Page 354 - Using MIS

322 Chapter 8 Social Media Information Systems

If the problematic content represents reasonable criticism of the organization’s prod-
ucts or services, the best response may be to leave it where it is. Such criticism indicates
that the site is not just a shill for the organization but contains legitimate user content. Such
criticism also serves as a free source of product reviews, which can be useful for product
development. For the criticism to be useful, the development team needs to know about it,
so, as stated, processes to ensure that the criticism is found and communicated to the team
are necessary.
A second alternative is to respond to the problematic content. However, this alternative
is dangerous. If the response can be construed in any way as patronizing or insulting to the
content contributor, it can enrage the community and generate a strong backlash. Also, if the
response appears defensive, it can become a public relations negative.
In most cases, responses are best reserved for when the problematic content has caused the
organization to do something positive as a result. For example, suppose a user publishes that he
or she was required to hold for customer support for 45 minutes. If the organization has done
something to reduce wait times, then an effective response to the criticism is to recognize it as
valid and to state, nondefensively, what has been done to reduce wait times.
If a reasoned, nondefensive response generates continued and unreasonable UGC
from that same source, it is best for the organization to do nothing. Never wrestle with a pig;
you’ll get dirty, and the pig will enjoy it. Instead, allow the community to constrain the user.
It will.
Deleting content should be reserved for contributions that are inappropriate because they
are contributed by crackpots, have nothing to do with the site, or contain obscene or other-
wise inappropriate content. Deleting legitimate negative comments can result in a strong user
backlash. In the early days of social media, Nestlé created a PR nightmare on its Facebook ac-
count with its response to criticism it received about its use of palm oil. Someone altered the
Nestlé logo, and in response Nestlé decided to delete all Facebook contributions that used that
altered logo and did so in an arrogant, heavy-handed way. The result was a negative firestorm
on Twitter. 42
A sound principle in business is to never ask a question to which you do not want the an-
swer. We can extend that principle to social networking; never set up a site that will generate
content for which you have no effective response!

Internal Risks from Social Media

The increased adoption of social media has created new risks within organizations as well.
These risks include threats to information security, increased organizational liability, and de-
creased employee productivity.
First, the use of social media can directly affect the ability of an organization to secure
its information resources. For example, suppose a senior-level employee tweets, “Married 20
years ago today in Dallas,” or “Class of 1984 reunion at Central High School was awesome,” or
“Remembering my honeymoon to Hawaii.” All of these tweets provide attackers with the an-
swers to password reset questions. Once attackers reset the user’s passwords, they could have
full access to internal systems. Thus, seemingly innocuous comments can inadvertently leak
information used to secure access to organizational resources. Unfortunately, it turns out that
it’s not a good idea to tell everyone it’s your birthday because your date of birth (DOB) can be
used to steal your identity.
Employees using social media also can unintentionally (or intentionally) leak infor-
mation about intellectual property, new marketing campaigns, future products, potential

42 Bernhard Warner, “Nestlé’s ‘No Logo’ Policy Triggers Facebook Revolt,” Social Media Influence, March 19, 2010,
http://socialmediainfluence.com/2010/03/19/nestles-no-logo-policy-triggers-facebook-revolt/.