June 2nd, 2010 by Susie

It is commonplace to suggest that the net has made the world a smaller place. For example, the net has facilitated communication to an extent which previous technological innovations failed to do. Although cultural differences and nation states remain important, preventing the formation of a world without borders, the advent of the net has challenged the status quo and led to uneven processes which point towards the eventual formation of a ‘global village.’ Despite the fact that the global village concept has become a cliché, it does capture some of the relevant trends in a useful manner.

In a world where communication is shockingly swift, corporations have to be very conscious of the perceptions potential consumers may have of their brand. The traditional media was not always easy to manipulate, especially in nations with a heritage of investigative journalism and a more or less ‘free’ press, but it was easy to know who the main proprietors were, and rebuttals could be carried out in a systematic way when damage limitation was required. The democratic element of the net, and the large numbers of contributors to the blogosphere, means that internet reputation management can be very tricky.

Even large corporations can struggle to deal with the new environment. A gaffe by a member of the organisation can spread around the net with startling rapidity. If the gaffe has a comic element, it could find itself being tweeted and re-tweeted on Twitter, for example. If an organisation does not have proper procedures to cope with online problems, it may be unaware of the issue for far too long and it may be too late to prevent some negative impact on the image of the operation. In the modern corporate environment, nothing should be more jealously guarded than the image of the firm, because this affects relationships with other firms, as well as potential customers.

Due to the complexity of internet reputation management, when the slightest indiscretion can lead to a ‘snowballing’ of detrimental – and often biased – comment, outsourcing monitoring and intervention in this area makes a huge amount of sense. The logic of outsourcing is based on two key considerations. Firstly, it permits cost savings in many cases. Secondly, it means that a firm can have access to the most relevant expertise, and benefit from the experience of experts who possess the ability to develop their specialist skills. Trying to monitor what is said about your firm, or assessing the possible reputation impact of your link building strategies, are complicated tasks. The potential cost of making errors underlines the value of outsourcing the tasks to an appropriate firm.

As globalising forces continue to have their uneven political, cultural and economic influence, the social world seemingly becomes a smaller place. Although many people are still excluded from the net, huge numbers of relatively affluent consumers use the net for diverse purposes on a regular basis. As an online firm, it is imperative that you enhance and consolidate your reputation, so that existing and potential customers have faith in your ability to deliver goods or services effectively.

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