyberspace such as the one created by Jim Oakes for Ford, So, the sentence will now read: “By their very nature, crises created in cyberspace such as the one created by Jim Oaks for Ford spread instantly. First, the organization ought to have a broadly defined crisis communication plan for the social media. It is the equivalent of installing the right kind of fire extinguishers in a building long before any fire breaks out. Once a crisis

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emerges, the organization will need to redefine and refine its strategy. For that there should be a strategy in the first place. Nokia seems to have such a plan. Without it, Heidi Lemmetyinen (2012) could not have come out with a formal apology in the form of a blog post (“An apology is due”), so soon after the “faking” of the photograph was raised by verge.com. In contrast, Domino’s did not seem to have a plan in place. It didn’t even have a Twitter account. It took them more than two days to make up their minds about how to respond to the avalanche of negative posts in cyberspace. By that time, as we have noted above, the offensive video had been watched by nearly a million people. Second, as part of the crisis communication plan, there should be a designated person or small team with enough authority and access to authentic information so that they can post a truthful account on social media and update it as more information becomes available. This is what Scott Monty did when Jim Oakes’s post about being attacked by Ford went viral. His prompt and truthful posts prevented a PR disaster. That is what Penn State University did not do and, as a result, allowed wild rumours and speculations to occupy centre stage. Third, the crisis communication team should have in place a mechanism to spot trouble in the initial stages. They should set up what Sherman (2009) calls “digital listening posts.” These are social listening tools which will alert you whenever your name or brand name is mentioned in the social media. While there are many listening tools available in the market today, some of the popular ones include Google Alerts, Social Mention, BoardReader, Topsy, Brandwatch, Sysomos, Radian6, among others. Some of these tools offer basic facilities while others are top of the line and ideal for more sophisticated listening and data analytics. Further, in order to deal effectively with blog-mediated crises, Jin and Liu (2010) advise crisis managers to identify and monitor the blogs that are more influential among the organization’s key publics. The overall idea is to look for signs of trouble in all the likely places before it erupts. However, one must remember that social listening does not take away the importance of scanning traditional media such as newspapers and television programs to find out if mainstream media have picked up a story. Fourth, as Gonzalez-Herrero & Smith (2010) recommend, the crisis communication team should actively operate in the social media space and create a strong network of bloggers and microbloggers by responding to their posts and participating in online forums and social platforms. In other words, organizations should have a credible presence in cyberspace and build a network of Internet-based advocates (p. 103). For this the team’s credibility and openness are crucial. It is this connection to a large number of people active in social media that helped Scott Monty of Ford get information about

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the emerging PR disaster as early as 1:30 in the morning, that is, within a few hours of Jim Oakes’ post. Monty’s Twitter followers also helped him spread his message through re-tweeting.

2. Keep Communicating Even When Authentic Information is Inadequate Silence is not an option in crisis communication. If the organization is silent, hostile rumours will fill that space quickly. It is easy to say this but very hard to practice because a crisis usually upsets many calculations and authentic information may not be available for the crisis communication team to share confidently with the online community. If, in their hurry to communicate, the team puts out information that is contradicted with evidence by hawkeyed readers or statements that have to be withdrawn for whatever reason, the resulting flip-flop is likely to dent the team’s credibility. What should the team do in such a situation? This is where Scott Monty’s example is relevant. He didn’t know why his company sent a terrible letter to one of its own evangelists. All he knew was that it had all the makings of a PR disaster. But he had to get a clear picture from the legal department before he could counter the negative comments. This, however, did not stop him from tweeting. He let his followers know that he was looking for authentic information and that he would get back to them as soon as he got it. Records show that he tweeted about sixty times about the issue on that day (Ploof, 2008). This may appear excessive, but the online world demands short but frequent updates rather than one long and explanatory statement.

3. Be Truthful in the Response Many organizations give out false or misleading information to deflect attention from the crisis. Such a move is riskier for the organization’s reputation than the unpalatable truth it attempts to hide. Never recommended, this approach may have worked in the pre-social media days because the source and channels of information were severely limited and they could be controlled to some extent. But now even confidential information can quickly get into cyberspace because of social media. In the case of Vishal Gondal vs. Audi India, the crisis would have been checked had the service centre not come up with blatant denials. One must always remember that an organization’s false assertions may be countered by someone somewhere with documentary or photographic evidence and posted online for the whole world to see. Nokia did not commit this mistake as evident in the case study above. We noticed that within hours of Nokia’s

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video advertisement being aired, which led the viewers to believe that the photographs shown were taken with a Lumia 920, a blogger at verge.com pointed out, with supporting evidence that they couldn’t have been taken with a phone camera. In the past, such an observation by an expert would not have gone beyond a small circle of friends or colleagues because it was highly unlikely that they would take the trouble of writing to a mainstream newspaper or to a television channel. Even if they did, it was not certain that the media house would entertain it especially if the finger was pointed at firms that were spenders on advertisements.

4. Apologise Early, if Apologies are Due Apologies for mistakes made or inconvenience suffered have always been at the core of crisis communication strategies. The presence of social media has introduced a sense of urgency. If apologies are delayed, the damaging stories will get bigger and bigger to a level where apologies wouldn’t make any difference. At times the organization as such may not be at fault. Take the case of the rogue employees of Domino’s who uploaded a disgusting video on YouTube. What they depicted in the video did not reflect the company’s practice. It did not have the company’s approval. But in the eyes of Domino’s customers, they were Domino’s employees. And what if some employees did anything like that to the pizzas that were being sold? Apologies were definitely due, and were readily given. In the case of the Lumia 920 ad, Nokia’s advertising agency followed the common practice of exaggeration. Nowhere in the advertisement was it claimed that the photograph shown was actually shot with a Lumia 920 (although viewers were led to believe so). Nokia could have resorted to sophistry, but it didn’t. The quick apology, which was also carried by mainstream media, killed the story and saved the company further embarrassment. Had Audi done the same with Vishal Gondal’s allegations, the matter would have been resolved in less time.

5. Use Social Media Resources to Get Your Side of the Story Out Presenting the organization’s authentic story or explanation has always been an essential part of crisis communication strategies. What is new is that the crisis communication team should use social media resources to get its version of the story across at the earliest possible. One of the ways is by using Search Engine Optimization to make the official version appear at the top of search results (Gonzalez-Herrero & Smith, 2010). Updating Wikipedia is another important step partly because of its credibility and partly because

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of its visibility. It is also possible to buy ads that appear along with the top search results. Then visitors are likely to get a balanced view. For maximum impact, this has to be done as close to the discovery of the crisis as possible. The communication team should also press into service its own network of bloggers and Twitter/Facebook communities. They will be able to carry the organization’s story which will kill rumours and mischievous conclusions.

6. Pay Attention to Mainstream Media Too Many frequent users of the social media have a tendency to get caught up in the debate and ignore the mainstream media. If an organization that is active in social media ignores mass media, it may be a serious mistake. This is because in spite of the phenomenal growth of the Internet and the social media, there are a large number of people who still stick to the traditional media. If an issue attracts widespread attention in cyberspace, it is almost invariably picked up by the mainstream media and brought to the attention of their readers and viewers. It is important to engage the mainstream media to influence especially the significant proportion of the public that doesn’t frequent the online world.

References Amerland, D. (2011, December 16). What ten social media disasters taught us in 2011. Social Media Today. Retrieved November 21, 2012, from http://socialmediatoday. com/david amerland/406840/what-ten-social media-disasters-taught-us-2011 Barnett, E. (2011, November 27). Companies must learn from Qantas Twitter gaffe and Trip Advisor blackmails. The Telegraph. Retrieved November 21, 2012, from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/social media/8912701/Companiesmust-learnfrom-Qantas-Twitter-gaffe-and-TripAdvisor blackmails.html Casey, B. (2011, November 22). Qantas attempt at Twitter promotion a PR disaster. Herald Sun. Retrieved November 21, 2012, from http://www.heraldsun.com. au/news/victoria/qantas-attempt-at-twitter promotion-a-pr disaster/storyfn7x8me2-1226202446245 Clifford, S. (2009, April 16). Video prank at Domino’s taints brand. The New York Times. Retrieved November 21, 2012, from http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/16/ business/media/16dominos.html?_r=0 Caulfield, P. (2011, March 31). GoDaddy CEO Bob Parsons under fire for killing elephant on video, critics cry ‘snuff film.’ New York Daily News. Retrieved November 21, 2012, from http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-03-31/news/29386427_1_ elephants-elephant-bulls crops Claeys, A., Cauberghe, V., & Vyncke, P. (2010). Restoring reputations in times of crisis: An experimental study of the Situational Crisis Communication Theory and the moderating effects of locus of control. Public Relations Review, 36, 256–262

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Coombs, W. T. (2007). Protecting organization reputations during a crisis: The development and application of situational crisis communication theory.Corporate Reputation Review, 10(3), 163–176. Cited by Claeys, Cauberghe, & Vyncke (2010). Domino’s loses 10% of its value in one week (2010, March 15). Social Media Risk. Retrieved November 21, 2012, from, http://socialmediarisk.com/2010/03/ dominos-loses-10-of-its-value-in-one-week/ Dugan, L. (February 21, 2012). Twitter To Surpass 500 Million Registered Users On Wednesday. Retrieved November 21, 2012, from http://www.mediabistro.com/ alltwitter/50-million-registered-users_B18842 Flandez, R. (2009, April 20). Domino’s response offers lessons in crisis management. Wall Street Journal Blogs. Retrieved November 21, 2012, from http://blogs.wsj.com/independentstreet/2009/04/20/dominos response-offerslessons-in-crisis-management/ Gregory, S. (2009, April 18). Domino’s YouTube crisis: 5 ways to fight back. Time.com Retrieved November 21, 2012, from www.time.com/time/nation/ article/0,8599,1892389,00.html Gonzalez-Herrero, A. & Smith, S. (2008). Crisis communications management on the Web: How Internet-based technologies are changing the way public relations professionals handle business crises. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 16(3), 143-153 Gonzalez-Herrero, A. & Smith, S. (2010). Crisis communications management 2.0: Organizational principles to manage crisis in an online world. Organization Development Journal, 28(1), 97-105 Hernandez, V. (2012, January 10). Qantas leads list of top 10 PR disasters in Australia for 2011. International Business Times. Retrieved November 21, 2012, from http:// au.ibtimes.com/articles/279294/20120110/qantas-leads-list-top-10-pr-disasters. htm Hobson, N. (2009, April 16). Domino’s Pizza deals with YouTube nightmare. Retrieved November 21, 2012, from www.webpronews.com/dominos-pizzadeals-with-youtube-nighmare-2009-04 Jin, Y. & Liu, B. F. (2010). The blog-mediated crisis communication model: recommendations for responding to influential external blogs, Journal of Public Relations Research, 22(4), 429-455 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10627261003801420 Katkurwar, S. (2012). Audi taken for a joyride from service centre?Mid-Day.com. http://www.mid-day.com/news/2012/nov/241112-Mumbai-Audi-taken-for-ajoyride-from-service-centre.htm Keane, M. (2008, November 25). Motrin’s Mommy Headache: A Lesson in Social Media Experimentation. Wired.com. Retrieved December 11, 2012, from http:// www.wired.com/business/2008/11/motrin-moms-a-l/ King, J. (2011, March 30). PETA “Awards” Go Daddy CEO Bob Parsons “Scummiest CEO of the Year” Honors Over Elephant “Snuff Film.” Parsons Lashes Back. Retrieved September 26, 2012 from http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/ valleyfever/2011/03/peta_awards_go_daddy_ceo_bob_p.php

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Kiss, J. (2012, October 4). Facebook hits 1 billion users a month. The Guardian. Retrieved November 21, 2012, from http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/ oct/04/facebook-hits-billion-users-a-month Lemmetyinen, Heidi (2012, September 6). An apology is due. Retrieved September 24, 2012 from http://conversations.nokia.com/2012/09/06/an-apology-is-due/ Liu, B. F. (2010). Distinguishing how elite newspapers and A-list blogs cover crises: Insights for managing crises online. Public Relations Review, 36, 28–34. doi:10.1016/j.pubrev.2009. McIntyre, M. (2012, November 7). Barack Obama victory tweet becomes most retweeted ever. The Guardian. Retrieved November 21, 2012, from http://www. guardian.co.uk/world/2012/nov/07/how barack-obama-celebrated-twitter Miller, D. (2011). Qantas Twitter campaign takes nosedive. ABC News. Retrieved November 21, 2012, from http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-11-22/qantastwitter-hashtag-backfires/3686940 Mishra, A. K. (2012a, November 30). Vishal Gondal: 1 Audi: 0. Forbes.com. Retrieved September 10, 2013, fromhttp://forbesindia.com/blog/business-strategy/vishalgondal-1-audi-0/ Mishra, A. K. (2012b, November 26). The Curious Case of The Sleepwalking Audi. Forbes.com. Retrieved September 10, 2013, fromhttp://forbesindia.com/blog/ business-strategy/the-curious-case-of-vishal-gondals-sleepwalking-audi/ Neff, J. (2008, November 24). Crashing Motrin-Gate: A Social-Media Case Study. Retrieved September 19, 2012 http://adage.com/article/news/crashing-motringate-a-social-media-case-study/132787/ Ploof, R. (2008). The Ranger Station Fire: How Ford Motor Company Used Social Media to Extinguish a PR Fire in Less Than 24 Hours. Retrieved September 26, 2012 fromhttp://ronamok.com/ebooks/the_ranger_station_fire_final.pdf Popken, B. (2011, April 8). Revolt over GoDaddy CEO’s elephant kill video makes 20,433 domains flee, rival claims. Consumerist.com. Retrieved November 21, 2012, from http://consumerist.com/2011/04/08/revolt-over-godaddy-ceos-elephantkill-video-makes-20433-flee-rival-claims/ Popken, B. (2011, March 31). GoDaddy CEO shoots elephant, sparks stampede of customers to flee. Consumerist.com. Retrieved November 21, 2012, from http:// consumerist.com/2011/03/31/godaddys-elephant-hunt/ Qantas in epic hashtag fail. (2011, November 22). Financial Review. Retrieved November 21, 2012, from http://afr.com/p/national/qantas_in_epic_hashtag_ fail_cqgCDAbRo4Sk6RntLdx9BO Ratnam, D. & D’Mello, Y. (2012, December 9). The 140 character complaint.Mumbai Mirror.http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-12-09/people/35705021 _1_audi-india-michael-perschke-genesis-luxury Sarhan, Y. (2012, September 5). Nokia faked the still photos too. Retrieved September 24, 2012 from http://sefsar.com/nokia-faked-the-still-photos-too Sottek, T. C. (2012, September 5). Nokia’s new PureView ad is amazing, too bad it’s faked. Retrieved September 24, 2012 from http://www.theverge. com/2012/9/5/3294545/nokias-pureview-ads-are-fraudulent

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Scott, D. M. (2012, June 23). Penn State University: Poor crisis management and social media skills. Huffington Post. Retrieved September 28, 2012 from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-meerman-scott/penn-state-poor-crisismanagement_b_1620763.html Sherman, A. (2009, June 1). Crisis communications for the social media age. Retrieved September 28, 2012 from http://gigaom.com/collaboration/crisiscommunications-for-the-social-media-age/ Vogt, Patrick (2009, April 24). Brands under attack: Marketers can learn from Domino’s video disaster. Forbes.com. Retrieved November 21, 2012, from www. forbes.com/.../dominos-youtube-twitter-leadership-cmo Walsh, B. (2011, March 30). Shooting an elephant: Why GoDaddy’s CEO was wrong. Time.com. Retrieved November 21, 2012, from http://science.time.com/2011/03/30/ shooting-an-elephant%E2%80%94why-godaddysceo-was-wrong/ Venkataramanan, M. (2011). GoDaddy’s Bob Parsons OK with causing a media stampede (again). Wired.com. Retrieved November 21, 2012, from http://www. wired.com/business/2011/04/godaddy-media-stampede/ Vaid, M. (2006, December). How Cadbury’s won the battle of worms. Rediff Business. Retrieved September 22, 2012 from http://www.rediff.com/money/2006/ dec/24cad.htm Worms found in dairy milk chocolates (2003, October 3). Retrieved September 22, 2012 from http://www.echarcha.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-15602.html YouTube Pressroom (2012). Statistics. Retrieved November 21, 2012, from http:// www.youtube.com/t/press_statistics York, Emily Bryson (2009, April 20). What Domino’s did right – and wrong – in squelching hubbub over You Tube video. Advertising Age. Retrieved November 21, 2012, from http://adage.com/article/news/crisis-pr-assessing-domino-sreaction-youtube-hubub/136086/

Research shows that women often look for real people in online communities with whom they can discuss and share real-life issues. In contrast, men tend to use social media to store contact information for future use, especially to upgrade their status and influence.

“Sexual harassment is not about sex, it’s about power. She has it. You don’t.” - Roma Maffia in the film Disclosure (1994).

