Christopher Gabriel, CGabriel.com

As a man of several decades, give or take three, I have a fairly good grasp of all that I am and all that I’m not.  For the purposes of this piece, I’d like to highlight what I’m not.  I’m not a businessman.  I’m not a PR consultant.  I’m not a marketing executive.  I’m neither a lawyer, architect nor doctor.  I’m definitely not a rock star, though that would be pretty cool.  And, most of all, I’m not a social media strategist. 

These days, however, in the event you haven’t been paying attention, it’s not a stretch to suggest social media strategists are the new rock stars in and around the business world with social media the new “It.”  And if you don’t understand It, then you don’t have It.  And if you don’t have It, I would suggest you get It. 

A lot of people get it.  And there’s a lot to get, with an abundance of social media avenues available for all to navigate.  The most prominent one in the bunch, at least at present, is the eight-lane super-highway known as Twitter.

One check around Twitter and it’s clear thousands are working, manipulating, massaging and maneuvering the social media phenomenon faster than the owner of a Brooklyn pizzeria works his dough.  And those rock stars I mentioned, it takes very little time to figure out who some of them are. 

You may not know the names but their stars, either established or rising, are shining brighter every day.  Folks like Shel Israel, Ari Herzog, Liz Strauss, Shannon Paul and Twitter’s Oracle at Delphi, Chris Brogan, are but a few in a very crowded universe.  In the case of Mr. Brogan, when he  Tweets (when you use Twitter, you are sending a Tweet), people listen.  And people respond.  Social media professionals and zealots from all over the world line up like fans desiring Springsteen tickets as they send responses to @chrisbrogan saying i.e. “Thank you Obi-Wan, I now understand and will implement your wisdom into my chosen profession.”  I know.  I’ve done it.  More than once.

My personal favorite in this standing-room-only field is David Henderson (The Media Savvy Leader, Amazon.com).  Mr. Henderson’s considerable skill as a journalist, he’s an Emmy Award winning former CBS Network News correspondent, is what makes his perspective and strategies stand out from the rest.  It’s a lot like the NBA in the 1980′s and 90′s.  Did you prefer Larry, Magic or Michael?  You couldn’t go wrong choosing any of the three as the best at what they do.

Which brings me to the point of all this.  With so many capable stars out there to take your company to the next level of productivity, creativity and financial sustainability, why are there still so many who haven’t a clue how to use it properly?  And since I’m not a businessman, why should I care?

As Hamlet says, “ay, there’s the rub.”  Social media is a tool for everyone to position themselves more strategically in the marketplace, whatever their particular marketplace happens to be.  It makes no difference whether you’re a talk show host and freelance writer like me or, let’s say, a VP at a major public relations agency like Ketchum in Atlanta.

Recently, a Ketchum account executive/vice president named James Andrews took to the road to visit one of their clients, a little start-up named FedEx.  The purpose of his trip was to engage their communications folks on social media.  Nothing unusual about that.  And one would assume Mr. Andrews possessed a thorough understanding of Twitter’s reach.  

This was the Tweet he sent upon his arrival in Memphis.

“True confession but I’m in one of those towns where I scratch my head and say ‘I would die if I had to live here.’” 

It was a curious message when you digest this Breaking News Alert:  The business world (read: companies like FedEx) actually has individuals that follow Twitter.  And with a nod to a  Hollywood script, someone inside FedEx noticed Mr. Andrews’ message.  That’s when the  fun began. 

*The entire story is rolled out quite thoroughly by Mr. Henderson in How Not to be a Key Online Influencer along with two solid follow-ups. 

Whether or not there will be long-term consequences in the Ketchum-FedEx relationship remains to be seen.  I suspect Mr. Andrews has already told the appropriate officials at FedEx what he wrote wasn’t what he meant, they had a few laughs, shared some hot chocolate and moved on.

That incident points to a broader issue that has long been a part of our society:  When a message is delivered through social, print or broadcast media, in the buffet line at a party, or sitting in the stands at a ballgame and the content of that message is specious, who determines intent?  Who decides one person’s “innocent” remark is incendiary?

Long before the reach of social media extended around the world and back, traditional media gave us clear examples of how not to use a particular forum.

Remember Don Imus’ offensive remark about the Rutgers University women’s basketball team back in April of 2007?  Unless you were living in an underwater pod with no connection to the outside world you heard the comment.  I addressed the entire issue in no uncertain terms on my radio program (CBS, Don Imus, Rutgers…My Take).

What about Al Campanis on ABC’s Nightline?  His remarks to Ted Koppel on April 6, 1987  (20 years earlier, almost to the day, of Imus’ comments) were in response to a question on why African American managers and general managers were virtually non-existant in baseball.  What followed was, in the view of many including myself, one of the most remarkably ignorant comments of all-time.  “I truly believe that they may not have some of the necessities to be, let’s say, a field manager, or, perhaps, a general manager.”  Desiring an inside-the-park home run, he went on to talk about why African Americans weren’t good swimmers.  He explained it had to do with “buoyancy.” 

Typically, the next day he lamented of being misunderstood.  Two days later he was fired.  Just as Mr. Imus was fired.  Twice, both by MSNBC and CBS Radio (owner of WFAN in New York City, his former station).

It seems so simplistic but as powerful as social media has become, in many instances as strong or even stronger than traditional media, its use or misuse comes down to one thing:  Responsibility.  The message comes from the messenger and far too often, the person speaking or writing is living in a vacuum.  You simply have to be aware that what you say and what you write is going to an audience well beyond your intended recipients.

• When you’re at a party speaking loudly to your buddy as you fill your plate with shrimp at the hors d’oeuvres table , who’s that person standing behind you listening? 
• If you’re a broadcaster ripping a government official in London, and doing so with a few lies mixed into the segment, are you assuming there’s no chance he, a staff member or someone eating lunch in their flat is streaming the broadcast?
• When you use Twitter it’s going everywhere.  Those 15,000 followers you have living on your Twitter ranch, they all see what you’re writing.  Do you know them?  Do you know who they may be passing your innocent remark onto?

Social media is as powerful as it is huge.  But when the game is over and the clock reads 0:00, the final score has everything to do with the teams that got the points.  In Twitter, in print and on the air, the buck stops with the messenger.

I talk and write for a living.  In both arenas, I don’t advise anyone on anything.  If it’s on my mind and moves me in one direction or another, I broach the topic.  Whether it’s the departure of a fabled stadium in Boston, the ability of women to influence men, the ascendency of Barack Obama or a treatise on my daughters,  I enjoy the journey of a dialogue.  However, and this is the key point, I am forever mindful of what I’m saying or writing, how I’m saying or writing it and who might be listening or reading.  It seems so simple, doesn’t it?

My wife and family are a part of that audience.  So are friends and neighbors.  The young theatre students I teach at a local children’s theatre company, and their parents – they’re a part of that audience, too.  People I’ve never met are ticket-holders. 

There is an understood and inherent responsibility to know your audience; who’s in the house and how might they respond to what you’re saying, not saying and implying.  And know that you don’t know all of them. 

Having responsibility as a guidepost will facilitate your observations, insights and opinions in a way that reaches a broader audience than you may have imagined.  And it allows for a far more productive, enlightening and respectful discourse among those who ultimately disagree with you.

social media illustration, courtesy room214.com; twitter icon, courtesy of blogsdna.com

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