I have a professional interest in the asset management industry. The
rather dry weekly FTFM supplement in the Financial Times each Monday is
therefore compulsory reading.

Imagine my surprise when I came across an article on page 2 of yesterday’s
supplement called “Bloggers clash over operational costs“.

The article is actually about a debate taking place on a blog hosted on
the FT site about an earlier FT article, and so the piece is somewhat
self-promoting. However, it is interesting to me that a lively, informed
debate is taking place online about how much asset management firms care
about operational costs. It just goes to show, no matter how specialist
your niche, there is always potential for a relevant online conversation.

At ItsOpen we spend a lot of time talking to clients about online
conversations. Many corporate communicators feel that the only
conversations that happen online are either between consumers comparing
products or between individuals with ill informed opinions.

In truth, new online conversations are cropping up all the time -
communications teams should ensure that they at least have a means of
listening to them in place.

If people are talking about the operational costs of asset management
firms there’s every chance there will be someone talking about your
business, its strategy or its performance some time soon.

It’s fascinating to watch traditional media struggling with the concept of social media every bit as much as businesses. The Washington Post has just issued new guidelines which some journalists see as a pointless attempt to impose control.

Stephen Baker, a journalist at BusinessWeek which is owned by the Post, complains that to forbid writers from tweeting or posting anything biased it is going too far.  It would mean they couldn’t express opinions about global warming, or the Middle East, or political sex scandals, or the controversy over health care.  He says:

‘It seems that the Post wants all the good stuff from blogs and social networks – extension of their brand, traffic to their site – but without any of the problems that come from losing control. Yet the power of these social tools grows from the very freedom of expression that the Post editors are trying to rein in.’

Baker has a particular interest in describing the editorial process of BusinessWeek, which under the new guidelines is verboten. He argues that actually some openness about newspaper’s decision-making would inspire greater public trust.

Trust, in effect, is what it’s all about, learning to give employees the latitude to express themselves, relying on their good judgement and their identification with the organisation to ensure that they don’t go too far. Businesses need to create guidelines that are helpful rather than restrictive, and put appropriate monitoring processes in place.

All this takes effort and imagination. Simply issuing edicts isn’t going to do it.

 As you might already have noticed, we have introduced a new section to our blog called Insight Reports. Here we are going to be regularly publishing a series of complimentary reports about different aspects of social media.

The first one is about Financial Services Communications and Social Media, as this is an area we have been asked about a lot. It is full of insights and fresh examples for readers who are interested in how social media is changing the information-sharing landscape in this important field.

You can quickly download the report here.  We would be interested in your feedback and if there are any particular areas you would like us to cover in our future reports. Please feel free to pass the report around and share it with your colleagues.

There’s an entertaining interview with comedian Ricky Gervais in The Guardian today where he talks about the role of his blog.

His personal blog gets 300,000 hits a day which he says is more than most daily newspapers.

He uses his blog to protect his reputation and correct misquotes. He says:

‘I don’t do it for people who have slagged me off or don’t like my work…I do it for people who I feel have wronged me. If they misquote me, I think I’m totally justified in saying, ‘I didn’t say that.’ Your reputation is still the most important thing that you’ve got.’

More organisations are begining to realise that a blog and podcasts and strategically well executed social media techniques give you direct access to your audience. You don’t need to be totally dependent on traditional media. And you can correct mistakes quickly and easily.

You can read the full interview here.

And you can follow Ricky Gervais on his blog at www.rickygervais.com