Chapter 9

Men, Women and Online Communication What type of photographs do you post on social media sites? How often do you change your profile picture? Several studies indicate your answer might have something to do with your gender. Michele Strano, a researcher in the United States, studied profile images on Facebook and found that women tend to change their profile pictures more often than men. She also found that women tend to emphasize friendship more in these images than men. While her data did not throw much light on why women behaved the way they did, she offered possible explanations. Strano suggested that one of the reasons women change their profile pictures more frequently than men could be related to the cultural pressure on them to always look attractive. Alternatively, since their profile pictures often show them along with their friends at special occasions, they most likely have a desire to highlight different aspects of their social relationships online. Other researchers have found that women tend to post face pictures while men post full-body shots of themselves on social networking sites. This study was conducted by researchers in Germany on 106 social media users on StudiVZ, the German equivalent of Facebook. Nina Haferkamp and her team of researchers concluded that men and women have different motives for social networking: Women tend to compare themselves with others on social networking sites while men are more likely to look at other profiles to find friends. It’s too early to say whether such conclusions will stand the tests of time, science and generalizability. The fact is there is a lot we still do not know in this area. As far as offline communication is concerned, researchers have still not been able to decode how men and women communicate and whether they communicate differently from each other. Online communication has complicated things further by adding a new dimension to an-alreadycomplex picture. Are gender differences in communication that are observed in offline spaces also visible in online spaces? How has the Internet changed the nature of communication between men and women?

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First, we must remember that online communication is not a monolith. There exist differences among various types of online communication such as email, discussion forums, instant messaging and chat rooms, and the way men and women operate at these venues may be different from one another. Before we delve into such complexities, we start this chapter with something basic. In the following section, we explore the gender gap in terms of Internet access.

The Gender Gap in Internet Access An Intel-commissioned study titled “Women and the Web” found that on an average, 25% fewer women than men have access to the Internet in developing countries. However, in most developed countries, women’s access to the Internet is only slightly behind that of men’s. The statistics change completely in the case of countries such as France and the United States where women’s Internet access exceeds that of men. Women who do not have access to the Internet miss out on all the resources and opportunities the technology offers. In the developing world, various factors such as our cultural values, widespread poverty, illiteracy, lack of awareness about the benefits of the Internet, lack of familiarity with the technology, etc., stand in the way of women’s access to the Internet. Unfortunately, the Intel study showed that one in five women in India and Egypt believe that Internet is not “appropriate” for them. Such assumptions impede the process of empowerment of women. To improve the prevailing conditions, the study includes a call to action to double the number of women online within three years (“Women and the Web,” 2013).

Women and Online Social Networking While women make up only 25% of Facebook users in India (Tak, 2013), women lead the usage of several social networking sites in the United States. A study conducted by the Pew Research Center showed that while 72% of female Internet users visit Facebook, only 62% of male Internet users do so. Specifically, the study revealed that more women in the United States use social networking sites such as Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram while more men opt for Twitter (Duggan & Brenner, 2013). Interestingly, women also beat men in terms of the number of friends they have on Facebook and their participation in different activities. “The social world is led by women,” says Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg (Goudreau, 2010). Jodi Kahn, the head of iVillage, a lifestyle website popular among women, explains that women like to talk, and while both the sexes look for

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information on the Internet, women tend to share their personal stories as well (Goudreau, 2010). They often look for real people on the Internet who may be going through similar life experiences as their own and with whom they can discuss and share real-life issues. In contrast, men tend to use social networking sites more like a storehouse of contact information. Some researchers also point out that women are more successful at social networking probably because they are better able to express positive emotions. Researchers at the University of Wolverhampton, U.K., examined the presence of emotion in MySpace comments and found that women are likely to give and receive more positive comments than men (Thelwall, Wilkinson & Uppal, 2010). Apart from social networking, women are also the key drivers of e-commerce. It is common knowledge that most women love shopping. This offline trend is markedly visible on the Internet as well. Thus, many e-commerce companies are pulling all stops to influence and retain female customers. In a report titled “Why Women Rule the Internet” on TechCrunch. com, Aileen Lee (2011) states: “Women are the routers and amplifiers of the social web. And they are the rocket fuel of ecommerce….If you figure out how to harness the power of female customers, you can rock the world.” Of course, India has a long way to go in terms of getting more women online. Providing Internet access to more women in India would not only empower them but would also open up markets and increase the contribution of the Internet sector to the GDP of the country.

Men and Women in Online Spaces Researchers have been eager to find out whether gender differences observed in face-to-face communication are also present in online communication. While it was earlier believed that the Internet would play the role of a gender-neutralizing force, studies today show that often that is not the case and offline issues find their way into online spaces (Baron, 2004). A study that examined Facebook usage among Arabic college students in the United Arab Emirates found important gender differences. The researchers, Shen and Khalifa (2010), found that while male students used Facebook primarily as a social networking site, female students used it to fulfil other important roles which made up for some of the restrictions they faced in their real lives. Such a finding may be related to the fact that men have more choices for entertainment than women in that part of the world. Two other scholars, David Gefen and Catherine Riding (2005), conducted a survey of randomly-chosen virtual community members to test gender differences in communication. The study showed that more women than

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men visit virtual communities for social support. Women also think more highly of the quality of the conversation in these virtual communities. Men may also seek social support in virtual communities but they are more likely to do so in male-only groups rather than mixed-gender ones. Susan Herring, professor of Information Science at Indiana University, notes that in online discussion forums men are more likely to assert their opinions and present them as “facts;” they are also likely to use crude language and maintain an adversarial position with others. However, women tend to give justifications for their standpoints, express support for others, apologize more and present themselves in a non-adversarial way. Herring (2000) explains: Males sometimes adopt an adversarial style even in cooperative exchanges, and females often appear to be aligned even when they disagree with one another, suggesting that gender socialization carried over from face-to-face interaction is at the root of these behaviors, rather than inherent character traits based on biological sex.

Such awareness of gender-based differences is likely to help in better communication and management of virtual communities. Apart from studies analysing asynchronous online communication, scholars have also focused on synchronous ones such as instant messaging. For instance, Annie Fox and a team of researchers analysed gender similarities and differences in Instant Messaging and found that women were more expressive than men in their messages. The researchers also found that the messages differed depending on the gender of the person with whom one was communicating. The study showed that messages sent to women contained more references to emotion than those sent to men. Thus, the gender of the conversation partner may influence the communication style of the speaker (Fox et al., 2007). The importance of the gender of the conversation partner was highlighted in another study which analysed the style and content of emails and letters sent to friends. The study showed that men ended their communication in a more relational way with their female friends rather than with their male friends (Colley et al., 2004). The researchers also found that women communicated in a more relational and expressive manner than men and focused more on personal topics. Naomi Baron, a professor in the Department of Language and Foreign Studies at American University, points out that the way online communication plays out in one-to-many forums, where people may not know each other personally, is likely to be different from the way things work in one-to-one venues such as instant messaging and e-mail where the conversation partners are known to one another. In her study of gender issues in instant messaging

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among American college students, Baron (2004) found that women took “longer turns, had longer overall conversations, and took longer to say goodbye” than men (p. 418). She also found that men used more contractions than women while the latter used more emoticons than the former. An emoticon, as most of us know, is a visual representation of a facial expression. For instance, the basic smiley :) represents a smile while a frowney :( stands for a frown. Another scholar, Alicia Wolf (2010), who also found that women use more emoticons then men, came up with an interesting finding. Her study showed that men started using more emoticons in mixed gender groups, which means that instead of women becoming more emotionally muted in the presence of men, it was men who were becoming more emotionally expressive in the presence of women. Wolf also found that women used emoticons for multiple purposes such as showing support, asserting positive feelings and showing gratitude, which was absent in the way men used them. The findings indicated that men primarily used emoticons to tease or express sarcasm.

Communication Patterns in Offline Spaces Many of the communication trends visible in online spaces mimic those in offline spaces. While one should never put all women or all men in a single category, research shows that many men and women follow specific communication patterns in order to meet the gendered expectations of society. Deborah Tannen, professor of Linguistics at Georgetown University and author of many bestsellers, points out that right from childhood little boys and girls are socialized in different ways and they tend to eventually carry over these gendered roles to the workplace. In an article titled “The Power of Talk: Who Gets Heard and Why” published in the Harvard Business Review, Tannen elaborates that men and women even differ in their choice of pronouns in daily communication. While men prefer to use “I” in most situations, women prefer to use “we.” Men tend to “blow their own horn” more than women do, she says. Women fear they won’t be liked if they also do the same. Women often tend to downplay their confidence while men overplay it. Tannen (1995) further points out that women tend to speak in ways that will not put others in embarrassing situations. They follow “save face” tactics and may sandwich criticism within layers of praise. Men and women also tend to view apologies differently. While one cannot generalize about any particular individual, you only need to look around you to find evidence for some of these observations. Here’s an example of a young married couple, Vanya and Ritesh, who often argued about small things. Vanya was put off by

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the fact that Ritesh never apologized even when he was at fault while she never had trouble saying sorry. Ritesh, on the other hand, felt humiliated whenever he had to say sorry. According to Tannen, men tend to avoid apologies as they believe it puts them in a lower position with their conversation partner. However, saying “sorry” may come more easily to a woman as she may be saying it as a part of a conversation ritual. Women also compliment more than men. How often have you noticed two women get together and start a conversation by complimenting each other? In fact, such conversation starters are common in places such as airports, railway stations, bus stops, etc. Tannen (1995) explains: “Apologizing, mitigating criticism with praise, and exchanging compliments are rituals common among women that men often take literally. A ritual common among men that women often take literally is ritual opposition” (p. 144). Thus, two men having a heated argument in the morning may end up having hearty laughs at lunch the same day if all they were doing was engaging in a ritual argument. Apart from oral communication, gender differences have also been observed in written texts. Palander-Collin (1999) studied male and female styles in 17th century personal correspondence and found that “Women’s style is more ‘involved’ and interactive: personal point of view is frequently expressed, and both the writer and the addressee are overtly included in the communication situation” (p. 123). In fact, researchers have found such significant gender differences in written communication that three computer scientists in Israel developed an algorithm which can correctly identify the gender of the author of a written text approximately 80% of the time (Koppel, Argamon & Shimoni, 2002). Simma Lieberman, a gender communications consultant, points out that men and women even have different communication styles in terms of body language as well: In non-verbal behavior women will nod their head to show that they are listening. Men leave the conversation thinking that a head nod means agreement and will be surprised to find out that the woman didn’t agree at all. When a woman is speaking to a man and he does not say anything and stays in neutral body language to show that he is listening, a woman will interpret that as the man being bored or not understanding what she is saying.

For effective communication, one needs to be aware of such differences in body language interpretation. As mentioned earlier, these styles of verbal and non-verbal communication are not common to all men and all women. There are many shy men and many confident women in the workplace. In fact, most men and women use a combination of what are considered masculine and feminine styles of communication.

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While popular literature and self-help books often identify distinct male and female styles of communication, feminist linguists have opposed any such rigid binary classification. John Gray’s book titled “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus,” first published in 1992, became a bestseller as many appreciated the idea that men and women indeed have different styles of communication and different ways of addressing their emotional needs. In 2007, another book titled “The Myth of Mars and Venus: Do Men and Women Really Speak in Different Languages?” challenged the fundamental assumptions of Gray’s book. The author, Deborah Cameron, a feminist linguist, argued that we need to think of gender in complex ways and not blindly accept stereotypes about men and women’s styles of communication. While the debate on whether men and women have distinct communication styles continues, the authors of this book believe that it is not a person’s gender alone that determines his or her communication style. Instead, socialization has a big role to play in the development of different communication styles among men and women. A person’s cultural values, societal norms and expectations influence how men and women communicate. The interaction of all these factors often leads to men and women developing different styles of communication. However, it would be wrong to label someone without understanding the context of communication and the personality of the speaker. Furthermore, there are several masculine and feminine styles of communication and both men and women may display any of these styles in any combination. Thus, Joanna Krotz argues that there’s no such thing as an “absolute male” or an “absolute female” as “people are individuals first and collections of cultural and biological traits after that.” Instead of engaging in stereotyping, what we need to do is to identify our biases and analyse how they play out in online and offline communication. Since sexist behavior online is often rooted in our offline practices and mental biases, we discuss common gender stereotypes that can be found in workplaces across the world and highlight the need to do away with them.

Fighting Gender Stereotypes Expecting women to always be nice Here’s a case that highlights how men often expect women to be on their best behavior no matter what the provocation. Like any married couple, Vinay and his wife Mitali had little fights from time to time. One of those fights started with Mitali complaining about Vinay giving her little time. One argument led to another and a shouting match ensued. Soon, Vinay started hurling expletives at Mitali who did the same. When Vinay heard Mitali use profanities, he was shocked. “You are a woman. How can you use such

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words?” he shouted. “My sister and mother never use such abusive language. A woman is never supposed to lose her cool.” Mitali could not believe her ears. She could not understand why it was acceptable for Vinay to be angry and abusive but it was unacceptable for her to say a few bad words. Vinay’s viewpoint reflects those of many others who believe in gender stereotypes. These stereotypes are at work not just in personal spaces but in office spaces as well. Women are expected to be nicer than men at the workplace. In the words of two researchers, Laurie Rudman and Peter Glick, women are always expected to meet the “niceness prescription.” If a woman is not always nice and sweet, her colleagues, including other women are likely to respond negatively towards her. While being nice is a desirable quality irrespective of one’s gender, men are rarely held to such standards of niceness. Such expectations of niceness from women foster gender inequality. In order to maintain a “nice” image, women may leave important decisions to men. This is also the reason it’s common to find women write emails where criticism is sandwiched between praise. Women who are decisive and highly competent may be punished for not being nice enough. However, it’s difficult to simultaneously be aggressive about meeting one’s career goals and be nice at all times. Furthermore, walking this delicate tightrope can be extremely hazardous for a woman’s psychological well-being (Rudman & Glick, 2001).

Expecting men to always be macho Sarat Mukherjee is a sensitive man. He is a good listener. He is not loudmouthed and does not shower people with expletives at the drop of a hat. He works as a manager at a real estate firm in New Delhi. “Just because I am more compassionate than most men, my colleagues think I am not masculine enough,” he says. “May be, it’s Delhi culture for men to be brash and loud. I don’t participate in the sexual jokes my colleagues make about women. Because I refrain from such behavior, I get laughed at all the time.” Just as most people stereotype women as compassionate and kind, they stereotype men as aggressive and rude. A kind-hearted, sensitive and wellmannered man often becomes the laughing stock in office. Thus, men face tremendous pressure to appear macho in order for society to accept them. What many men don’t realize is that sensitive men are often better communicators and women prefer them to boors. Sociologist Marc Lafrance, who teaches courses on masculinity at Montreal University, Canada, points out that stereotypes of masculinity which expect men to always be fearless and extremely successful make life unbearable for many modern men as they don’t allow them to be weak or to fail in any project they undertake (Nebenzahl, 2012). The fact that men rarely talk about their problems further reinforces these stereotypes.

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Showing bias against working mothers Employers and colleagues often show bias towards working mothers in multiple ways. First, colleagues might make them feel guilty for being at work. For instance, Amitav, a young manager at an IT firm, asked the following question to his colleague, Ritika, a working mother: “Don’t you feel bad coming to work when your baby is at home? I will never let my wife do this.” Ritika went through several days of depression wondering if she was being fair to her little one. Employers may also show bias against working mothers by purposely asking them to stay long hours at work and getting disappointed when the latter are unable to do so. It is unfortunate that it was a woman, Marissa Mayer, president and CEO of Yahoo!, who banned telecommuting for her employees in 2013 (Pesce, 2013). While she installed a nursery near her office for her own convenience, she did not realize that most working mothers do not enjoy such privilege. Instead, many working mothers depend on flexible work schedules to balance work with parenting responsibilities. Mayer, who earlier received a barrage of criticism for joining work after a mere 2-week maternity leave, faced ire from many working mothers who expressed their disappointment and disapproval in online forums, blogs, websites and social media. It’s time people who have a bias against working mothers remedy their ways. A recent article titled “Will Working Mothers Take Your Company to Court?” published in the Harvard Business Review notes that companies have begun paying a steep price for showing such bias: Working mothers have become more likely to sue their employers for discrimination, and juries increasingly inclined to award them large settlements if gender bias appears to have played a role in derailing their careers. A new field of employment law, family responsibilities discrimination, is taking off (Williams & Cuddy, 2012).

Furthermore, according to Williams and Cuddy, the filing of such family responsibilities lawsuits in the United States has increased by almost 400% from 1998 to 2008. While India may not have such legal facilities for working mothers, showing bias against them is not an option for companies that want to retain talented women.

