Organization Reputation: Social Media’s Evolving Role
What is your organization’s reputation? Do people think your organization is trustworthy? Reliable? Capable?
As our society becomes more and more connected, social media has the potential to strengthen or diminish an organization’s reputation. If your organization’s reputation is positive, people may share this online with their social networks. If your organization’s reputation is negative, chances are, people will also share this online.
No organization, no matter how established, is immune from the potential reputation effects of social media. The potential effects of reputation damage from social media content extend from the private to the public sector. Businesses, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations should all be aware of what their organization’s reputation currently is, and what’s being said about it online.
How does social media impact an organization’s reputation?
An organization’s reputation is everything that people think of when they hear about the entity.
Ask yourself the following questions:
Is Harvard a good school?
Does Walmart deliver good customer service?
Is Amazon a good place to work?
Will joining the U.S. military help advance one’s career?
How is the food at Waffle House?
Does Toyota manufacture reliable vehicles?
Can you trust Robin Hood with your investments?
Chances are, you answered a few of those questions in your head, and your answers are likely reflective of the reputation of these organizations.
What is included in an organization’s reputation?
Organizational reputations encompass all beliefs, perceptions, and sentiments about the organization within a community. This can include a diverse population of stakeholders, including past and present customers, past and present employees, and the general public. When managing an organization’s reputation, public perception is the reality. If the organization doesn’t feel its reputation reflects its actual operation, it must take proactive steps to repair it and rebuild trust.
A wide variety of influences go into organizational reputation development, including, but not limited to: business practices, customer service, employee attitudes, industry or sector reputation, media coverage, organizational leadership, and quality of products and services. These factors are always changing and require organizations to monitor shifting sentiments as they relate to the entity and operation. However, the increasing usage of social media has changed how organizations develop and manage their reputations.
Today, online content related to the organization can play a big role in shaping the organization’s reputation. Positive social media content related to the organization that showcases satisfied customers and engaged employees can strengthen its reputation; however, there are two sides to this public relations coin. Harmful social media content related to the organization that highlights unsatisfactory customer and employee experiences can do lasting damage to the organization’s reputation.
How is social media used to evaluate an organization’s reputation?
Think of social media as a blend of old-school window shopping and word-of-mouth marketing. Today’s digital natives - Millennials and Gen Zers - use social media to research organizations that they are potentially interested in supporting. This includes places they are considering attending school, going to work for, donating to, and purchasing products or services. Instead of relying on brand-issued communications about the organization to learn about the operation, digital natives have increasingly utilized user-generated social media content for research purposes.
According to Google, approximately 40 percent of Gen Zers search for user-generated social media content over company-posted social media content on popular social media platforms, such as Tik Tok and Instagram. Many digital natives may feel as though user-generated social media content provides a more authentic, behind-the-scenes look at what organizations are actually about vs. what they claim to be. The quest for authenticity in online content comes to a head with the immense popularity of the new social media app - BeReal - among Gen Z social media users. When the user-generated content associated with an organization is positive, this can support the organization’s outreach initiatives. However, when the user-generated content associated with the organization is negative, this can have far-reaching negative impacts on the organization’s outreach initiatives.
A prime example of how this social media development can impact the organization is anonymous hyperlocal apps, such as Jodel and Yik Yak, which have negatively impacted the reputation of many established colleges and universities across the United States. For many schools, the geographically-affiliated Jodel or Yik Yak online community is filled with cyberbullying, hate speech, and threats of violence. Prospective students, employees, and faculty members that review such content may be persuaded to consider other institutions. High usage of anonymous hyperlocal social media apps is observed at many prestigious institutions, including Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and the United States Naval Academy. Multiple colleges and universities have received negative publicity related to the vile and harassing content found on anonymous hyperlocal apps.
How can an organization protect its reputation in the Digital Age?
Modern organizations in all sectors - private and public - should have a social media monitoring process in place to track user-generated content related to the organization or its affiliated communities. Reputation management in this Digital Age is 24/7 and requires that organizations have an efficient and effective plan in place to identify potential reputation damage stemming from online content. As has been observed with many national brands, one negative social media post about the organization or its operation (such as the viral video of a Taco Bell worker licking taco shells before serving to customers) can negatively impact revenue on an international scale in just a matter of seconds. Thus, quick identification and crisis communications response is required of the organization. Today’s companies do not have days to formulate a damage control plan - they have just a matter of minutes, thanks to the prevalence and reach of social media.
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Becker Digital specializes in developing and implementing responsible digital strategies for mission-driven organizations. We have demonstrated past performance in multiple sectors, including agriculture, defense, government, higher education, and nonprofit organizations. Contact us today to discuss your organization’s mission and goals.
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