Join the Conversation Early, Not After the Damage Is Done

If a conversation happens in a forest and you’re not there to be a part of it, did it really happen?

In the online world of social media – you bet your bottom dollar it did. And an entire network of friends, fans and followers heard it, participated in it and repeated it to their friends, fans and followers.

When I worked for a small town newspaper right out of college, we often joked the biggest threat to being scooped was the gossip that took place at a quaint diner downtown. There’s no message tool more effective than word of mouth – especially when the topic is heated, controversial or sensational. That’s how I like to think of social media. It’s not really all that new to those of us who understand how gossip works – it’s fast, can often be misleading (think the children’s game of telephone – the more you repeat something, the more inaccurate the message becomes) and sometimes damages someone’s reputation.