Judging professionally competent women as socially deviant Madeline Heilman, a faculty member in the Department of Psychology at New York University, points out that not only are gender stereotypes descriptive, they are prescriptive as well. This implies that not only do we have set ideas about how men and women are different from each other, we also have set norms about how they “should” be. For example, many people

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believe men should be focused on their careers while women should serve their families. Thus, if a woman is career-oriented, some people may perceive it as being incompatible with her family commitments. They may believe that the prescriptive norm for a woman is to always make her career goals secondary. On the other hand, nobody frowns at a man who places his career above his family commitments. A good manager is often described as someone who possesses stereotypically masculine qualities such as being aggressive about his targets, displaying emotional resilience, etc. If a woman displays the same qualities, she may be judged as being “too manly” and people may respond negatively to her. Heilman (2001) explains the consequences: Because advancement in organizations depends not only on competence assessments but also on social acceptance and approval, the negativity that is a likely reaction to women who prove themselves to be competent in areas that traditionally are off limits to them can be lethal when they strive to get ahead (p. 661).

Women may also be penalized for being competent in tasks perceived as appropriate for the opposite sex. At times, the penalty may take the form of personal derogation. Successful women are often given nasty nicknames and considered to be bitter, quarrelsome and selfish (Heilman, 2001). Their success is rarely acknowledged and is sometimes attributed to their looks, if they score well in that department. Take the case of Varsha Khanna who started out her journalistic career as a news reporter. Varsha did her job exceedingly well and was known for her investigative stories. A day after she broke a good news story, one of her editors remarked, “Varsha, those guys must have really fallen for your looks to give you such a good story.” Varsha noticed that many of her male and female colleagues attributed her success to her looks rather than the hard work and late hours she put in. Although such sexist comments seriously affected her morale, she did not confront these people. One must remember that remaining silent often reinforces sexist behavior, at times, further complicating matters. In the following section, we discuss sexual harassment with a focus on the way Internet technology has changed its contours.

Sexual Harassment: Online-Offline Intersections Meher Siddiqui worked with a large media company. She loved her job. The only thing that irritated her at work was what happened at the desk next to her. One of her male colleagues discreetly watched sexual content on his office computer. Meher felt extremely uncomfortable since the day she found out about it. She was worried about mistakenly making eye contact with her colleague who often looked at her while watching such content. Although

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this was a clear case of harassment at the workplace, Meher decided to keep quiet about it and bear the torture. Like Meher, many women go through extremely uncomfortable experiences at the workplace. How often have women squirmed at a remark made by colleague but continued to look the other way in order to avoid confrontation? Of course, there’s little agreement today on what constitutes sexual harassment at the workplace. Jodi Biber and a group of researchers at the University of Akron, Ohio, delineate three categories of sexually harassing behavior from a legal perspective: ∑ When sexual conduct interferes with an individual’s performance at the workplace ∑ When employment decisions are made on the basis of submission to conduct that is sexual in nature ∑ When a hostile environment is created at the workplace by exposing an employee(s) to suggestive looks, sexual jokes, deliberate touching, etc. Identifying these three categories does not resolve the problem as all the categories mentioned above are open to widely different interpretations. A lot also depends on the context in which a particular type of behavior is displayed. The advent of the Internet has only complicated the problem further. Online environments usually make people feel more disinhibited and may encourage them to display rather irresponsible behavior which they may not exhibit in offline spaces. Sexual harassment on the Internet occurs when someone sends an email or an instant message with inappropriate content in it. One may also post inappropriate content on a discussion board, blog or a social media site such as Facebook or Twitter. In an article titled “The ‘new’ sexual harassment,” Kiri Blakely (2009), argues that new technology has dramatically changed the way sexual harassment plays out in corporate offices: “Much of the problem is that newer technology—e-mail, IM, texting or posting on social-networking sites— makes it much easier for comments to be misconstrued on many levels.” For example, mildly praising a colleague’s sari while discussing a project at work is very different from texting her late at night admiring it. In fact, the same sentence can take on very different meanings in the two contexts. Has the widespread use of the Internet changed the way we perceive sexual harassment? Biber et al. (2002) explored whether people evaluate behaviors in an online and traditional setting differently and found that participants in their study actually held stricter standards for online behavior. According to the participants, a particular behavior may seem more offensive online

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as the act of writing involves some thought and deliberation unlike a quick oral comment. Similarly, misogynistic behavior or behavior that denigrates women such as calling them offensive nicknames was perceived as more harassing online. Biber’s team also found that women were stricter than men in judging which behaviors comprise sexual harassment. This finding has been corroborated by several studies. While conducting a study to examine sexual harassment in the electronic domain, two researchers at the University of Windsor also found that women were more offended than men by offensive emails (Khoo & Senn, 2004). More specifically, the results of the study indicated that receiving an e-mail message containing a sexual proposition from a stranger was considered to be extremely offensive by women whereas men rated it as less offensive and “somewhat enjoyable.” Thus, one needs to think a million times before sending sexually explicit online content to a colleague. We are not asking just men to exercise restraint at the workplace. Women need to exercise as much care as well. Here’s a case that highlights this point. Arnav Mehta, a financial analyst, points out that not enough attention is paid to online sexual harassment initiated by women. Mehta tells his story: A woman from my business school kept flooding me with romantic emails when she was fully aware that I was in a relationship. I told her about my relationship explicitly hoping that it would put an end to her harassment. But it only encouraged her to write more emails and send more text messages. She even hounded my parents. Because she was a woman, I could not do anything about it. There’s a stereotype that men enjoy female attention no matter what the context. That’s not true all the time. Women just get away with a lot because of their gender. In a patriarchal society, people will laugh if a man complains of sexual harassment by a woman.

Arnav may be partly right. But such cases of sexual harassment by women are beginning to see the light of day, especially in Western societies. Gretchen Voss (2008) writes about a case where a young loan officer in an American financial company alleged that he was sexually harassed by his female boss. Apart from sexual innuendos as a part of their conversations, she allegedly sent him sexual content on email as well. The young man objected and was fired soon after for poor work performance. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in the United States filed a lawsuit on his behalf and he received a monetary settlement from the firm. The percentage of allegations filed by men has doubled between 1990 and 2007 making 16% of all such claims (Voss, 2008). Of course, that number does not include the many cases where the victim chooses to remain silent. In the case of harassment against men, few even believe such things can happen and even fewer empathize with them.

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Whether it is a man or woman who is being harassed, it can be an extremely difficult time figuring what to do in such cases. Many people silently suffer because they don’t want the whole world to know about it. Many are scared of retaliation, especially if the predator is powerful, which is often the case. So what do you do if someone as powerful as the owner of your company harasses you? That’s exactly what happened to Kim Clark, the human resources director at a firm. Clark (2009) received an email from one of the owners of the company containing photographs of zoo animals performing sexual acts. The email was copied to several other managers as well but she was the only woman in the group. Reminiscing that day, she writes: I sat there stunned. What do you do when it’s your employer who is breaking the law? Zoo animals or not the nature of the topic of the email was sexual, offensive and it was definitely harassment. So what do you do? Do you pack up your things and quit? I needed my job. If it had been one of the other managers, I would have given them a scathing response. But this was my employer. I was discouraged, offended and I felt trapped (Clark, 2009).

Eventually, Clark wrote to her boss asking him to stop sending such emails. Her boss adhered. It’s important that employers take cases of sexual harassment seriously. After all, companies can hardly afford to ignore the fact that sexual harassment cases can be very expensive. In 1998, Mitsubishi Motors was asked to pay $34 million to female workers in a sexual harassment case. The women in this case alleged that they were “being fondled, targeted with air guns and taunted….” (Braun, 1998). They also complained that pornographic scenes were drawn on the bathroom walls and that they were being asked by workers and managers to provide sexual favors. In 1995, Chevron agreed to pay $2.2 million to settle sexual harassment charges levelled by four female employees who claimed to be the target of “offensive jokes, e-mail messages and comments about their clothes and body parts, and, in one case, sadistic pornography sent through company mail” (Lewin, 1995). One of the most effective ways to prevent sexual harassment cases at the workplace is to draft and implement detailed anti-sexual harassment policies. Such policies should include a clear definition of behavior that can be categorized as sexual harassment, whether it is verbal, physical or psychological in nature. An organization should also have an effective internal mechanism to address complaints about sexual harassment. But the biggest change needs to happen in the attitudes of people. Gender sensitization workshops can also go a long way in fighting bias among co-workers. In the following pages, we provide tips for improving communication between men and women. Although the tips are categorized by gender, individuals with

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different styles of communication may benefit from them. Furthermore, most of these tips are applicable for both online and offline communication.

Tips for Men 1. Do not email or text sexual content to a colleague: Do not email dirty jokes or photographs to people at work from your personal or official email ID. Do not even send it to someone you trust or think you share the same sense of humor with. That person may accidentally send your email to others and you might get into trouble. Do not pass off-color remarks at female colleagues under any circumstances. 2. If you must give a personal compliment, do so in person: If you must compliment a female colleague’s clothes and looks, it’s best to do it in person using the appropriate tone and body language. Emailing and texting compliments at wee hours are sure signs of someone who is seeking trouble. Furthermore, electronic compliments are stored forever and can be used in litigation. 3. Learn to give a compliment about a female colleague’s work: Men need to practice giving compliments about a female colleague’s work offline and online. Better still, they should learn to compliment publicly. If you are praising someone’s performance on email, make sure you copy it to all the team members. For someone who finds it extremely difficult to compliment another person, watch for a week how women do it. 4. Do not attack, bully or stalk women online: Men who appear perfectly normal offline may reveal a darker side online. Reports about cyberbullying and stalking are becoming common in India. CNN-IBN anchor Sagarika Ghose received so many threats on Twitter that she decided to stop tweeting her personal views and restrict it to giving out information on the channel’s programs (Arya, 2013). Delhi-based activist Kavita Krishnan even received threats of rape during an online chat on the issue of violence against women. Such cases deter more women from engaging in online social networking. Sharell Cook, Australian blogger and author who lives in Mumbai, also refers to the rise of the “Indian Internet Romeo” on her blog. Cook has a message for such men who stalk women online with requests for “fraindship” and even sex: Spare us from this “Mujhse Fraindship Karoge” crap. It is ridiculous and creepy, especially to us older married women. Why would we want to do fraindship with you? You’d have better luck attracting a woman by doing some Bollywood dance moves around a tree. But if you really insist, thanks for the entertainment and pardon us for our laughter.

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5. Be a good listener: Women often complain that men are poor listeners. Many women feel that men are more interested in giving advice about every topic under the sun rather than hearing them out completely. Thus, men need to practice listening without interrupting both in online and the other person to complete a sentence rather than jump in and write the sentence for them. One way to do away with the habit of interrupting frequently is to count the number of times you interrupt a conversation. 6. Invest time in building rapport:

questions, discussing shared experiences, showing empathy, etc., with

7. Learn the art of apologizing: It’s insensitive and boorish not to apologize for one’s mistakes. However, many men find it extremely difficult to say the S-word. Things can improve by changing one’s attitude towards apologies. Men should be less worried that apologizing will put them in a subordinate position and focus more on making amends with the aggrieved party. Many wonder what might be the right time to apologize and how to go about it. According to Aaron Lazare, a psychiatrist who has spent decades studying apologies, an apology must have four elements in order to be effective: a) acknowledgement of the offense committed b) a truthful explanation for the same c) a genuine expression of remorse d) and, reparations for damage (Beck, 2004). If it is too difficult for someone to say sorry face to face, one can start by drafting a genuine apology online. 8. Learn to appreciate and ask questions: Women ask various types of questions. They might ask a question to express their defiance or disapproval instead of directly opposing something. They might ask a question to get more information. Or, they might ask a question rhetorically (Sherwood, n.d.). Men need to learn to engage with these multiple types of questions instead of treating them as mere interruptions and getting upset about them. Furthermore, men also need to feel comfortable asking questions. It’s common to see men take on a task without knowing how to go about it. They will not even clarify their doubts. Men need to realize that asking questions, online or offline, does not make them less important. 9. Don’t hesitate to ask for help: Men find it very difficult to ask for help. Here is an incident that illustrates this observation: When architect Sneha Kumar said she would be “happy to help” a male colleague who

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needed her expertise on a project, the latter became extremely angry. He badly needed her help but he hated acknowledging it. Raising his voice, he shouted: “Sneha, don’t use the word ‘help’ again with me. You cannot use such a word. How can you use such a word?” Sneha apologized. “I joined the organization just a couple of months ago so I had to keep quiet or else I would have asked him to grow up,” she said later. Men need to understand that asking for help does not lower their status or demonstrate incompetence.

Tips for Women 1. Be assertive: information science and linguistics at Indiana University, reasons that it

be presumptuous of them to do so,” she writes in The New York Times women contribute to the popular online encyclopaedia, few can deny that more and more women need to adopt an assertive style in their online While writing emails, one can practice writing assertively. A simple change in verbs can make a person sound more assertive. For example, the sentence “I want you to submit the report by the end of the day” sounds more assertive than “Would you please submit the report by the end of the day.” Finally, one needs to remember that one of the most assertive words in any language is “no.” And, being able to say it at the right time is critical. If it’s difficult for you to be assertive offline, start by being assertive online. When the person bullying you is not right in front of you, it is easier to be assertive. 2. Avoid overuse of tag questions and disclaimers: How many times have you heard someone saying or writing something like this: “This was a good presentation, don’t you think?” or “This is a good deal, don’t you agree?” It’s better to avoid overuse of such statements in business conversations. Instead, take a stand and don’t depend on someone else to justify your position. Similarly, frequent disclaimers don’t help. Here’s an example. “I don’t think we can trust this client. Or, may be, we can.” A person who uses such a vague and indecisive style of communication is damaging his or her own credibility. 3. Combine facts and data with intuition and emotion: Women are often accused of being too emotional by men. When making a presentation or

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stating a point, it’s a good idea to combine data with intuitively-gained knowledge. While a woman should value her intuitive and emotional skills, facts and data have their own place in the professional world. 4. Learn to blow your horn: Women are often hesitant to boast about their achievements in front of their colleagues while many men do not tire talking ad nauseam about their triumphs. Women should learn to take credit for their achievements. They should not shy away from proudly mentioning their accomplishments when the situation demands it. A study at Lloyds TSB in the UK found that although women may be 8% more likely to meet or exceed performance expectations, they tend not to apply for promotions (Modi, 2012). The company started offering a mentoring program to tackle the issue. 5. Apologize less: If you are not responsible for something, do not apologize for it. Co-workers do not respect a person who is constantly saying sorry. Lepore (2013) suggests three ways to get over an “auto-apology” problem: a) Count the number of times you say “sorry” and analyse whether the situations were really worthy of an apology on your part b) Save the “sorry” for something worth it or for someone who actually needs sympathy 3) That is, come up with a different way to say sorry instead of actually using the S-word. It’s easier to check the habit online by stopping yourself each time you are about to key in the S-word. 6. Take decisions independently: While taking decisions based on discussions among team members comes naturally to many women, it is also important to take some decisions independently. Men often misinterpret a woman’s need for collaborative decision-making as insecurity and weakness. In such a context, taking some decisions independently will demonstrate a woman’s competence. However, a person should not go overboard with unilateral decision-making as that is a sign of a bad leader, whether male or female. 7. Confront, when necessary: Many men tend to be foolishly arrogant and overconfident. They get away with such behavior even when knowledgeable women disagree with them because of women’s tendency to avoid conflict. Men may also take advantage of a woman’s desire to avoid confrontation. A woman who is uncomfortable confronting someone face to face may find it easier to do so in an email message or a phone call. Rehearsing one’s lines before actually confronting a person also helps build confidence. 8. Master confident body language: A woman should master her body language to show confidence and power whether she is in a face-to-face meeting or participating in a video conference over the Internet. Do not

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slouch. Do not use your hands nervously. Do not speak too fast; try to look relaxed. Remember, confidence is not just about what you say. It’s also about your overall attitude.

Conclusion In this chapter, we analyzed gender-based differences and similarities in various types of online communication such as instant messaging, email, discussion forums, etc. This area has been the focus of cutting-edge research since so much is new and developing at this stage. While it would be wrong to generalize communication styles solely on the basis of gender without taking into consideration the context of communication and the cultural values, social norms and personality of the speaker, awareness of masculine and feminine styles of communication can go a long way in improving communication between men and women. Since communication practices in online spaces are anchored in offline practices, we also stressed the importance of fighting gender stereotypes in one’s everyday offline communication with the opposite sex. A conscious effort to recognize how technology has impacted the contours of genderbased harassment will aid gender sensitization at the workplace. Finally, we offered tips to improve communication between men and women, both online and offline. We close this chapter with the message that the challenge before us today is to get more Indian women online so that they can avail themselves of the opportunities associated with the technology. The wide gender gap in Internet access between men and women in our country needs to bridged, urgently and effectively.

