This Social Media Thing

Every organisation, indeed every individual, has a digital identity. In the past this was something that was relatively easy to control because it was constructed mostly out of content that you will have made yourself and posted on platforms, such as web sites, which you control. The growth in social media means that, increasingly, this identity is constructed for you by other people – customers (satisfied or otherwise), consumers or other stakeholders or interest groups – in places and ways you cannot directly control.

The discovery and dissemination processes of social media also mean that this identity is becoming more visible and inescapable. If it contains information which you do not like – you do not have an option to get rid of it. The only thing you can do is manage it in its entirety and seek to correct or balance aspects of it which you feel are not accurate.

Learning how to establish a measure of control over your digital identity is therefore critical and the first step in this process is, necessarily, an investigation of what your current digital identity actually is. This means investigating where on-line conversation is taking place about you, your products or your sector and what the most influential places and channels are. It also means understanding what people are saying about you in these places.

The best way to do this is through a social media audit and analysis. I work in partnership with Custom Communication, who have a great deal of experience in analysing digital identities and if you would like more information on how we could help you here, please drop me a line.