{"id":5612,"date":"2014-09-19T16:32:23","date_gmt":"2014-09-19T16:32:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/?p=5612"},"modified":"2014-12-20T16:38:14","modified_gmt":"2014-12-20T16:38:14","slug":"wanted-sensitivity-training-on-social-channels-via-insidecxm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/2014\/09\/wanted-sensitivity-training-on-social-channels-via-insidecxm\/","title":{"rendered":"Wanted\u2026 Sensitivity Training on Social Channels ~via @InsideCXM"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"shutterstock_62633962\"<\/a><\/div>\n

We\u2019ve all seen cringe-worthy moments on social, when someone says the exact wrong thing and doesn\u2019t even realize what they\u2019ve done. It happens in debates over hot-button issues, comment threads on brand pages and everywhere in between. Even well-meaning comments can be hurtful when context is ignored.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s like telling an acquaintance who\u2019s been unhappily single for a while, \u201cBut you\u2019re so great! You just need to put yourself out there!\u201d\u00a0The sentiment may be positive, but it comes off like a punch in the gut if that acquaintance\u00a0already has been\u00a0<\/em>putting themself out there with nothing but frustration to show for it. This type of insensitivity is all over social, and it\u2019s a sure way to send new connections running away\u00a0at full speed.<\/p>\n

Social Sensitivity Training<\/p>\n

The problem is magnified on social because it\u2019s so far removed from face-to-face conversation. That fact is too often used as a catchall excuse for allegedly accidental insensitivity, but it\u2019s true that adapting to a new medium comes with some challenges. Text-messaging is a great example because it removes the human voice from the equation. Suddenly, it becomes much more difficult to identify the tone of a comment. Is it a joke? Are they mad at me? If I ask, will that just make it worse?<\/p>\n

Now, think about if your text-message conversations were available for anyone to read, in an archive that stretches back years. Those are the stakes on social \u2013 even if you delete your profile, insensitive comments have a way of sticking around. That doesn\u2019t mean you have to live in fear of saying the wrong thing, though. #JustBeNice, speak with respect, and consider the broader context of the conversation before clicking the \u201cpost\u201d button.<\/p>\n

Remaining Human in an Automated World<\/p>\n

Just as with texting, social removes important\u00a0clues and\u00a0cues we\u2019d normally use to interpret the nature of a comment. No body language, tone of voice, or facial expressions can be found. You may get an emoticon or two, at best. Some marketers counter this uncertainty with emotionless buzzword soup, perhaps based on the notion that they won\u2019t risk offending if nobody can understand what they\u2019re talking about in the first place.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re not \u201csome marketers,\u201d though. You\u2019re you! No matter the medium, humans relate best to other humans, imperfections and all. Bryan Kramer\u00a0lays the case out beautifully<\/a>\u00a0in his book,Human to Human: #H2H<\/em>, reminding us that, \u201cBusinesses do not have emotion. Products do not have emotion. Humans do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Simple? Sure, but the best advice usually is. Whether you\u2019re marketing to businesses or consumers, you\u2019re marketing to humans, above all. Take the time to be courteous, consider the situation of the human with whom you\u2019re interacting, and the other humans following the conversation, or taking it in later. You can\u2019t go wrong being considerate of others.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s Okay to Take a Second<\/p>\n

The final piece of the insensitivity puzzle is time, and the perceived lack of it. Plenty of insensitive social moments are borne of the artificial, modern pressure to respond\u00a0right this second<\/em>. You don\u2019t want to leave people hanging, but it\u2019s fine to take a breath and consider your response. If you\u2019re not sure how your response will come off, read it aloud to yourself or ask a colleague for input.<\/p>\n

Your brand and your reputation are intertwined, and make no mistake that\u00a0you\u00a0do have a personal\u00a0brand, no matter what you do for a living. People will remember their interactions with you for better\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em>worse, so do your part to make those memories positive.\u00a0A Brand is what a Business\/Person does\u2026 a Reputation is what people Remember and Share.<\/em><\/p>\n

If you want Return on Relationship (#RonR), it pays to be human.<\/p>\n

Originally posted at InsideCXM<\/a>\u00a0AUGUST 25, 2014\u00a0BY\u00a0TED RUBIN<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We\u2019ve all seen cringe-worthy moments on social, when someone says the exact wrong thing and doesn\u2019t even realize what they\u2019ve done. It happens in debates over hot-button issues, comment threads on brand pages and everywhere in between. Even well-meaning comments can be hurtful when context is ignored.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[137,7],"tags":[1370,243,479,30,1899],"class_list":["post-5612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-all-posts","category-tedrubin","tag-ronr","tag-conversation","tag-ror","tag-social-media","tag-tedrubin-3"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5612","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5612"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5612\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5613,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5612\/revisions\/5613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}