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Khoo, P. N. & Senn, C. Y. (2004). Not wanted in the Inbox! Evaluations of unsolicited and harassing e-mail.Psychology of Women Quarterly, 28, 204–214. Koppel, M., Argamon, S., Shimoni, A. R. (2002). Automatically categorizing written texts by author gender. Literary and Linguistic Computing, 17 (4), 401-412 Krotz. J. (n.d.). 6 tips for bridging the communication gap.Microsoft.com. Retrieved May 2, 2013, from http://www.microsoft.com/business/en-us/resources/ management/leadership-training/women-vs-men-6-tips-for-bridging-thecommunication-gap.aspx?fbid=8K8u0PnaRUW Lee, A. (2011, March 20). Why women rule the Internet? TechCrunch.com. Retrieved from June 2, 2013, from http://techcrunch.com/2011/03/20/why-women-rulethe-internet/ Lepore, M. (2013, February 26). Why Women Apologize too Much, and What to Do About It. Retrieved June 3, 2013, from http://www.levoleague.com/lifestyle/imsorry-problem-women-have Lewin, T. (1995, February 22). Chevron settles sexual harassment charges. The New York Times. Retrieved June 4, 2013, from http://www.nytimes.com/1995/02/22/ us/chevron-settles-sexual-harassment-charges.html Lieberman, S. (n.d.). Gender communication differences and strategies. Retrieved June 3, 2013, from http://www.simmalieberman.com/articles/genderstrategies. html Modi, K. (2012, July 12). Man up on family and workplace issues: A response to Anne Marie Slaughter. Retrieved June 15, 2013, from http:// www.huffingtonpost.com/kunal-modi/man-up-on-family-and-work_b_1667878. html?view=screen Nebenzahl, D. (2012, January 30). Beyond macho: Defining a man’s world. Montreal Gazette.com Retrieved June 6, 2013, from http://www.montrealgazette.com/life/ Beyond+macho+Defining+world/6067776/story.html Palander-Collin, M. (1999). Male and female styles in 17th century correspondence: I THINK. Language Variation and Change, 11(2), 123-141. Pesce, N. L. (2013, March 4). Marissa Mayer bans telecommuting at Yahoo! and becomes the mother of dissension. New York Daily News. Retrieved June 5, 2013, from http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/n-y-moms-react-yahoo-bantelecommuting-article-1.1277492 Rudman, L. A. & Glick, P. (2001). Prescriptive Gender Stereotypes and Backlash Toward Agentic Women. Journal of Social Issues, 57(4), 743–762 Shen, K. N. & Khalifa, M. (2010) Facebook usage among Arabic college students: Preliminary findings on gender differences.University of Wollongong Research Online. Retrieved June 17, 2013, from http://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi ?article=1074&context=dubaipapers Sherwood, S. (n.d.). 10 Ways Men and Women Communicate Differently. Retrieved June 16, 2013, from http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/curiosity/topics/10-ways-menwomen-comminucate-differently.htm

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Strano, M. M. (2008). User descriptions and interpretations of self-presentation through facebook profile images. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 2(2). Retrieved June 2, 2013, from http://cyberpsychology. eu/view.php?cisloclanku=2008110402&article=1 Tak, D. (2013). Social media fails to bridge the gender divide in India. Zee News. Retrieved September 24, 2013, from http://zeenews.india.com/exclusive/socialmedia-fails-to-bridge-the-gender-divide-in-india_6138.html Tannen, D. (1995). The power of talk: Who gets heard and why. The Harvard Business Review, 138-148. Thelwall, M., Wilkinson, D. & Uppal, S. (2010). Data mining emotion in social network communication: Gender differences in MySpace. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 61 (1), 190-199 Voss, G. (2008, May 26). Women harassing men. Marie Claire.com. Retrieved June 2, 2013, fromhttp://www.marieclaire.com/sex-love/relationship-issues/womenharassing-men-1 Williams, J. C. & Cuddy, A. J. C. (2012, September). Will working mothers take your company to court? Harvard Business Review. Retrieved June 5, 2013, from http:// hbr.org/2012/09/will-working-mothers-take-your-company-to-court/ar/1 Wolf, A. (2000). Emotional Expression Online: Gender Differences in Emoticon Use. Cyberpsychology & Behavior, 3(5). Retrieved June 5, 2013, from http:// social.cs.uiuc.edu/class/cs591kgk/emoticons.pdf_v03 Women and the Web (2013). Retrieved September 24, 2013, fromhttp://www.intel. com/content/www/us/en/technology-in-education/women-in-the-web.html. html

Chapter 10

Digital Ethics Even as his soldiers were fighting the Ammonites, King David stayed in his palace in Jerusalem. One evening, while strolling on the roof of the palace, he happened to catch a glimpse of a young woman bathing at a distance. Aroused by lust and curiosity, he asked his servants to find out the woman’s identity. They brought back information that she was Bathsheba, wife of Uriah, a soldier out on the campaign against the Ammonites. David summoned her to the palace and slept with her. The following month Bathsheba sent word to King David that she was pregnant with his child. Losing no time, David asked commander Joab to send Uriah to Jerusalem. After meeting the young soldier and enquiring about the battle, the King asked him to go home and relax for a night before returning to the battlefield. The idea was to bring him and Bathsheba together for a night and make the pregnancy appear legitimate in the soldier’s eyes and those of the neighborhood. King David thought that it was a brilliant solution. He expected Uriah to jump at this opportunity. The man, however, did not go home in spite of the royal nudge. He stayed at the King’s servants’ quarters because Jewish soldiers on active duty were required to abstain from women. Having learnt the following day that Uriah had not gone home the previous night, the King got him drunk and then asked him to go home. Although drunk, Uriah told the king very firmly that he would not go home against the rules when his fellow soldiers and commander Joab were in the battlefield. Finding that Uriah’s integrity stood in the way of his plans to make Bathsheba’s pregnancy appear legitimate, David sent the soldier back and had him killed in the battlefield with the connivance of commander Joab. Once widowed Bathsheba’s mourning was over, David married her. She became King David’s seventh wife. As the King was allowed to take several wives, the public did not find anything odd. On the contrary, many of them might have found it noble for the King to marry the widow of a young soldier who unfortunately lost his life in the battlefield fighting for the country.

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This biblical story (from the second book of Samuel, chapter 11) is more than 2500 years old, but is relevant to ethical considerations in the online environment. We find in the story a mating of two factors that beget unethical behavior: power to violate norms on the one hand and ability – at least the belief that one has the ability – to hide one’s trail on the other. When opportunities present themselves, we are often tempted to violate many norms that govern our behavior; like King David, we may succumb to those temptations in situations where we do not feel that we are being watched or we think we are smart enough to evade notice. The online environment is one such. The Internet offers even ordinary individuals extraordinary reach and remarkable secrecy, rather, an illusion of remarkable secrecy. This environment poses many ethical challenges. Before we explore ethics in the online environment, we need to discuss what it is to behave ethically.

What is Ethical Behavior? It would be logical to start our discussion with a clear and concise definition of ethics, but we will not attempt to do so apart from indicating that ethical behavior is doing broadly what is “right.” The simple reason for this reluctance to define ethical behavior and recourse to a vague description is that the human race has not yet found a satisfactory way to define what is right and what is wrong in spite of centuries of debate by secular philosophers as well as religious leaders. Besides, different cultures and different communities within a culture also evolve different norms of behavior some of which contradict the norms of other cultures and communities. Thus, both at the theoretical level and at a practical level we have difficulty arriving at a clear and universally acceptable definition of what is right and therefore what is ethical. Let’s take, for example, the definition of ethical behavior found in BusinessDictionary.com (“Ethical Behavior,” n.d.): Acting in ways consistent with what society and individuals typically think are good values. Ethical behavior tends to be good for business and involves demonstrating respect for key moral principles that include honesty, fairness, equality, dignity, diversity and individual rights.

This definition is as good – and as bad – as any around. In common with other definitions, it contains several words that can be interpreted so widely as to be meaningless. Take, for example, the expression “what society and individuals typically think are good values.” What society are we talking about? Human race as a whole? Certain sections of society? Smaller societies in different parts of the world? Similarly, what individuals in society are

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we talking about? In every community we observe privileged individuals and underprivileged individuals. A few are well-educated, well-to-do, and powerful while a large number of individuals live and die without enjoying any of those privileges. These varied sections of the same society may not think alike and agree on what is “good.” And what do we mean by “typically”? What do we do about atypical views? Do all societies think alike? The very thought of killing humans for food may be deeply repugnant to us. But for a tribe that practices cannibalism, it is no different from killing animals for food. At the same time, there are communities that consider it wrong to kill animals and eat their flesh. Some people believe that hurting animals or even keeping their numbers under check through regular culling is unethical. Some take this further and consider damaging the environment wrong and therefore unethical because damage to the environment ultimately results in damage to society, both present and future. Who is right? Who is wrong? Similarly, many views on what is right and what is wrong have been changing radically down the centuries. Are we more ethical than our ancestors? Or, is our behavior less ethical than that of our ancestors? The definition refers to “respect for honesty, fairness, equality, dignity, diversity and individual rights.” Is honesty always the best policy? Is absolute honesty desirable? What is fairness? Who determines what is fair and what is not? What an employer considers fair (for example, laying off workers when there is not enough work) may be rejected violently by long serving employees whose livelihoods may be jeopardized by the sudden withdrawal of employment. What does equality mean? Are we referring to equality of opportunities? Can it ever be provided? What constitutes dignity? To what degree is diversity desirable? What do we do when an individual’s rights clash with those of other individuals? Is it all right to ridicule fellow human beings, their behavior, their customs, their faith? Is it all right to do things (such as employing people at a young age) that might prevent their self-development through education but might keep them from starvation? Is it right to lie in self defense? Is it right to lie to protect a loved one from getting hurt? What are the limits of privacy? Is it all right to invade an individual’s privacy for a social cause? What if it is good for that individual as well? It is obvious that there are no universally accepted answers to any of these questions. Defining ethics or ethical behavior conclusively, therefore, in a way that satisfies everyone is impossible. We will, however, adopt the definition as a guideline pointing to the general direction in which we should move if we want to display ethical behavior. Then we may be able to identify large areas of agreement.

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If we abandon attempts to define ethical behavior and look for broad areas of agreement, we are likely, for example, to conclude that most of King David’s behavior in the Bathsheba-Uriah affair was unethical. He forced himself upon a married woman to satisfy his lust and had her husband killed. He was unethical. Marrying the young widow and bringing her to the palace as a royal wife (David’s seventh) may have given her a more comfortable life than Uriah could ever have given, but it did not right the wrong even if she accepted his marriage proposal willingly. Prophet Nathan, a contemporary religious leader, thought so too, and therefore went to the royal palace to rebuke King David. Once it was pointed out to him, David also agreed that he had been wrong; he repented and did penance in public. We readily come to an agreement here because David misused his enormous administrative power and his actions harmed others to the extent of sacrificing a human life. He was clearly unfair to his fellow human beings; he used them for his pleasure as if they were objects. He did not care about their rights as his subjects, as human beings. Underlying our judgment is our widely held assumption that all human beings deserve respect and dignity irrespective of the level of wealth, knowledge, and power they may have. But we should keep in mind that these are not self-evident. Some do not accept this assumption. They believe that they are superior to others and entitled to special treatment irrespective of any adverse impact it might have on others. David, for example, was the king of Jews. As the monarch, the laws of the land entitled him to privileges not available to his subjects. As King, David was probably well within his rights to take Bathsheba away from Uriah. Being ethical is not the same as meticulously obeying all the laws of one’s country or even the so-called international laws. Some of those laws are blatantly unjust and unethical. This is not at all surprising; laws are generally formulated by those in power – Kings, dictators, and democratically elected rulers – who are often driven more by their desire to retain their privileges as long as possible than ensure fairness to everyone. The weak and the silent almost invariably get a raw deal. The old saying, “Might is right,” still holds not only among animals but also among humans. This is as readily seen at the village level as at the international level where powerful countries shape laws largely to protect their interests. Untouchability in India, apartheid in South Africa, and slave trade in the United States are all well-known examples of widespread practices cruelly unfair to a large number of fellow human beings but were once enshrined in the legal system of those countries. As Berlatsky (2012) says, “social norms are often the norms of people in power.” How about religion? Is being religious the same as being ethical? Certainly not unless we tautologically define being ethical as being religious. Many people who are religious may be ethical, and many people who are ethical

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may be religious, but you don’t need to be religious or belong to any religion to be ethical if we accept that ethical behavior is socially acceptable behavior. You can be an atheist and be completely ethical in your behavior. Being religious can lead some people to unethical and even criminal behavior. Forcibly converting people to a different religion probably belongs to this category. The hounding of people who don’t belong to certain religions cannot be ethical although those who indulge in it probably believe that theirs is the only true religion and that they are doing everyone a favor by forcing them into their religion. The principles of ethics we follow should be able to help us decide what is right and what is wrong. As neither religiosity nor legality can define ethical behavior adequately and in a universally acceptable manner, we shall take a common sense approach. We should be doing what we believe to be right and avoiding what we consider to be wrong. Unfortunately, there are many grey areas. Complicating this further is what Palazzo, Krings and Hoffrage (2012) call “ethical blindness,” which they define as “the temporary inability of a decision maker to see the ethical dimension of a decision at stake” (p.324). They go on to say that people experience ethical blindness when, in certain contexts or under certain conditions of decision-making, they deviate from the principles that they generally follow. Later, on reflection, they may be surprised or even shocked that they did not uphold the values that are ingrained in them. The other major kind of ethical blindness is what Tenbrunsel and Smith-Crowe (2008) call “unintended unethicality.” People who experience it are not even aware that in certain decisions that they are taking, they are deviating from the core ethical values they hold. As we shall see later, this may apply to some of our thoughtless actions on the Internet. Thus, however much we would like ethical values to be universal and independent of the specific time or environment we find ourselves in, the fact is that they are influenced to a large extent by the cultural or sociopolitical environment. Similarly, in certain environments we tend to believe that the values we hold are not relevant or that they call for a different set of values. Once we become part of a community, observe its common practice, examine who is hailed and who is denounced, what brings success and what brings failure, we may adopt its values as long as we are in that microcosm. That is why apart from general ethics, we also have different kinds of ethics such as medical ethics, business ethics, professional ethics, and journalistic ethics. These are not entirely different from the general principles that underlie ethics; these essentially codify the kind of behavior expected of you when you are a member of a particular community such as doctors, teachers, journalists, and business people. We shall turn our attention to business ethics the norms of which are expected to govern the way individuals and organizations conduct business. The peculiar nature of the business world

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creates a situation in which there are clashes between the ethical values that we hold in our personal lives and the values that we embrace or are obliged to adopt at the workplace. We shall turn to them now.

5 Steps to Ethical Thinking The Markulla Centre for Applied Ethics (2009) at Santa Clara University provides a framework for thinking ethically. Here are the steps they recommend: 1. Recognize an ethical issue 2. Get the facts 3. Evaluate alternative actions 4. Make a decision and test it 5. Act and reflect on the outcome Source: The Markulla Centre for Applied Ethics (2009). A framework for thinking ethically. Santa Clara University http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/decision/ framework.html

Business Ethics At a personal level, many of us are likely to agree that commander Joab’s behavior – engineering Uriah’s death in the battlefield – was unethical. Joab should have deployed his soldiers with a view to winning the battle. Soldiers are killed in battles, but any deaths of Joab’s soldiers should have been collateral damage in the army’s pursuit of victory. Instead, he deliberately sacrificed a particular soldier to please King David. We may feel that he should have resisted the King and disobeyed him even if he knew it would lead to his losing his job as commander. Some of us may, however, disagree. An army commander is required to obey the King’s orders. If subordinates second guess the objectives of their superior for every instruction and choose to do only what they think is appropriate, it will be virtually impossible for anyone to rule a country or a complex organization. Thus we can see ourselves going into uncertain areas where getting a consensus about what is right and what is wrong is difficult. We also see the clash of ethical values in one’s personal life and in one’s work life. Let’s take another example. Frank DeGeorge (2012), a faculty member at College of Business and Economics, West Virginia University, narrates the following incident from one of his finance classes in the Fall of 2011:

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I began Monday’s session by explaining that the objective of every for-profit business is to make money for the owners of the company now and in the future and that the only way to accomplish this objective is to create value. I then went on to illustrate the creation of value by purchasing a piece of paper for $0.01. I generally have to turn away offers of a free piece of paper from students who missed my opening premise and then reject prices of $0.25, $0.10 and $0.05 before agreeing to pay the $0.01. Once the class acknowledged that the specific piece of paper in question has a value of $0.01, no more and no less, I proceeded to write on the piece of paper finishing with bold strokes that left no doubt that I had signed my name to the paper. I then folded the paper and offered it to the class. I let the bidding rise until a young man, who we shall call John, offered $1.00 for the paper. I accepted John’s $1.00 and surrendered to him the folded paper. John proceeded to open the paper, smile, refold the paper and place it in his pocket. Neither John nor I disclosed the contents of the paper to the class. On Wednesday, I returned to class and asked John if he was ready to return the paper. He told me that he had sold the paper to which I responded “Great (I love capitalism), what did you get $1.50? $1.75?” Much to my surprise the young man sitting next to John (we will call him Michael) spoke up and said in a noticeable disgusting tone “No, he got five bucks!” I then handed Michael $2.00 and he returned to me the paper. I then read to the class what was written on the paper: The holder of this piece of paper will be entitled to receive $2.00 from DeGeorge in the Honors Student Orientation Class on Wednesday, October 19, 2011. Signed____________________________________ Frank A. DeGeorge (reproduced with permission from the author)

DeGeorge goes on to ask, “Was it ethical for John to sell the paper to Michael for $ 5.00?” He does not answer that question. Perhaps rightly so. There is no right answer to this question. He seems to imply that it would be ethical for John to sell that piece of paper for $ 1.5 or $ 1.75, but not $ 5. If it is ethical to make 50 or 75 cents in two days on an investment of one dollar, why would making five or fifty dollars be unethical? What we need to keep in mind here is the complexity in this situation. When John bid one dollar for that piece of paper, he took a risk. He did not know what was written on that note and what value was added by the teacher to that piece of paper which he bought for just one cent. What if that piece of paper had said that on Wednesday the holder of that note should pay the teacher two dollars, or twenty dollars for that matter? As John made a net profit of $ 4 on an investment of $ 1 (that is, 400 per cent in two days), it may appear unreasonable. But then even a 50 percent return on investment in a matter of two days appears unreasonable when one compares it with the 5 to 10 per cent return on investment that people get annually on most investments.

