I actually think that companies *had* more control over their messages (in the past); however, in today’s world of social media, this control is mostly an illusion. Companies can continue to fight it, or they can embrace social media and benefit from it

Jason,

Many big companies struggle with social media, since it breaks down the wall between the company and the outside world. Most companies have a set of people who are “official spokespeople” and can speak on behalf of the company to the press, media, and others outside of the company.

I think that companies, like HP, can maintain this by asking people to be clear about whether or not their comment or post is an official statement. On my personal blog, I always had a disclaimer that the opinions expressed in this blog are mine alone and not necessarily those of my employer. I also think it is just fine to leave a comment with a similar disclaimer about how you are not an official spokesperson and are providing only an opinion. I would also encourage official spokespeople to be clear when they are talking on behalf of their company.

In the end it also comes down to trusting your employees to do the right thing. Give them tools, training, and some guidelines about maintaining confidentiality. If the company is hiring people who cannot be trusted, then the company has a bigger problem to deal with.

A local Portland company – Attensa – has nailed how an enterprise client can get rss feeds from all of its company’s social networking activities.

Harv

Question: how would a huge company, like say HP in Corvallis, react if all of its employees were twittering, blogging, and generally talking to the outside world?

It seems like everything is so secretive and closed that they would freak out. How does Microsoft seem to do it so well?