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It is interesting that this concern about the ethicality of deceptive or dishonest silence to generate excessive profits has a long history. For example, Joanne Ciulla (2011, p.337) notes that the Romans debated this before the start of the Christian era. She cites the following case from Marcus Tuliius Cicero’s, De Officiis: Suppose an honest man sells a house because of some defects that he is aware of but others do not suspect. Suppose the house is unsanitary but is considered healthy; suppose no one knows that vermin can be seen in all the bedrooms,that the house is built of poor timber and quite dilapidated. The question is: if the seller does not tell these facts to a buyer and sells the house for much more than he thought he could get for it, did he act without justice and without honor?

What we consider ethical may be a product of the society or the subset of the society that we have grown up in or what we have been indoctrinated into. The cultural context plays a very crucial role in this one. Protection of what is styled “intellectual property” provides an excellent example. Patents and copyrights are useful because they promote invention. The capitalist culture, however, worships intellectual property rights of individuals to an extent where the owners (for example, of the patented formula of a life-saving drug) are allowed to exploit it exclusively even when its exorbitant prices effectively deny the benefits to a large majority of the public. Rajagopal (2012) notes, for example, that the Swiss pharmaceutical giant, Novartis, had been charging US $7367 (roughly INR 350,000) for a month’s dosage of anti-leukemia drug Gleevec in the US. It was considered too expensive for a large number of patients even in that rich country. But the company was allowed to charge such a high price years after the drug was launched and costs recovered several times over. The same company was involved in a lawsuit in India where it was asked to slash its prices which were unaffordable except for a tiny minority of the very rich. Was the pharmaceutical giant ethical in using its monopoly position to keep the price of its anti-leukemia drug so high even after recovering all the costs and making huge profits for years? The company may, however, justify it as perfectly legitimate and equally ethical business practice because the prohibitively expensive research and development program that precedes every launch does not always lead to a successful product such as Gleevec. As in any business, they have to make enough profits to offset past and future losses from other operations. Those who throw stones at Novartis probably live in glass houses. It is said that all is fair in love and war. Winning is everything. As competition in the business environment is often characterized as war, the players somehow feel that the norms of what is right and wrong in business are different from those in our personal and social lives. In a widely read Harvard Business Review essay, Albert Carr (1968) says, for example, that deception is

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as acceptable in business as in a game of poker provided the relevant rules are followed. This is no twenty-first century development. Commenting on the fall of Carthage, the ancient Greek historian Polybius said that the city had become a place where “nothing that leads to profit is considered disgraceful” (cited by Ciulla, 2011, p. 335). In 44 BCE, adds Ciulla, Cicero noted that the desire to make a profit often led to dishonest behavior. It is obvious that if you are at war with another country, the norms that govern your behavior will be different from those that govern your behavior during peacetime. Misleading your enemy through lying and deception is part of your strategy and therefore presumably ethical. In business, you have to compete with your rivals in order to succeed and make money. While describing business as war may be a self-serving declaration to relax ethical norms, we have to admit that the world of business may have norms of behavior that are different from those in our personal lives. Perhaps that explains why more than two millennia after Cicero’s scathing observation, researchers find that students of business studies top the list of cheaters at both undergraduate and graduate levels (see McCabe & Trevino, 1995; McCabe, Butterfield & Trevino 2006). Perhaps they are guided by the principle that all is fair in business if you can get away with it. “Business has always had the ability to bring out the worst in people,” says Joanne Ciulla (2011, p. 338) tracing the history of business ethics over centuries. She adds that the business environment marked by intense competition leads individuals and groups of people into “one or more of the seven deadly sins – greed, envy, lust, pride, gluttony, anger and sloth.” Sloth, according to her, is not simple laziness but not caring for others. The need to make money in a competitive world leads business people to interpret ethics somewhat differently from what is generally understood by the term. According to James Fieser (n.d.), business people consider themselves ethical if they do not break criminal or civil laws that cover their work and if they avoid any action that would spoil their company’s public image. In other words, for them business ethics is largely working within the legal framework and to some extent paying heed to public opinion. Many ethics scholars dispute this. For example, Gene Laczniak says in his book titled Business Ethics: A Manager’s Primer that we should look for proper ethical behavior on a plane above the law because the law merely lays down “the lowest common denominator of acceptable behavior” (cited by Fieser, n.d.). Thus, the question of what is ethical within the framework of business is far from settled. As the world of digital communication and social media is relatively new and changing fast, even laws have not caught up. Against this background, we shall follow the five principles James Fieser (n.d.) has borrowed from philosophers:

236 Online Communication Strategies for Managers Harm principle: businesses should avoid causing unwarranted harm. Fairness principle: business should be fair in all of their practices. Human rights principle: businesses should respect human rights. Autonomy principle: businesses should not infringe on the rationally reflective choices of people. Veracity principle: businesses should not be deceptive in their practices.

These principles are, as James Fieser himself points out too broad to offer .

Ethics in the New World of Social Media Do users of social media face more complex ethical scenarios than non-users because they often have access to more information about people’s personal and professional activities? Findings of the National Business Ethics Survey in the year 2011 show that active social networkers as a group are “much more likely to experience pressure to compromise ethics standards and to experience retaliation for reporting misconduct than co-workers who are less involved with social networking” (“NBSE key findings,” 2011). This survey, which is conducted every two years by the Ethics Resource Centre in the United States, is one of the first to explore the connection between ethics and social media. Another key finding of the survey is that “active social networkers show a higher tolerance for certain activities that could be considered questionable.” Reacting to the findings of the survey, Jay Shepherd, author of the book “Firing at Will: A Manager’s Guide” says that the study perpetuates dated views about social networking. In an interview with Sharlyn Lauby of Mashable.com, he said: “The idea that social networkers are more apt to be unethical is absurd. It’s just that you’re more likely to hear about it. In my experience, social media participants are likely to be more advanced in terms of relationships and thoughtfulness – not less.” The study obviously raises many pertinent questions about the relationship between social networking and ethics and Lauby (2012) aptly suggests that it’s probably too early to find any definite answers as social networking is still in its infancy at the workplace. But what we do know for sure is that the explosion of social media during the last several years has brought about a fundamental change in the environment we live and work in. As James Hyatt (2010) points out, this change has posed several challenges both for individuals and organizations. Here are a few: - Businesses have lost control over their communication with the public because individual bloggers can easily reach the public with different versions of a situation.

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- Businesses can effortlessly gather information about the private lives of their employees as well as those who seek jobs. - Consumers have difficulty judging the authenticity and objectivity of information and recommendations found online or through social media. - Protecting one’s hard earned reputation has become difficult both for individuals and organizations. Thus business ethics acquires many new dimensions in the world of digital communication. We will now discuss some of the attributes of online communication that critically influence how business ethics plays out in the digital realm.

1. You Can Lose Your Reputation in Minutes on the Internet Everyone knows that the Internet is an unregulated kingdom without borders. There are no entry barriers. Anyone can enter this borderless kingdom and communicate with anyone else. Netizens around the world can easily be reached by individuals who may or may not bother about the adverse consequences of their online conversations for organizations and fellow human beings. An absolutely unfair and untrue post on one of the social media sites can go viral and destroy multiple reputations in a matter of minutes. In some cases individuals may be able to do enormous damage while hiding themselves under assumed names. Thus, an individual’s power to cause destruction in the digital world is like that of a matchstick which can start a fire that engulfs a multistorey building. In pre-social media days, if you were unhappy with your boss or colleagues, you would probably complain about her to your friends, colleagues, or family. Similarly, if you were unhappy with a product or a service provided by a business, you would talk about it to people around you. Your comments rarely travelled beyond that small community. Any damage to reputations caused by your one-sided comments was thus limited. Moreover, because that community is necessarily small, it is relatively easy to investigate and unearth the truth. But when the same comments are posted on social media and other online forums, there is no way to judge in advance how far they would travel and how much harm they can do to organizations. Tweets and posts can be forwarded effortlessly, and are often done indiscriminately. The spread becomes so unwieldy that no one can rebuild the reputation that has been sullied. Human nature is such that any corrections posted are not forwarded or even processed as enthusiastically. Complicating this problem further is your relationship with your organization. When you are identified with your company, some of your

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readers may take your views as representing it. This is particularly relevant when you hold a senior position in a firm. The readers’ assumption may, however, be wrong. Either you may not be authorized to post on behalf of your company or you may not fully understand your top management’s position on certain issues. Despite that, if you post certain views which are then treated by your readers as representing your company’s views, you may do enormous harm to its reputation. Like an arrow that cannot be recalled once shot, you may not be able to withdraw posts once uploaded. Deleting them on your blog may not be enough because by then someone else may have re-posted or re-tweeted it thus making it available on other networks. It is for this reason that guidelines formulated by many prestigious organizations such as National Public Radio (NPR), a much-trusted media organization in the United States, emphasize that even when someone posts something on the Internet in personal capacity, it still reflects on the organization he or she works with. In the age of social media, our professional and personal lives are invariably intertwined. Content meant for our friends can easily find its way into the public domain. Thus, the social media team at NPR maintains that nothing that is posted on the Web is private and advises its journalists to exercise a great deal of caution: “Be circumspect about your behaviour, even when the exchange feels private or anonymous. Even an email to a trusted recipient can be made public, with or without the recipient’s knowledge or consent” (NPR Ethics Handbook, n.d.). Posting something libelous, threatening, or pornographic can lead to lawsuits which may drag your company in as well. You may have intended your comments to be casual, meant only for a few friends, but the readers or the people affected may take them seriously. The comments may be forwarded to readers, thousands of readers, outside the original circle. In such cases, you may put your organization at risk. Even when there is no lawsuit, goodwill towards your organization can be damaged.

2. Hidden Affiliations on the Internet Hiding your organizational affiliation, in some cases, may mislead your readers into taking your views as neutral and objective, when, in fact, you are an interested party and your views biased. This is particularly important when you recommend a product or service on social media. According to the Disclosure Best Practices Toolkit developed by SocialMedia.org , any manager communicating on any social media on behalf of their organization should disclose the relationship clearly and conspicuously so that “the average reader understands that our company is responsible for the content, while they are reading the content.” Similarly, employees are advised to “clearly identify their business affiliation” when they write anything on their

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employer’s business on personal pages. Nikki Williams (2012) points out that the business of writing fake online reviews for products is growing at a fast pace. To safeguard the sanctity of the review system, companies such as Google and Microsoft are working with experts from various countries to develop software that will detect fake reviews on the Internet. Williams offers advice for common people who don’t have access to fancy software to detect fake reviews: First, use your instincts. If a review is too over-the-top or reads like a commercial–it probably is one….Even the best of products is flawed in some way. Next, look at the date of the review. If, for example, a new book gleans a barrage of reviews within a day of its debut, buyer beware! You can also take a close look at the names of reviewers. Are they all similar, such as fleefly456, fleefly983 and fleefly1042? This may be a red flag, so check out the other reviews they have written. If you find similar language in all of them, you are probably looking at someone who is cranking them out for profit (Williams, 2012).

Apart from fake reviews, biased or sponsored reviews also pose a big problem. Bloggers, who accept handsome payments from brands to promote their products and services, should make a related disclosure on their blogs. Not disclosing that relationship is a breach of trust. Here, both the promoter who offers such incentives and the blogger (or equivalent online player) is equally guilty of misleading the people who trust them. In such a context, the Federal Trade Commission, an US government agency that protects consumer rights, ruled in 2009 that “bloggers who make an endorsement must disclose the material connections they share with the seller of the product or service” (Strugatz, 2012). There are some bloggers who follow a strict policy about the editorial content on their blogs. A case in point is fashion blogger Scott Schuman who does not allow any paid editorial content on his 7-year-old blog titled The Sartorialist.com. He recounts a situation where Levi’s wanted him to take pictures for their Curve ID jeans and integrate them into the content on his blog. Although it was a lucrative deal, Schuman refused to do so saying he would be happy to post advertisements on his blog but would not blur the line between advertising and editorial content. Finally, Levi’s opted for getting the pictures posted on his blog as paid advertisements – which Schuman describes as a “win-win” situation for both of them (Strugatz, 2012). Some brands have also started questioning the practice of paying bloggers for writing about their products (Strugatz, 2012). They argue that since journalists are not paid to review a product or service, a blogger should also not be paid for similar work. However, most bloggers don’t buy such an argument. Karen Robinovitz, co-founder and chief creative officer of Digital Brand Architects, counters that brands should pay bloggers just as they pay

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photographers, designers or any other person who can influence purchase decisions about a product (Strugatz, 2012). Despite such disagreements, partnerships between brands and bloggers continue to multiply.

3. Erosion of Privacy on the Internet The Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy, in its entry on “social networking and ethics” lists the following concerns presented by social networking sites regarding privacy:

∑ Organizations may collect personal details and use them commercially. ∑ They may actually take care to get your formal acceptance which is often done in an opaque manner - there may be a long legal contract that you have to sign by simply clicking on an option as a condition for using the service; you click on it without reading the contract couched in virtually unintelligible legalese.

∑ Companies may collect your personal details and sell them to third parties without your knowledge let alone permission.

∑ Your face may be automatically identified from photos uploaded to online forums by you or anyone else by using facial recognition software.

∑ Whenever a social media platform introduces a new feature, it is usually enabled for all users by default. You have to learn how to specifically turn it off using your privacy controls.

∑ Even after you leave a social networking site, your online activities can be tracked using cookies.

∑ Your physical movements may be monitored by using location-based social networking. This makes it easier for someone to stalk you.

∑ Your posts and other social networking activity may be shared with government entities

∑ Finally, social networking sites may encourage users to adopt information sharing practices that are detrimental to their own privacy online. In this encyclopaedia entry, Shannon Vallor, associate professor at Santa Clara University, also questions whether traditional approaches to privacy can be applicable to social networking sites. According to her, privacy defined as the user having greater control of information may not work in the case of social networking sites because users do not fully understand the implications of posting personal information on the Web. Furthermore, architectures of social networking sites rarely make a careful distinction between the different types of relationships an individual has such

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as familial, professional, collegial, commercial, civic, etc., which often require us to follow different privacy norms. Vallor (2012) believes Helen Nissenbaum’s (2010) concept of “contextual integrity” aptly captures the varied and complex privacy expectations of users on social networking sites: “Contextual integrity demands that our information practices respect context-sensitive privacy norms, where ‘context’ refers not to the overly coarse distinction between ‘private’ and ‘public,’ but to a far richer array of social settings characterized by distinctive roles, norms and values.” One must also remember that different cultures have different interpretations of privacy and its implications on everyday life. For instance, while Western cultures usually adopt an individualistic perspective on privacy, eastern cultures prefer a community-centric stance on it. Interestingly, German academic Rafael Capurro (2005) is concerned about the intrusion of the public sphere by the private sphere due to the widespread use of digital technology. He is referring to the trend of people creating their own private islands in public places such as cafes, malls, street corners, etc., by staying connected to their mobile devices and cell phones while remaining disconnected from the people around them. In fact, one often hears people discussing their private affairs loudly on their cell phones in public spaces oblivious to their surroundings.

4. Every Time You Click; They’re Watching You Your organization may monitor everything that you generate on digital media during your work hours. Even when thousands of e-mails are exchanged every day, an organization can effortlessly monitor them and identify the individuals who communicate in ways the management considers inappropriate. Many companies have fired workers for cyberslacking or wasting time on the Internet during work hours. Dow Chemical fired 40 employees for circulating violent and sexually explicit material using their official email IDs (ABC News, 2000). Investment firm Edward Jones issued a memo asking workers to disclose if they sent porn or lewd jokes from their company email ID. The 49 who confessed were disciplined while the 19 who remained silent were fired (ABC News, 2000). Xerox fired 40 of its staff for spending their time at work shopping online (ABC News, 2000). IBM fired an employee for visiting an adult chat room at work (“Don’t let,” 2007). Many businesses try to curb cyberslacking by blocking most-frequented, non-work related websites. Some of the most-blocked sites at the workplace include Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Orkut, Hotmail, YouTube and eBay

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(Praetorius, 2011). Businesses are also buying the latest surveillance software to keep a check on employees.

5. Anonymity on the Internet: A Double-edged Sword We notice a change in our standards of behavior depending on whether it is in private or in public. If we are aware that we are being watched or we are leaving behind a record, we raise the standard of our behavior, stick to the values we hold dear, or comply with the expectations of the community around. The impact of being watched is so strong that even the illusion of being watched can influence our behavior, according to certain scientific studies (Linden, 2011). Our standard of behavior generally slips when we know that we are not being watched. The digital world offers us unprecedented opportunities to communicate while remaining anonymous or hiding our affiliations. While anonymity is useful in the digital world because of the safety it provides from unscrupulous operators, ability to communicate anonymously has led to many abuses such as cyberbullying and child pornography. However, many do not agree with such a standpoint and believe that anonymity on the Internet is a priceless treasure that we must protect at all costs. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, an organization that aims at defending rights of Internet users, argues that many people want to keep their online and offline identities separate for important reasons: They may be concerned about political or economic retribution harassment or even threats to their lives. Whistleblowers report news that companies and governments would prefer to suppress; human rights workers struggle against repressive governments; parents try to create a safe way for children to explore; victims of domestic violence attempt to rebuild their lives where abusers cannot follow (Electronic Frontier Foundation, n.d.)

Reflective of such concerns, a massive outcry called the “nymwars” followed attempts made by Google+ to implement its policy of requiring users to register with their real names in the year 2011. The word “nymwars” combines the words “pseudonym” and “wars” and became popular as the hashtag “#nymwars” on Twitter. Facebook also asks for real names for registration purposes. Madrigal (2011) argues that social media platforms such as Facebook and Google+ “attach identity more strongly to every act of online speech than almost any real world situation does.” He gives an excellent example to prove his point. Imagine yourself shouting “down with the government” while you are walking down the street, he says. How many people will notice you? Not many. And, the only thing they will note is your physical appearance.

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However, if you posted “down with the government” on Facebook, your little act will be recorded along with your real name and your personal data forever. A future employer or state official can retrieve the information and use it against you, if they so desire. The truth is we live in a world where even our legal activities can be used against us (Schneier, 2006). You only need to scan the news to read so many stories on how a post got a person into trouble with the authorities. Furthermore, Eric Pfanner (2011) argues in The New York Times that social media forums require real names and personal data more for advertising revenue than for fighting cybercrimes. Wendy McElroy (2011) sums up the argument well: “Technology will always be put to criminal ends by some people. But to blame Internet anonymity for wrongs like child pornography is akin to blaming banking privacy for the fact that some people forge checks.” However, one must also remember that complete anonymity on the Internet is almost impossible since IP addresses can be tracked. Thus, a computer from which a particular post was published can be identified although the actual user may not be traced, especially if the post was made from a computer in a cybercafé or other public places such as airports. Of course, some users may avail themselves of anonymizing services in order to mask their identities better.

6. Easy Vulnerability to Hackers Many customers of e-commerce including e-banking are unaware of the seriousness of security problems. They may, therefore, be vulnerable to theft of their identity, their credit card details, and money. Companies that run e-commerce platforms may be unethical if they do not do everything possible to ensure that operations by their customers on their site are secure. Some companies employ ethical hackers to identify any weak spots in their system and buttress them. But the war between corporates and hackers shows no signs of abating so far. In September 2012, websites of major banks were hit by what was arguably the biggest cyberattack in history (Goldman, 2012). Websites of the Bank of America, JP Morgan, Wells Fargo, U.S. Bank and P.N.C. Bank were unreachable for many customers during that period. Although the banks claim no data was stolen, many customers were stranded while trying to pay their utility and service bills. Experts claim the massive attack was the result of months of planning as high-powered servers had to be compromised and linked into a network called ‘botnet.’ Banks fear such attacks even more than their customers as they are responsible for not just safeguarding account holder’s money but all sensitive information pertaining to them as well (Trefis Team, 2012).

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But not all hacking is done for fun. Many hackers have political motives. On November 30, 2012, global hacker group ‘Anonymous,’ threatened to shut down all Syrian government websites to teach it a lesson for allegedly blacking out websites belonging to the opposition and human rights groups the day before (Holmes, 2012). Groups opposing the Syrian government led by President Bashar al-Assad have used the Internet extensively to further their cause. Hacking and ensuing cyber wars leading to large scale disruption of Internet connectivity emphasize the need to protect our online freedoms with even more energy and vigor.

7. Easy Access, Easy Stealing As we said earlier the Internet is often characterized as a borderless kingdom. One of the consequences of the unregulated nature of the Internet is that individuals can easily steal other people’s ideas and present them as their own. Anything that can be digitized can be copied and made one’s own without any attempt to even acknowledge the source, let alone pay for it. This encourages blatant plagiarism not only among students but also among executives in forprofit and not-for-profit organizations. It is strange that many people who view stealing as a criminal activity have no difficulty stealing digital content and presenting it as their own. As people often cite each other’s content on the Internet, it’s important to cite your source. While the temptation to plagiarize may be high because everyone can access everyone else’s content, one must remember that it is precisely this reason why it is likely that acts of plagiarism will be easily discovered. All the points mentioned above highlight the nature of the online medium and the additional aspects that one needs to take into account while envisaging a notion of digital business ethics. In the following section, we discuss characteristics of digital deception, the linguistic style of deceivers and find out if it is actually easier to lie online.

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Digital Deception Hancock (2007) defines digital deception as the ‘‘intentional control of information in a technologically mediated message to create a false belief in the receiver of the message.’’ Deception is by no means a new phenomenon; what is new is the ease with which individuals with limited resources can perpetrate deception in the digital world. Forging whole documents and making unobtrusive changes in original documents have been a specialist job for centuries. It required considerable skill. Not anymore. Tampering with digital files is as easy as drawing in sand. You can, for example, insert or delete words in the body or subject line of an e-mail you forward to someone. The recipient would not know that changes have been made. Once it is forwarded a few times, it may be virtually impossible to get back to the original sender to check the integrity of the text. Making changes in digital photographs is child’s play now with easy availability of photo-editing software. As Davis (2012) shows, alteration of photographs is occasionally resorted to even by staff at prestigious newspapers and magazines. It could be a harmless prank or it could have sinister motives. Whatever the purpose, it would be unethical if it was intended to mislead the readers and profit from it. Related to this is the alteration of photographs of products and persons in advertisements. For instance, with the right software, a person may be shown as thinner than he really is. If it is done to sell the idea that a particular product or treatment has made the person thinner, it is obviously unethical because it will harm individuals. In any case, it is an act of dishonesty. But are such acts of dishonesty easier to commit online?

Is it Easier to Lie Online? In order to find out whether it is easier to deceive on the Internet, researchers at the University of New Mexico, Jeanne Logsdon and Karen Patterson, synthesized information presented in various models of unethical behavior and created a list of factors that facilitate and curb deception in online communication. According to them, increased number of weak ties present in online business communication may facilitate deceitful behavior. Closeness and face-to-face communication with a person creates more empathy in us and we will be more concerned about the impact of unethical behavior on such a person than on someone we barely know.

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Logsdon and Patterson also point out that online business communication presents more opportunities for asymmetrical emotional relationships which increase the probability for deception. Asymmetric emotional relationships are those where one party (A) feels more emotionally close to the other party (B) and the former’s feelings are not reciprocated by the latter. In such a case, it is easier for B to pretend to be closer to A than she actually is. The medium of online communication may facilitate such masking of true intention on B’s part. Thirdly, asymmetrical power relationships can also facilitate deceitful behavior in online business communication: In online networks, the power differential may be the major characteristic of the relationship since the communicators may only know each other as ‘supervisor’ and ‘employee,’ rather than as people who share common interests, beliefs, cultures, etc. As with asymmetrical emotional relationships, this increased distance between communicators may lead to decreased empathy among communicators with different power attributes (p. 543).

Finally, the lack of proximity between parties in online business communication may also contribute to deceitful behavior where one is often interacting with “diverse and distant others.” One factor that is likely to mitigate unethical behavior online is a high level of digital inter-connectedness among various parties. It costs little to communicate directly with all concerned parties, which reduces the probability of deceit as one can easily clarify any gaps in communication. A high degree of digital interconnectedness also helps create dense networks where news about unethical behavior is likely to spread quickly and damage control exercises can prove to be long-drawn and expensive. Source: Logsdon, Jeanne M. & Patterson, Karen D.W. (2009) Deception in Business Networks: Is It Easier to Lie Online? Journal of Business Ethics. 90, 537–549.

Linguistic Styles of Liars Do liars have distinct linguistic styles? More importantly, is it possible to identify such styles? Avner Caspi and Paul Gorsky (2006) conducted a webbased survey with 14 discussion groups and found that most people who engaged in deceptive behavior online happened to enjoy it. They also found that “frequent users deceive online more than infrequent users, young users more than old, and competent users more than non-competent.”

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Researchers at Cornell University and the University of British Columbia also analyzed linguistic styles of people who lie online and found definite patterns. According to them, liars used more words, specifically sense-based words such as seeing and touching, while lying (Hancock et al., 2008). Lengthy responses, liars imagine, will help them appear credible. Liars also avoid using first person singular pronouns such as “me” and “my” and prefer third-person pronouns such as “he” “she” and “they” to keep their language “other-focused.” The results of the study also showed that motivated liars avoid using causal terms such as “because” and “hence” as they require specific information which is difficult for them to furnish. However, some researchers also warn against typecasting people on the basis of their linguistic styles. For instance, Logsdon and Patterson (2009), highlight complications in trying to identify deceitful patterns in language: “As individual communication styles are so varied, characterizing a type of communication style as deceitful may be inaccurate and lead to other inaccurate judgment,” they argue. Many people, especially women managers, may have a more detailed and expressive style of writing than others. Some may also have a high level of empathy and prefer to use more other-oriented than self-oriented pronouns. Thus, both the researchers suggest that organizational remedies are more important than technical ones such as using pattern recognition software to identify deceit. To curb deceitful behavior, managers must contribute to establishing an ethical culture in the organization. It is the responsibility of the upper management to ensure that those subordinate to them feel safe and empowered to deal with deceit in unequal power relationships.

Conclusion We started this chapter by pointing out the inherent difficulties in defining ethical behavior. What is right according to one person might feel wrong to another. Adding to the difficulty are cultural and social norms that forbid the emergence of a standard definition of ethical behavior that is applicable across the board to all contexts and cases. Complicating things further is the contested nature of the term “business ethics” since many believe that all is fair in business as long as one manages to make a profit and not break the law, explicitly. Business ethics takes on new dimensions in the digital world where reputations can be lost in minutes. Digital ethics is an evolving area whose constituents and contours are very much in the process of being elucidated. The aim of this chapter was to present some of the on-going debates in the field and contribute to them by adding our insights and analyses.

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As mentioned earlier, many aspects of digital ethics such as privacy and anonymity on the Internet, legal rights of SNS users, online monitoring by governments and corporates are issues that divide Internet users into warring camps. Another controversial issue involves the ownership of digital content. For example, who owns content posted, cross-posted and re-posted on multiple social media platforms? Who is to be held accountable for abusive anonymous content? How do we protect sensitive data against determined hackers? Many organizations and individuals across the world are trying to find answers to some of these questions. In the midst of tremendous digital tumult, one of the most important things to do is to protect oneself – one’s identity and reputation. And, one of the best ways to protect oneself is to make conscious choices about one’s online activities and behave in an ethical manner while dealing with others.

References ABC News (2000, August 22). Dow fires 40 on e-mail violations. Retrieved December 20, 2012, from http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=89466&page=1#. UMw9zG-IMrU Berlatsky, N. (2012, September 7). The ethics of anonymous comments. Retrieved October 17, 2012 from http://digitalethics.org/essays/ethics-of-anonymouscomments/ Carr, A. Z. (1968, January-February). Is Business Bluffing Ethical? Harvard Business Review, 2-8. Caspi, A.& Gorsky, P. (2006). Online deception: Prevalence, motivation, and emotion. Cyber Psychology & Behavior, 9(1). Retrieved December 20, 2012, from http:// www.openu.ac.il/Personal_sites/download/Avner-Caspi/07Caspi.pdf Capurro, R. (2005). Privacy: An intercultural perspective. Ethics and Information Technology. 7(1): 37-47 Ciulla, J. B. (2011). Is business ethics getting better? A historical perspective. Business Ethics Quarterly, 21(2) pp. 335-343 Davis, M. (2012, September 12). Seeking photos| The ethics of photo manipulation. Retrieved October 17, 2012, fromhttp://digitalethics.org/essays/faking-photos/ DeGeorge, F. A. (2012, July 6). What is Ethical Behavior? Reader response to blog post by Brad W. Merrill. Retrieved November 29, 2012, from http://bradwmerrill. wordpress.com/2011/05/06/what-is-ethical-behavior/ Don’t let your boss catch you reading this: Cyberslacking hits all new high (2007, August 30). Daily Mail. Retrieved December 20, 2012, from http://www.dailymail. co.uk/sciencetech/article-478528/Dont-let-boss-catch-reading-Cyberslackinghits-new-high.html# Electronic Frontier Foundation (n.d.). Anonymity. Retrieved December 20, 2012, from https://www.eff.org/issues/anonymity

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Ethical Behavior (n.d.). BusinessDictionary.com Definition of ethical behavior retrieved November 29, 2012, from http://www.businessdictionary.com/ definition/ethical-behavior.html Hancock, J. T. (2007). Digital Deception: Why, When and How People Lie Online. In A. N. Joinson, K.Y. A. McKenna, T. Postmes and U.-D. Reips (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Internet Psychology (Oxford University Press, Oxford), pp. 289-301. Hancock, J. T., Curry, L. E., Goorha, S. & Woodworth, M. (2008). On lying and being lied to: A linguistic analysis of deception in computer-mediated communication. Discourse Processes 45, 1-23. Holmes, O. (2012, November 30). Global hacking network declares Internet war on Syria. Reuters.com.Retrieved December 20, 2012, from http://www.reuters.com/ article/2012/11/30/us-syria-crisis-internet-idUSBRE8AT0PN20121130 Hyatt, J. (2010). The ethics of social media – Part I: Adjusting to a 24/7 world. Businessethics.com Retrieved April 29, 2014, from http://business-ethics.com/2010/12/14/ the-ethics-of-social-media-part-i-adjusting-to-a-24-7-world/ Fieser, J. (n.d.). Business Ethics. Retrieved November 29, 2012, from http://www. utm.edu/staff/jfieser/vita/research/busbook.htm Goldman, David (2012, September 28). Major banks hit with biggest cyberattacks in history. CNN.com.Retrieved December 20, 2012, from http://money.cnn. com/2012/09/27/technology/bank-cyberattacks/index.html Lauby, S. (2012, March 17). Ethics and Social Media: Where Should You Draw The Line?Mashable.com. Retrieved December 20, 2012, fromhttp://mashable. com/2012/03/17/social-media-ethics Linden, S. (2011, May 3). How the Illusion of Being Observed Can Make You a Better Person. Scientific American. Retrieved November 24, 2012, from http://www. scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=how-the-illusion-of-being-observed-canmake-you-better-person Logsdon, J. M. & Patterson, K. D. W. (2009). Deception in Business Networks: Is It Easier to Lie Online? Journal of Business Ethics. 90, 537–549. Lunden, I. (2012, November 24). Updated: Sites back up after ‘Eboz’ hijacked Google, Apple, 280+ Other Sites in Pakistan, Possibly Just to Highlight Security Hole. Retrieved December 20, 2012, from http://techcrunch.com/2012/11/24/ hacking-for-the-sake-of-it-eboz-downed-google-apple-300-other-pakistanisites-and-many-more-just-to-show-it-can/ Madrigal, A. C. (2011, August 5). Why Facebook and Google’s concept of ‘real names’ is revolutionary. The Atlantic. Retrieved December 20, 2012, from http:// www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/08/why-facebook-and-googlesconcept-of-real-names-is-revolutionary/243171/ McCabe, D.L., &. Trevino, L.K. (1995). Cheating among business students: A challenge for business leaders and educators. Journal of Management Education, 19(2), 205-218.

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McCabe, D.L., Butterfield, K.D., & Trevino L.K. (2006). Academic dishonesty in graduate business programs: Prevalence, causes and proposed action. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 5(3), 294-305. McElroy, W. (2011, August 11). In defense of Internet anonymity. http://mises.org/ daily/5541/In-Defense-of-Internet-Anonymity Nissenbaum, H. (2010). Privacy in Context: Technology, Policy, and the Integrity of Social Life, Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press. NBSE key findings (2011). National Business Ethics Survey. Ethics Resource Center. Retrieved December 20, 2012, fromhttp://www.ethics/org/nbes/findings.html NPR Ethics Handbook: Social Media (n.d.). Retrieved December 20, 2012, fromhttp://ethics.npr.org/tag/social-media/ Palazzo, G., Krings, F., & Hoffrage, U. (2012). Ethical blindness. Journal of Business Ethics, , 323-338 DOI 10.1007/s10551-011-1130-4 Pfanner, E. (2011, September 4). Naming Names on the Internet. The New York Times. Retrieved December 20, 2012, from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/05/ technology/naming-names-on-the-internet.html?_r=0 Praetorius, D. (2011, Janaury 26).The Top Websites Blocked By Businesses In 2010 Ranked By Open DNS. Retrieved December 20, 2012, fromhttp://www. huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/26/top-websites-blocked-by-businesses_n_814453. html#s230428&title=10_eBaycom_ Rajagopal, D. (2012). Protests in US over high pricing of Novartis’ anti-cancer drug Glivec. The Economic Times. Retrieved November 24, 2012, from http://articles. economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-05-15/news/31711440_1_novartis-indiaanti-cancer-drug-generic-drugs Schneier, B. (2006). Anonymity won’t kill the Internet. Wired. Retrieved December 19, 2012, fromhttp://www.wired.com/politics/security/commentary/securitymatt ers/2006/01/70000?currentPage=all SocialMedia.org (n.d.).Disclosure Best Practices Toolkit. Retrieved November 25, 2012, from http://www.socialmedia.org/disclosure/ Strugatz, R. (2012, June 5). To pay or not to pay: A closer look at the business of blogging. Retrieved December 20, 2012, from http://www.wwd.com/medianews/digital/a-closer-look-at-the-business-of-blogging-5942163?full=true Tenbrunsel, A. E., & Smith-Crowe, K. (2008). Ethical decision making: Where we’ve been and where we’re going. Academy of Management Annals, , 545–607. Trefis Team (2012, October 4). Banks shift focus on cyber security after recent attacks. Retrieved December 20, 2012, fromhttp://www.trefis.com/ stock/wfc/articles/146927/banks-shift-focus-on-cyber-security-after-recentattacks/2012-10-04 Vallor, S., (2012). Social networking and ethics. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved September 10, 2013, from http://plato.stanford.edu/ archives/win2012/entries/ethics-social-networking/ Williams, N. (2012). The trend toward falsifying online reviews. Center for Digital Ethics and Policy. Retrieved December 20, 2012, fromhttp://digitalethics.org/ essays/false-online-reviews/

Epilogue A great deal of business communication is online today. With the explosive growth of ICT – Information and Communication Technology – digital will soon be the default channel for business communication. What trends can we expect in the coming years? How should we equip ourselves to cope with the new trends?

The Smartphone Revolution The convergence of telephony and the Internet and the transformation of the cell phone into a handheld-computer with amazing capabilities keeps most people digitally connected at all times. Data from the United States shows that more Americans will access the Internet through mobile devices than through their PCs or other wired devices by 2015, according to research conducted by International Data Corporation (2012), a global provider of market intelligence. Pew Research Center, a well-known American think-tank, informs us that 88% American adults own a cell phone, 57% have a laptop, 19% own an e-book reader and 19% have a tablet computer (Zickuhr & Smith, 2012). Pointing out that the mobile phone is changing the way we communicate by allowing more people access to the Internet, the study states: Among smartphone owners, young adults, minorities, those with no college experience, and those with lower household income levels are more likely than other groups to say that their phone is their main source of internet access (Zickuhr & Smith, 2012).

In a quarterly report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in October 2012, Facebook stated that it anticipated that “the rate of growth in mobile usage will exceed the growth in usage through personal computers for the foreseeable future.” The company added that it was focusing on developing products that would encourage people to access Facebook from their mobile phones. The story is the same across many countries. According to a survey conducted by technology research and consulting firm, Accenture (2012),

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two-thirds of all Internet users surveyed in Europe, Latin America and South Africa are using mobile devices to access the Internet. While people are using multiple devices such as smart phones, netbooks and tablets to access the Internet, the study predicts that due to their affordability, smartphones are likely to be preferred over others in emerging economies. India is also a part of the smartphone revolution. There were more than 908 million mobile phone subscribers in August 2012, according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. A report published by the Internet and Mobile Association of India titled “Social Media in India – 2012”, mentions that there were nearly 40 million active Mobile Internet users in urban India as of December 2012 (IAMAI, 2013). In this case, “active user” refers to those who access the Internet using their mobile phones at least once a month. The report further states: Social networking through mobile phones is an ever increasing phenomenon observed today. With mobile penetrations reaching very high levels, and an increasing number of individuals owning feature-rich phones or even smartphones that allow Internet access, social networking is rapidly penetrating the India Active Internet user base. Affordable mobile Internet plans additionally serve rising usage levels (p. 4).

The report also reveals that Internet users in India are no longer restricted to big cities and metros. So much so that almost a quarter of social media users in urban India come from small towns with populations less than 200,000 people. As more and more of these people start connecting to the Internet using their mobile phones, the number of Indians with Internet access is also likely to grow exponentially. This growth will offer more opportunities for companies in the field of communications, media and information technology who will be eager to monetize it with ads and apps. In fact, many companies are busy racking their brains trying to find ways to squeeze ads into the tiny screens of mobile phones (Holmes, 2012a).

The Rise of the Apps The increase in the use of smartphones has fuelled the rise of an “app culture” where people are beginning to depend on software applications for meeting their daily needs. Whether it is to check the status of a flight, to order dinner or to look for directions, people are using apps more than ever. A report by the Pew Internet & American Life Project describes the rise of the app culture in the following words: Along with the widespread embrace of mobile technology has come the development of an ‘apps culture.’ As the mobile phone has morphed from a voice device to a multichannel device to an internet-accessing mini-computer, a large market of mobile software applications, or ‘apps,’ has arisen (Purcell et al., 2010).

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Research conducted by Ericsson ConsumerLab (2012) in three high growth markets including Russia, Brazil and India shows that “apps are becoming an emotionally important and integral part of people’s daily lives” (p. 4). Today, the most popular apps are ones that offer entertainment or information such as those providing directions, weather updates, news, banking services, games, music, restaurant services, sports updates, etc. A study conducted by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (2013) showed that the most popularly used mobile apps in this country are those related to social media and entertainment. In a widely-read article titled “The Web is Dead: Long Live the Internet,” Chris Anderson (2010) explains the popularity of the apps and the distinction between the open Web and Internet technology: Over the past few years, one of the most important shifts in the digital world has been the move from the wide-open Web to semiclosed platforms that use the Internet for transport but not the browser for display. It’s driven primarily by the rise of the iPhone model of mobile computing, and it’s a world Google can’t crawl, one where HTML doesn’t rule. And it’s the world that consumers are increasingly choosing, not because they’re rejecting the idea of the Web but because these dedicated platforms often just work better or fit better into their lives (the screen comes to them, they don’t have to go to the screen). The fact that it’s easier for companies to make money on these platforms only cements the trend.

There are several important implications of more and more people using apps rather than browsing the Web. As people’s dependence on apps increases, they are also beginning to skip Google and go directly to them. Claire Cain Miller, a technology correspondent at The New York Times, reports that the spread of apps is changing the business of online searches as there’s more pressure to provide customized and relevant search results. Oren Etzioni, a professor at the University of Washington, explains that people want simple answers to their questions and no longer want to see “10 blue links on that small screen” (Miller, 2013). However, a growing section of people are also concerned about apps compromising their safety and privacy as they can be used to retrieve personal information such as a person’s name, email ID, profile picture, profession, mailing address and specific location at a given time. Another concern is that many apps do not give an option to block people. Such issues get magnified when it comes to children. In fact, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission has asked app developers to make it easier for parents to control the personal information being collected from children’s smartphones as it compromises their security and poses a host of related problems (Sperry, 2012). The future will show whether people choose convenience offered by many of these apps or get more zealous about protecting their privacy.

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Spread of Visual Culture Another interesting trend in online communication is the rise in popularity of visual communication. More and more brands and people are sharing photographs and videos online. A study of top 10 brands on Facebook showed that users “liked” photos twice as often as textual updates (Buck, 2012). In keeping with the trend, one finds that many users today prefer to post photographs instead of text as status updates on their social media accounts as there are more chances of getting a “like” from their friends with pictures than with words. Describing photographs as the new universal language, Marvin Heiferman, editor of the book Photography Changes Everything, points out that today people like to take pictures of everything, everywhere, and post them on the Internet. In an interview with Wired magazine, Heiferman explains the trend: In the past, it was more conventional; we had to have reason to make a picture and it was usually to document something specific. Whereas now people take pictures because the camera is there [in their hand]. It has got to the point where sometimes if you ask people why they take pictures they can’t even say. I think people are using images in a completely different way and as a communicative tool (Brook, 2013).

Many of these photographs highlight little details about people’s lives. There may be pictures of funny signs, food they enjoyed, shoes or clothes they are planning to wear to an event. As visual content becomes omnipresent, photo and video-sharing sites such as YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, etc., are also soaring in popularity. Here are some statistics that give us a more concrete idea about this trend. Online photo and video-sharing site Instagram has 130 million active users today, according to statistics provided on its own website in August 2013. With video becoming the new content, Facebook-owned Instagram, which started out as a photo-sharing service, incorporated video sharing in June 2013 which is perceived by some as a rival to Twitter’s Vine video-sharing service (Langer, 2013). Meanwhile, traffic continues to grow on Pinterest, a popular photo-sharing site where users post images categorized by themes such as travel, beauty, food, fashion, etc. As many as 80% of Pinterest users are women (Titlow, 2012). No wonder retail and lifestyle brands are flocking to the site. In August 2013, specialty retailer J.Crew launched its fall catalogue on Pinterest. Some of the most popular brands on Pinterest include Nordstrom, L.L. Bean, Better Homes and Gardens, Swarovski, among others (Indvik, 2013). It would be blasphemous to discuss the popularity of visual content on social media sites and not refer to the mother of all video-sharing sites -

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YouTube. YouTube is also the world’s second largest search engine after Google. According to statistics provided by YouTube on its own site, more than 1 billion unique users visit YouTube each month. Every minute, 100 hours of video are uploaded to it. Since 70% of YouTube’s traffic comes from outside the United States, one cannot dismiss it as a mere American phenomenon. These statistics highlight the importance of having a presence on this wildly popular social media platform. The most viewed video on YouTube remains PSY’s “Gangnam style” with more than 1.7 billion views by August 2013. Dove’s “Real Beauty Sketches” video is the most popular video of 2013 so far. We discussed this particular Dove campaign on social media in Chapter 7. However, one must not forget that it’s not just the big brands and celebrities whose videos go viral on YouTube as many videos posted by little-known individual users are also highly popular and viewed by tens of thousands of people. Brian Shin, a video analytics expert, says viral videos share two important features: “discussability” and “relatability” (Fiegerman, 2013). The first feature implies that the content of viral videos is so compelling that people like to talk about it. Secondly, people can relate to its content easily as there is “something deeply human” about it. When it comes to videos for professional or business purposes, we would like to add another feature: utility. While making videos for business purposes, it’s important to offer something useful to the viewer or target audience. For instance, if you are a manager, you could upload videos of some of the most effective presentations you’ve given. You could also upload videos offering tips and advice to clients in your field. Video testimonials from customers and clients often cast a better impression than text alone. You could also introduce your team to your target audience using YouTube videos. Of course, make sure you are complying with the social media strategy of your company before posting any videos. If you own a small business, YouTube offers a fantastic platform to reach out to both potential and existing customers. Video ads are a cost-effective way to build awareness about your brand. For instance, if you own a coffee shop in a South Delhi locality, you could create a video showcasing your menu. You could even offer a recipe of a beverage that your customers could make at home using your products. In fact, “how-to” videos are extremely popular on YouTube and people conduct a wide array of searches on the site ranging from something as specialized as “how to debug Android applications in Eclipse” to the more common “how to change a flat tyre.”

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Getting Started on YouTube Just like you did with other social media, you need to define your audience and goals before beginning to use YouTube for business or professional purposes. When you create a YouTube channel, pick a username that reflects your brand. Fill the “About us” section clearly using keywords in your field and crisp language. For instance, the “About us” section of the Harvard Business School channel on YouTube starts with the following sentence: “We educate leaders who make a difference in the world.” Don’t forget to add a photo or the logo of your company to your profile. You need to ensure that the videos you create and upload on your YouTube channel are of a good quality. Invest in a good video camera and a tripod. The lighting should be good so that you don’t produce poor visuals. Most importantly, make sure your video is short, that is, not more than a few minutes. Make it easy for others to find your videos by using tags and giving a good title and content description. Finally, promote your video by sharing it on multiple social media platforms such as your blog, Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Bulging Social Media and Its Impact As more people get hooked on to social media, companies are also finding more ways to make productive use of the services offered by these sites. Organizations today use social media not just for marketing purposes, but for recruitment, operations, customer service and internal communication (Holmes, 2012a). Sectors that were traditionally hesitant to use social media are also warming up to it. In May 2011, media was abuzz with reports about Morgan Stanley’s financial advisers getting permission to market themselves on Twitter and LinkedIn marking the first time that a major wealth manager was employing social media platforms for its core activities. The bank’s financial advisers now use social media channels to communicate with clients and look for sales leads (Wasserman, 2011). Thus, the conservative financial sector is finally starting to take note of the multiple uses of social media. Recently, a U.S.-based financial research firm asked all its analysts to leverage YouTube to stay on top of developments and curate the best content for their users on their own website. The analysts were also asked to find dedicated YouTube channels for the companies they reported on and subscribe to them. While some knew how to go about their assigned tasks, many were clueless, which represents a fairly common picture. Many people who are active on social media do not know how to use it for professional

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purposes. This gap becomes more apparent as more companies strive to use social media to improve their bottom line.

The need for data scientists Data available from social media sites needs to be processed so that it can be used by companies to identify patterns, create new products and develop social media strategies (Scarfi, 2012). However, social media data is difficult to analyse as its “unstructured, fluid, mobile and often contradictory” and most companies do not have the skills required to harness it (Scarfi, 2012). Thus, companies need to hire data scientists who know how to tag this data and make it more meaningful and actionable: The ability to take sales, customer, or even Twitter data and turn it into patterns and segments is at the crux of what Big Data is and does…..Your way through the thicket of Big Data: a smart data analyst or data scientist. Hire one now. Or become one. Because digital marketing based purely on your super-creative ideas may not get past the boss, once they know that you can back up your gut with cold, hard numbers (Schwab, 2012).

Annika Jiminez, senior director of Data Science at Greenplum, points out that apart from strong programming skills and statistical knowledge, data scientists should also have strong communication skills (Ulanoff, 2012). In the United States, job postings requiring social media skills rose 87% from 2011 to 2012 (Holmes, 2012b). Among Fortune 500 companies, 73% have company Twitter accounts and 66% have Facebook pages (Holmes, 2012b). To meet this rising demand for social media skills, universities are gearing up to offer formal education in social media. The Huffington Post reported in December 2012 that Newberry College, a liberal arts college in South Carolina, was introducing a social media major from 2013. This undergraduate program would include courses in social publishing platforms, social media mobile marketing, digital photography, ethics, e-commerce, statistics, psychology and communications (Bosker, 2012). New England College offers a social MBA program (Holmes, 2012b). Other American universities such as Syracuse University, New York University, Columbia University, University of Washington and Harvard University, among others, already offer courses on social media. These courses are not merely about hanging out on Facebook and Twitter. One of Syracuse University’s social media courses, for instance, claims to “elevate social networking to cold, hard science, with an emphasis on practical business applications and measuring return on investment” (Holmes, 2012b). Indian universities, especially business schools, need to start offering degree programs on social media as well. Short-term training programs and

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workshops offered by firms are not adequate to meet the growing demand. While India enjoys competitive advantage in the data analytics field as it has a strong IT sector and a large pool of English-speaking graduates, it needs to prepare this pool for the challenges that lie ahead. Emphasizing the need to develop soft skills among Indian graduates, Viswanathan (2012) points out that India needs to develop talent beyond traditional disciplines such as science, engineering, technology and mathematics and focus on areas such as business communication and visual communication, among others.

The need for social listening Social listening tools not only offer insights on your company or personal brand; they can also go a long way in averting a crisis by keeping a tab on consumer sentiment on your product. This was evident in the recent case of Maker’s Mark, a bourbon whiskey bottled at 90 U.S. proof, that is, 45% alcohol by volume. The customers of Maker’s Mark were unhappy when the company announced in early 2013 that it was planning to reduce the amount of alcohol in its product from 45% to 42% in order to meet high demand and low bourbon supply (Stampler, 2013). Social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter were replete with angry comments against the company. Maker’s Mark was listening. Within a couple of days, the brand apologized to its customers on social media and reversed its decision. Here’s an excerpt from the brand’s Facebook post which comprised a letter from its COO Rob Samuels, and Chairman Emeritus, Bill Samuels. The letter was marked with the title “You spoke. We listened.”

Dear Friends Since we announced our decision last week to reduce the alcohol content (ABV) of Maker’s Mark in response to supply constraints, we have heard many concerns and questions from our ambassadors and brand fans. We’re humbled by your overwhelming response and passion for Maker’s Mark. While we thought we were doing what’s right, this is your brand – and you told us in large numbers to change our decision. You spoke. We listened. And we’re sincerely sorry we let you down. So effective immediately, we are reversing our decision….. Sincerely, Rob Samuels Bill Samuels, Jr Chief Operating Officer Chairman Emeritus [email protected] [email protected]”

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In little time, angry tweets and Facebook posts from customers changed into high praise for the brand. Maker’s Mark retweeted some of these messages. The case drives home the importance of social listening and the need to respond as early as possible to negative feedback. Another lesson from this case is the way Maker’s Mark responded to the looming crisis. The company wrote an honest and heartfelt letter and posted it on social media along with the email addresses of its top management. Further, the company backed up its apology with actual action: a change in decision addressing the needs of its customers. Apart from early detection of a crisis, social listening can also help tap into opportunities for marketing and public relations. In the well-known “United Breaks Guitars” case, Taylor Guitars benefitted by responding to Canadian musician Dave Carroll’s video in real time (Edwards, 2013). The video Carroll posted on YouTube tells the story of how United Airlines did not compensate him after alleged reckless handling by its staff broke his guitar, which happened to be a Taylor Guitar. When months of trying to seek compensation from the airline yielded no results, Carroll took the help of social media to draw attention to his case. Four days after the video was posted on July 6, 2009, the video garnered a million views. When the California-based guitar manufacturer, Taylor Guitars, found Carroll’s video, they responded with a video of their own on YouTube. In their video, Bob Taylor, owner of Taylor Guitars, tells viewers that he understands the angst one feels when a guitar is broken during travel. Taylor offers tips on how to travel with a guitar while informing viewers that he has posted more relevant information in the “news” section of his company’s website. The video also contains information on their repair service where Taylor claims experts would be happy to fix not just their own guitars but those made by other brands as well. The video ends with Bob Taylor stating the following: “You wouldn’t believe the things that we can fix here. It’s amazing. You may think your guitar is total [completely destroyed], but usually, it’s fixable. Give us a call. We’re here to help you.” Thus, Taylor Guitars leveraged a marketing and PR opportunity by merely listening to the buzz on social media and responding to it in real time. Bob Taylor’s video titled “Taylor Guitars responds to ‘United Breaks Guitars’” was uploaded on YouTube on July 10, 2009, only four days after Carroll’s video was posted. The video helped raise awareness about their brand and directed traffic to their website. When we checked in August 2013, the “United Breaks Guitars” video had more than 13 million views and Bob Taylor’s video had garnered nearly 700,000 views. Both the cases mentioned above highlight the necessity of using social listening tools. As mentioned in chapter 8, there are many listening tools

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available today which provide a range of listening and analytics functions. You could opt for a free tool or a paid service depending on your objective, usage and the size of your company.

Social media influence: What’s your score? As content rules the digital world, our professional networking, blogging and micro-blogging practices have the potential of increasing the degree of influence we wield with our friends and followers. Chapters 4, 5, 6 and 7 focused on professional networking, blogging, tweeting and Facebook respectively. Apart from offering tips on blogging, chapter 5 described how blogging can help you promote your business and acquire thought leadership in your industry. In Chapter 6, we gave a brief tour of the Twitterverse and gave you tips on making a good start on Twitter. Your blog posts, tweets, YouTube videos, LinkedIn connections, Instagram pictures and any other social media presence you have combine to create your social media influence. Today, there are many tools available that you can use to measure your social media influence. Companies are eager to find out how social media referrals lead to purchasing decisions. Mark Schaefer’s book “Return on Influence: The Revolutionary Power of Klout, Social Scoring, and Influence Marketing” published in 2012 describes ways in which brands are leveraging the influence wielded by popular bloggers, Twitter and YouTube celebrities to build product awareness leading to more sales. Social media analytics firms such as Klout, PeerIndex, Kred, Appinions and Traackr help quantify an individual’s social influence online. People with a high social score are extremely valued by brands. For instance, in 2012, Chevrolet gave about 900 people with a Klout score of more than 50 a free 3-day rental of a Chevy Volt, a plug-in hybrid vehicle manufactured by General Motors. This apparently resulted in more than 46,000 tweets and 20.7 million blog posts (Kharif, 2012). To Chevrolet’s delight, most of them were favourable.

Social media compliance: Do you have a social media policy? Even as more people stay connected digitally with their wireless devices, creating effective online identities becomes all the more important. In chapter 1, we laid out concrete steps you can take to cultivate your own online personal brand. A critical part of it will involve ensuring that there is no information out there that can cause reputational damage. Organizations, especially those working in sensitive sectors, will be better off training their employees in social media compliance. Employees and employers should use

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their common sense and keep financial information out of the social media sphere. The CFO of US-based Francesca’s, a women’s clothing retailer, was fired for tweeting financial informational about this company. On March 7, 2012, CFO Gene Morphis tweeted: “Board Meeting. Good numbers=Happy board” (Schectman & Murphy, 2012). Soon after, the company’s stock price surged even as its earnings were yet to be released. Some legal experts argued that this created an “uneven playing field” as the CFO’s tweets were available only to his followers, not the entire market (Schectman & Murphy, 2012). Such cases bring home the absolute necessity for firms, especially those in the financial, legal and healthcare sectors, to draft social media policies. The S.E.C. has also suggested that firms should offer training in social media compliance to their employees at regular intervals (Wallace, 2012).

Good Old Email Survives the Social Media Onslaught Although emails have been around for more than two decades now, they remain one of the most popular means for business communication to date. Members of global virtual teams who have to overcome both cultural and language barriers for effective communication may actually prefer asynchronous means of online communication such as email to synchronous ones such as instant messaging or even phone calls. In chapter 2, we offered tips on ways to avoid email overload and discussed the dos and don’ts of emailing at work. Never send a message via email if it is personal and private. You never know where it might end up. We also need to exercise care in drafting our emails, especially when we are using our official email IDs. Organizations monitor official email accounts. And, when it’s a high-profile organization like the CIA, your personal email account is not out of bounds either. Former CIA Director, David Petraeus, would probably still have his job if he had not sent out emails to the woman with whom he was having an extra marital affair. He used Gmail, not his official account. But when you hold a powerful position as Petraeus did, little that you do can be termed strictly personal (Garber, 2012). The goal is to make the best use of this medium without falling into any of the associated traps.

War Rooms for Online Crisis Communication Anyone who uses social media knows it’s both a rewarding and a risky medium. Any damaging information on the Web can go viral in a matter of minutes. Chapter 8 described the role of social media in crisis communication. In an interview with the Financial Times, John Bell, managing director of

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Social@Oglivy, the division that looks after social media strategies of the parent company’s clients, suggests that brands should set up war rooms to deal with social media crises (Tsang, 2012). Such war rooms should comprise experts from various departments including those who deal with frontline activity, public affairs, legal affairs, product, people and crisis management. According to him, “having a war room involving different departments helps prevent them from doing anything individually that could create problems for other parts of the business and allows a company to run through various scenarios” (Tsang, 2012). Crisis communication on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter should engage with users, rather than merely provide information. That is the reason merely posting a press release on a social media platform may not be adequate. Furthermore, one should remember that remaining quiet is not an option when crisis hits as a lack of response is likely to invite more negative publicity and allegations of indifference towards the unfolding situation. Social listening, as discussed in Chapter 8, will help warn a firm about an impending crisis so that it does not become a full-blown one. One important way to keep crises at bay is for organizations to combine an astute business sense with ethical behavior. According to social media coach Mari Smith, consumers today have a growing concern “for the environment and policies that organizations and individuals stand for beyond ‘the brand.’” (Smith, 2012). Every company should strive to meet a consumer’s expectations for transparency and trust (Smith, 2012). Consumers today prefer brands that admit their mistakes and resolve to rectify them. Chapter 10 focused on the important elements of digital ethics and the need to understand the changes social media use has introduced in the business world. One of the most dramatic changes ushered by widespread use of social media is what seems to be the end of privacy in our lives.

Big Brother is Watching: Impact of Secret Internet Surveillance Programs Disclosures made by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden have intensified debates on ways to balance national security goals with respect for individual privacy. While Internet surveillance is viewed by many as an important security measure to curb terrorism and related crimes against humanity, Snowden’s disclosures also highlight the need for greater accountability and transparency on the part of governments. Cynthia Wong, senior Internet researcher at Human Rights Watch, points out that the Snowden disclosures have set a worrisome precedent, which is likely to lead to more governments around the world using arm-twisting techniques to get technology firms to facilitate their surveillance programs. “The U.S. has

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provided these governments with a roadmap for conducting secret, mass surveillance and conscripting the help of the private sector,” she says. While tech companies have received heavy criticism for allegedly cooperating with governments in implementing their surveillance programs that infringed on the privacy of Internet users, an Australian commentator on information security, Patrick Gray, argues that these two parties may soon go to war over the matter. Demand for greater security and privacy by Internet users may lead to the introduction of security features by technology firms that make snooping and eavesdropping difficult for the government. In fact, paranoia against government surveillance may contribute to an obsession with encryption and digital protection which, in the long run, will adversely impact the most cherished values of the medium, namely, openness and transparency (Jarvis, 2013). Moreover, it must be kept in mind that secret, mass surveillance programs have a chilling effect on the practice of democracy and freedom of expression in a country as users will hesitate to post opinions unfavourable to those in power. So far, India does not hold a good record in terms of guaranteeing Internet freedom to its citizens. Several controversial arrests have been made in the country in the past two years on the basis of the flawed Information Technology Act. Arresting people for their comments and “likes” on social media sites raises an important question: At what point does an opinion expressed on a social media site become an act of crime punishable by the state? Following widespread outcry against such controversial arrests, the Supreme Court of India ruled in May 2013 that the police must refrain from arresting people for posting seemingly objectionable comments on social media sites unless they have specific permission from senior police officials (Vaidyanathan, 2013). Whether this ruling will actually deter the state from wielding its mighty power against those who are critical of the government remains to be seen. Meanwhile, Liat Clark (2013), a technology journalist, warns the government that if it continues to use laws designed for a pre-Internet era to lock up people who post questionable comments on the social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, it should be prepared for a backlash.

The Privacy Backlash Corporates mining data from individual social media accounts for profit stand guilty of privacy intrusions as well. A wide-scale erosion of privacy on multiple fronts has led to a backlash from people who don’t want their life and online posts to be under perpetual scrutiny. One got to witness the mother of all ironies when Facebook-founder Mark Zuckerberg’s sister,

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Randi, complained about a violation of privacy regarding a picture she posted on Facebook (Wasserman, 2012). The picture showed her and her family members including Mark reacting to a new Poke app while standing together in the kitchen. Randi posted the picture on Facebook hoping that it will be circulated among her friends only. However, things went wrong when one of her Facebook friends, Callie Schweitzer, director of marketing and projects at VoxMedia, posted it publicly on Twitter. An obviously-angry Randi tweeted: @randizuckerberg: Digital etiquette: always ask permission before posting a friend’s photo publicly. It’s not about privacy settings, it’s about human decency.

Following the spat on Twitter, the picture went viral. Commenting on the incident, Chris Taylor (2012) points out that “even the greatest luminaries on her brother’s billion-strong network cannot always navigate their way in the choppy waters of social media privacy.” Tellingly, a few days prior to this incident, Facebook-owned Instagram drew the ire of its users for its freshly-modified privacy policy which allowed advertisers to use their photos without offering them any compensation (Robinson, 2012). Of course, the company clarified that it would not sell the photos after users threatened to delete their accounts and social media enthusiasts slammed the policy. The Instagram case further intensified concerns of users about how social media sites might use their personal data in the future. For corporations, respecting consumer privacy goes against the objective of making greater profits. For instance, global privacy regulators have expressed concern with the way Google collects information about users and uses them in ways not fully comprehended by many (Pickles, 2012). Since Google dominates the search engine market, people also have little choice in the matter. Thus, Pickles (2012) argues that “as our digital footprints grow exponentially, from the location data of our mobile phones to the videos we watch online, shopping habits to social media posts, we are gradually surrendering ownership of our identities.” Those of you who think not having a social media presence will keep your life away from public view are sadly mistaken as others will be happy to announce your work, hobbies, home address, where you party, etc., along with your name and title on their social media accounts (Bilton, 2012). A better alternative is to have a social media presence and protect it as much as possible. Om Malik, founder of the popular tech blog GigaOM, wishes there were an “offline switch” which would help people stay away from public view whenever they wanted (Bilton, 2012). While there is no such switch yet,

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privacy analysts at software firms are busy testing apps that can delete our personal information from the Web. For instance, an online startup recently launched an app that targets data brokers and deletes our private information from these sites (Murphy, 2013). The app identifies websites that collect personal information about Internet users such as the number of children they have, which websites they visit, which political parties they support, which brands they buy, their income, the car they drive, etc. In its privacy policy, the company that created the app promises to keep the personal information it identifies confidential.

Look Before You Leap How many people actually care to read privacy policies before signing up for a social media account? Even if we actually took the trouble of reading thousands of words in a privacy policy, the legalese may be beyond our grasp. If we are unwilling to part with the information the site asks for, it is likely that we will not be allowed to use its services. So, until the fog clears out, it’s best to tread the social media universe with our eyes wide open. Simple measures can go a long way in ensuring digital security at the individual level. Choose search engines and browsers that do not use your queries and personal data for advertising purposes. It’s also a good idea to surf using https wherever possible. Avoid using unsecured, open WiFi networks. Opt for multi-factor authentication for your online accounts. Encrypt sensitive information. Most importantly, use complicated passwords. Don’t use the same password for different accounts. If you have trouble remembering too many complicated passwords, use a password manager and don’t forget to use a strong master password on it. Becoming anti-social and shying away from using social media to ensure privacy is hardly an option. The best policy is to think carefully about what information we share with the rest of the world. We also need to assume that in the digital world permeated by social media, privacy is as difficult to maintain as a block of ice in the desert. It’s possible only if we know its value and are willing to invest in preserving it.

References Accenture (2012, October 9). Mobile devices becoming medium of choice to access http://newsroom. accenture.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=5536 Anderson, C. (2010, August 17). Who’s to Blame: Us. In Anderson, C & Wolff, M. The Web Is Dead. Long Live the Internet. Wired.com. http://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/08/ff_webrip/all/1

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Bilton, N. (2012, October 14). Disruptions: Seeking privacy in a networked age. The New York Times Blogs. http://bits.blogs.nytimes. com/2012/10/14/seeking-privacy-in-a-networked age/?ref=technology Bosker, B. (2012, December 16). Life as a social media major: Tweeting for a grade, but no credit for Facebook. . http://www

everything. Wired.com http://www.wired.com/ rawfile/2013/08/raw-meet-marvin-heiferman/all/ Buck, S. (2012, August 25). For brand engagement, visuals rule. Mashable.com http://mashable.com/2012/08/24/visual-storytellingbrands/ Clark, L. (2012, November 12). India Facebook arrest should act as a warning to all. Wired.com. http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-11/20/india-facebookarrest http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2274254/ Why-Social-Media-Listening-is-Important-for-Brands Ericsson ConsumerLab (2012). Emerging App Culture: An Ericsson Consumer Insight http://www.ericsson.com/res/ docs/2012/ericsson_emerging_app_culture.pdf Mashable.com. http://mashable.com/2013/05/15/viral-videofactors/ Threatened National Security. Mashable.com.

surveillance. Wired.com http://www.wired.com/ opinion/2013/08/stop-clumping-tech-companies-in-with-government-in-thesurveillance-scandals-they-may-be-at-war/ http://www.fastcompany.com/3003473/cantmiss-social-media-trends-2013 http://tech.fortune.cnn. com/2012/09/26/universities-are-failing-at-teaching-social-media/ Mashable.com brand International Data Corporation (2011, September 12). IDC: More Mobile Internet Users http:// www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS23028711#.UN7tEm-IMrV

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